But that wasn’t what caused the hole in her heart.
She thought about Catie, about the way she looked at Valentine, and the way he looked at her, too. It was obvious to anyone who saw them that they were in love. It was patently clear that they completed one another. That together, they were so much more than alone.
But Josie didn’t want a husband. She wanted to be free, to be independent. And she certainly didn’t want a husband like Westman. He could please her in bed, but would he ever please her anywhere else?
She’d grown up under the autocratic rule of men like her father. She didn’t need to bind herself to another in hopes of filling up some imaginary hole in her heart.
She was not thinking straight. She must be tired, after traveling all day and much of the night, having slept only in the small snatches she could catch in Valentine’s jouncing coach. She was exhausted and keyed up about her adventure. That was all this pondering and musing was. She would feel better after she had rested.
A few hours’ sleep would be the end of musings about a hole in her heart. There was no hole. Everything was perfect, and if she were smart, she would get some rest before Westman awoke and they started for Cornwall. She had a big adventure ahead of her.
But Josie couldn’t sleep.
Beside her Westman slept heavily and soundly. His arm pinned her to the bed, and it took a good five minutes to extricate her body. It was full morning now. She could hear the noise of horses in the stable yard, smell the scents of baked bread and frying ham, and feel the rising sun chase away the cold from the room. She sat on the edge of the bed and contemplated her clothing.
The boy’s shirt, trousers, and cap were comfortable, but they garnered her strange looks when people realized she was not actually a boy. The innkeeper here had tried to run her off last night before Valentine’s man had stepped in and vouched for her.
Josie almost wished she had a dress, though it wouldn’t serve her very well while she explored shorelines and secret caves. Still, it would be another full day and then some of travel, and a dress would make her life easier in the interim. She was about to lift her trousers and shirt from the floor when something beneath the pillow where she’d been lying caught her eye.
So this was where Westman had hidden the map. She glanced at him, still sleeping with a lock of brown hair over his forehead. He looked young in his sleep, young and deceptively innocent.
She opened the map, paired the pieces, and studied the landmarks given. How would they ever find the treasure with such scanty information? They might have to search for years to find three islands or rocks or whatever those landmarks on the map were. And what if rocks that had been off the shore in 1760 had eroded beneath the waves by 1811? Did erosion work that quickly?
“Not planning to abscond with the map and leave me without a partner, are you?” Westman asked.
She turned at his voice and couldn’t help smiling at him when she saw him watching her sleepily. A shaft of sunlight ran along his hair, highlighting the strands of auburn woven with the chestnut.
“Leave you? Never.” She leaned forward and kissed him. She’d meant it to be a light kiss, a friendly good morning, but Westman changed the tone as soon as her lips were on his.
The back of his hand cupped her neck, and he held her tightly and kissed her with a passion that took her breath away. Apparently, he did not regret the events of a few hours before.
When he released her, she didn’t pull back right away. Instead, she memorized the dark flecks in his amazing blue eyes, traced a finger over the fine lines in his forehead, and tapped his nose lightly with hers.
Had she ever imagined that she would be with a man as handsome or skilled as he? That she would feel so happy to have a man wake in the morning and want to kiss her? That she would feel content just to look in his eyes?
Finally, she pulled away. She needed distance before she became too attached. But Westman didn’t allow her to go far. He grabbed her hand when she stood to dress and pulled her back down on the bed.
“I like you far too well in what you’re wearing right now to allow you a change of clothing.”
She snorted. “I’m not wearing anything.”
“Let’s keep it that way a bit longer.” He pulled her in for another kiss, and Josie was just beginning to enjoy it when she noticed the heat of the sun on her back.
“Westman,” she whispered against his cheek. “It’s getting late. Perhaps we should be off?”
“Treasure, treasure, treasure,” he murmured, caressing one of her legs with his fingers. “Is that all you can think about?”
“I don’t always think about treasure,” she protested. “Only for the last twelve years.”
He chuckled and pulled her close again. “I’ll get your mind off treasure.”
And she believed he could. He had done things to her last night, made her feel things, she had not known she could feel. And yet, she did feel the pressure to be on their way. Her parents were undoubtedly worried about her right now, and Catie was a very bad liar. She’d promised Josie to pen a note to Mavis Hale, saying that Josie would be staying with Lord and Lady Valentine for a few days. But Josie was under no illusions that her mother would approve the arrangement, and if her mother’s requests that Josie return home were not complied with, she just might take it upon herself to search Catie’s town house herself.
Not that she’d have to. Catie would probably tell all as soon as her aunt Mavis knocked on the door.
Josie knew her time could be running out this very minute. And yet, it was so hard to pull away from Westman. She could have stayed in his arms all day.
Reluctantly, she drew back. “Westman, we really should be going.”
