He was continually distracted by the bumps, taps, and scrapes coming from the floor above him. An hour earlier, a veritable phalanx of maids had paraded past the doorway and taken the stairs up to Fancy’s lodgings. He suspected the servants had been sent over by Lady Aslyn. His mind kept envisioning what was happening up there as they prepared her for this auspicious night that could very well set her on a course that would take her away from her little shop.

It didn’t help at all that the night before she’d put in his head the image of her standing before a mirror sans clothing. A bath would have been prepared. She would have lowered her nude form into it. The steam would float up to caress and coat her skin in dew, some gathering in that enticing notch at her throat. The water, if not the soap, would be perfumed, and she would arise from the tub like a nymph from a lake, carrying the scent of flowers in a meadow.

Someone would use soft linen to remove the water droplets from her flesh. Another would brush the long silky length of her black hair. He imagined how marvelous it would feel to sink his fingers into the glorious strands or gather up the thick tresses and drape them over her shoulder in order to leave her nape unobstructed so he could place a warm kiss on either side of her ridged spine. The last thought caused a reaction in the lower half of his body that had him shifting uncomfortably in his chair, a reaction he should have grown accustomed to by now because it happened each time he thought of touching his lips to any aspect of her body. Her mouth, her fingers, her toes, her breasts—

Christ, he needed to get hold of himself. Thank goodness, the noises above had quieted. Suddenly light footsteps began echoing from the direction of the stairs. In perfect alignment signaling pride as though they’d just achieved victory in a crucial military campaign, the maids marched by the open doorway.

The room went quiet. No stammering of words or encouragement uttered, the girl in the red hooded cloak abandoned, her story no match for the suspense that had captured everyone’s attention, their gazes going to the empty portal where the servants were last seen. Because if they were done with their task and taken their leave, then could she be far behind? So like the others, he gave his full attention to the doorway and waited, as an anticipation he’d not known in years took hold and blossomed. An itch took up residence on the tip of his nose, but it went undisturbed as none of his muscles seemed wont to move.

Then she appeared and stole his breath.