CHAPTER 29

  Lucien:

  Taking the opportunity to have a little down time, I padded across the carpet and sat next to her, the bed dipping on my side. Her dark eyes flickered to me, but her face remained in a frown. She held a pillow and book in her hands, her eyes darting from one object to the next.

  “Hi,” I said quietly, unsure how to start a conversation with her.

  Slowly, her gaze rose to me, hooded from her eyelids, and a small smile cracked on her lips.

  “Hi,” she said, her voice ever soft and raspy.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  She sighed, glancing at the book and pillow. “I’m contemplating the difference between snow white and beige."

  I picked it up and turned it to the cover. It was one of my older books on how to be a gentleman—a guide from the early 1800s—a gift from Jasmine.

  "Why?"