With a deep sigh, Cora turned on her back, staring at the ceiling. She had been tossing and turning for a while now. She was thrown from feeling deep sorrow thinking of her father to utterly excited remembering the kiss she and Robert shared.
Martha had insisted Robert got a room on the other side of the house. Cora had tried to convince her mother to let him sleep with her. But she had refused to listen.
The look of disgust on her mother's face was almost scary. When Robert introduced himself. Martha had gone to bed directly after, pulling up her nose.
Cora turned on her side and tried to fall asleep. But she felt instantly that it would not work. She threw the covers off her and got up. Her nightgown was lying on the chair next to her bed. But she did not find her slippers. Cora did not want to turn on the lights and decided to leave them.
Barefoot she walked into the hallway and crossed the length of the house. Harold had told her where Robert would sleep. Very soft she opened his door and heard his snoring. As quietly as possible she walked towards the bed Robert was sleeping in.
She crawled under the covers and scooted closer. His back was turned towards her. Cora was not sure if he was still asleep, his snoring had stopped. She pulled the pillow closer to his and rested her hand against his back.
"Cora?" Robert's sleepy voice sounded, while he turned around. "Is everything alright?"
"I cannot sleep and I wanted to be with you." She answered, resting her hand on his arm.
"Can I help you to fall asleep. Do you want to talk?"
Cora scooted closer, so her body was touching Robert's. She pressed her lips on Robert's. "No, I do not want to talk." With her finger, she moved over his jaw and neck. She then continued her movements down over his chest, pulling at the buttons.
Robert stopped her movements with his hand. "You need your sleep darling." He squeezed her hand.
Cora moaned, why was Robert holding her off? Was he doubting his decision? "You do not want me?" her voice cracked.
"Cora, there is nothing more that I want than to be together with you. But you just lost your father and there will be very busy days ahead of you." He paused and stroked with his hand over Cora's cheek, and pressed a kiss on her nose. "Besides that I want our first time to be special."
"I guess you are right," Cora said reluctantly.
Robert pressed his lips on Cora's. "We will have so much to discover together, let us not rush things." He kissed her again, a little bit longer.
Cora bit his lip playfully. "My father always said: 'Do not let any moment get to waste.' So we could follow his advice to honor him."
Robert could not help it and laughed out loud.
"What?" Cora said annoyed, pushing herself back.
"Well." Robert started a bit unsure how to formulate this without hurting Cora.
The it dawned on her and Cora felt her cheeks colour. "It is maybe a little awkward." She chuckled.
Robert could not resist pressing another kiss on Cora's perfect lips. "You are irresistible, that is one thing I can tell you. But let us get our much-needed rest."
Cora kissed Robert once more, curled herself into a ball and closed her eyes. Robert shifted a little bit, so he was lying more comfortably.
"Can we have a chat, after you finish your breakfast?" Harold asked.
Robert and Cora were still eating their breakfast. It was late in the morning. Robert had set his alarm at 07.30, but Cora turned it off once it rang. Cuddled into Robert and they slept for several more hours.
"What is it about?" Cora asked.
Harold looked confused, shook his head and said. "I did not mean with you. I want to have a chat with Robert.
Cora saw Robert's eyebrows rise and a worried look dawned on his face. Cora winked at him and said very softly. "He will not bite."
Robert got up while walking out of the room, he briefly put his hand on Cora's back. This gesture made her choke up. She quickly turned her head, so Robert would not see her glistering eyes.
"Do you want something to drink?" Harold asked while offering Robert a seat. Harold took him into an office, he suspected it was Isidor's office. Although Robert was not sure Harold moved out, so it could also be his own office.
"I am alright, thank you." He answered.
"We have a kettle, so tea will not be made in the microwave." Harold joked.
"In that case, a cup of tea would be nice."
Harold rang for tea and then turned back to Robert. "I told the maids to keep quiet about last night." He winked.
"Cora came to my room, I did not invite her."
"Even if you had, I would not mind. It is my mother who would disagree. But that is not why I asked you here. As you know by now, Cora was sent to England to find a guy with a title."
"That is why Mrs. Levinson picked my father's company, I know," Robert answered, unsure where this conversation was going.
"Let us call her by her first name, Martha. When Cora told her that your title was not important and then your mother told her you were dating someone else, it was an easy decision to call Cora back home. But we now learned that that last part is not true. As I can see now, you like my sister."
"I like her very much and would do anything to protect her. I will be the last person on earth who wants to hurt her."
"If you do, I know where to find you." Harold smirked. "Can you tell me more about the estate?"
Cora was walking back to the home when she saw Robert approaching. Her heart skipped a beat and butterflies started to move around in her tummy. He was a very handsome man. Robert was wearing a dark brown suit, with a light blue dress shirt. It fitted him perfectly. When he came closer she could see that the colour of his shirt made his eyes pop.
Quickly she took her phone out and snapped a picture. That made Robert stop walking. Was he offended that she took a picture without asking?
"I am sorry." She murmured. "I will delete the picture.
"Oh no, I thought that it would be better for the picture if I was not walking and I want to take one of you. You look stunning."
Cora looked down, she was wearing dark blue jeans with a white blouse on top, nothing special. Her curls were in a half-up do. She smiled at him and that moment he took the picture.
"Perfect!" He exclaimed, walking towards her. When he reached her, he took her face in his hands and pressed a tender kiss on her lips. Cora felt her knees go weak, and she had to grab his upper arms.
"Are you alright?" He asked worried.
Cora nodded. "I am, you just surprised me with this kiss."
Robert pressed another kiss on her mouth and murmured. "I will kiss you many, many more times if it is up to me." His hand glided towards the small of her back, pressing her close to him.
"What did Harold tell you?" Cora asked, her hands now resting on his sides.
"You, your mother and Harold will need a very good talk. I am afraid, they need to be the one telling you this and you need to decide if you agree or not."
Cora felt her heart grow cold. "Robert, what do you mean? Please can you tell me? You worry me."
Robert shook his head. "I cannot. This is not up to me to tell you." He saw Cora's face getting very pale. He cupped her face with one hand. "Please do not worry, it is nothing bad. And I think we can work with his proposal. But again, it is not up to me to tell you this."
"I wanted to go for a walk with you and show the garden."
Robert brushed with his nose over Cora's. "You can show me later, you better go inside and talk with them."
Cora put her hands on Robert's stomach and looked up to him."Will you still take me back to England?"
"At this moment that is up to you. Now," he softly pushed her towards the house. "Go inside and hear what they have to say."