The Saxon Brides: Mistaken Mistress

He nodded.

She clicked. “You should’ve gone home. That chair must’ve been terribly uncomfortable. Did you get any sleep?”

He came closer, till he stood beside the hospital bed. “Not much. There’s a lot on my mind.”

She could imagine. Joshua took his responsibilities seriously. And right now they must be piling up almost out of control. Saxon’s Folly took up a huge chunk of his time. He had his parents’ emotional well-being to look after … and Kay had told her that he was the executor of Roland’s estate. And beyond that lurked the threat of scandal about the tastings in the wine competition. No wonder he looked drained. All those matters must weigh heavily on his mind.

His eyes scanned her face, inspecting every feature, until Alyssa started to feel self-conscious. “What is it? What are you thinking about?”

The dark eyes met hers squarely. “You told me once that you loved my brother a great deal.”

He seemed to expect a reply. Alyssa swallowed hard, not knowing what to say. At last, she simply nodded.

“But you let me kiss you.” He brushed her lips with his fingertips. “Here. And here.” His fingers skimmed her neck, touching the base of her throat.

“Joshua!” Eyes stretched wide, she objected to his touch.

His hand moved to rest on the covers beside her. “I’d like to think that you would not have responded to me like that if you loved Roland.”

“I loved him.” It was a squeak of sound. Alyssa found that she couldn’t hold his gaze. She glanced down. His hand lay on the crisp white bedcovers. She jumped as he lifted it and placed a finger under her chin.

Tilting her head, he looked down into her eyes and asked, “Did you ever sleep with Roland?”

Her pulse started to hammer. She swallowed nervously. “What kind of a question is that?”

“Answer me.”

She shook her head.

Something gave in the bleak, black gaze. “Now we’re making progress. I don’t believe that you’d sleep with one man, and then respond to me like you did down at the waterfall so soon after his death. Not if you really loved him—not with your black-and-white views of the world. Not even because of grief.”