back and forth to calm the squall

Isla nods her gentle agreement, gazing pointedly at the buttons on his shirt even as Varus wraps his arms back around her. "I had just done my rounds a few minutes before, too," she murmurs. "I would have seen if anything was awry. And it all started so quickly..." Nibbling on her lower lip, she forces herself to let go of the what ifs, stepping back away from him so he can unsuccessfully look for teacups. "Even as a duchess, I don't think I have ever had a personal bodyguard before," she remarks, reaching into the cupboard above their heads and bouncing her eyebrows at him playfully as she takes down her jar of tea and two cups, setting them on the countertop. "I suppose having you blend in with things would be an advantage," she murmurs, "but I'd quite like it if you were inside the house, rather than outside of it. I find the conversation travels better in the open air, rather than through doors." ISLA when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die