Chapter 69

“I don’t know. Perhaps about why the word ‘papa’ was so devastating to you?”

“Why would you want to know? Idle curiosity?”

“No. Quite frankly, Da’ric, I haven’t reacted to anyone like this in years, and then only—” He shook his head, let me go, and searched his pockets for a handkerchief. Gently he dried my cheeks, then handed me the linen square so I could blow my nose. “As odd as it may seem to you, Yank—” the term was like a caress—”I don’t generally go around assaulting my house guests in the bath.”

I began to feel better. Apparently he wasn’t as controlled as he appeared. “Is that what you were doing?” I was about to return his handkerchief to him, then thought better of it.

He looked put out. “What would you call it if someone hauled you out of the bath and kissed you senseless?”