Promoted to Wife (Destiny Bay) Read Online Free Page B

He didn’t want her to think he was making fun of her. “I see.” He pondered that for a moment. “Okay, tell you what. I’m considering giving it a try for twenty-four hours.”
    “Oh.” She looked suddenly radiant. “Oh, thank you Mr. Carrington. You won’t be sorry. I promise.”
    “I didn’t commit to that yet,” he warned her. “I’m considering it.”
    “Twenty-four hours would be perfect. I know I can convince you.”
    His mouth opened, but he closed it again. What could he say? Now he felt guilty. Twenty-four hours would get them through the awkward period of his children being here without a full staff. Once maids began to show up, he’d have plenty of babysitters to use. He could let her go easily. In the meantime…
    He was about to start talking about plans, but a shout from the backyard interrupted him. With a quick look at Rick, Terry bounced off the bed and went through the French doors onto the balcony to see who was hailing them.
    “Hey, lady, you want your chimneys swept or not? I been banging on this door for half an hour here and no one's answering.”
    Standing on the lawn below was a small man all dressed in black, brushes and shovels over his shoulder, black smudges on his cheeks, and a tall, shiny top hat on his head. Terry was enchanted by him at first sight.
    “Just a minute,” she called down. “I'll let you in.”
    Here was her chance to show the boss how well she could manage. “I'll take care of this,” she told Rick, “and then we can come to terms over what exactly you’ll expect from me.”
    He didn't say a word but rose to follow her down the stairs and through the kitchen to the back door, which she unlocked quickly.
    “Come on in,” she told the dusty chimney sweep, standing back and holding the door. The man was a real work of art—a walking, talking period piece right out of Dickens. She turned to where Rick stood, halfway across the kitchen, to see how he liked the costumed worker.
    Their gazes met, a silent laugh, and she almost felt as though he'd spoken. A silent sense of connection rippled through the air between them. The smile froze on her lips as she looked at him, then abruptly looked away. She felt as though she'd seen too much of him or he'd seen too much of her, that she'd made herself somehow naked and vul nerable. Crazy feeling. She'd best lose it.
    It was the chimney sweep's voice that finally brought her back down to earth.
    “Well, I'm here, I am. Dusty Dan's the name.”
    She nodded at him absently, still feeling the searing heat of Rick's gaze—still not sure if it was his intensity or her own memories of her teenaged crush that had lit that fire. “I'm sure you are,” she murmured, then shook herself alert. “Oh, yes. I'm so glad you're here. Some of the fireplaces are in pretty sad shape.”
    Her fingers were trembling. What was wrong with her? How could she work for a man who could do this to her with merely a glance?
    The sweep walked farther into the kitchen and coal dust seemed to rise from his every movement. “I'm here to fix that for you,” he said cheerfully. “I do my best work up the chimney, making things clean for Santy Claus.” He chuckled at his own little joke, and though it was the middle of the summer and hardly time to be thinking of reindeer on the roof, the two of them smiled with him.
    “I've drawn up a list of the fireplaces and their conditions,” she said, forcing herself to be calm and searching through the stack of papers she'd piled on the table in the kitchen.
    “How many fireplaces have you got here?” the sweep asked, adjusting his burden from one shoulder to the other.
    “Five,” she told him with efficient certainty.
    “Six,” Rick corrected softly from behind.
    She swung around, chagrined. “Six? I counted five. I went through every room and I counted five.”
    “Six,” he insisted quietly. “Trust me. I've lived here more than you have.”
    So much for total control. Terry flushed, but