“No need.” His gaze met hers. “I told them you are my wife.”
Her jaw slackened. “That is awfully presumptuous of you.”
“You say presumptuous, I say optimistic.” He plopped down into a chair. “It couldn’t be helped.”
Harriet wanted to club the man over the head with a fire poker. Where did the man get his confidence from?
So infuriating.
She turned her back to him. She didn’t want to stare at his unnecessarily handsome face.
What to do next?Would screaming into the bed pillow help? Pummeling it with her fists? She opted for falling back onto the bed and staring at the ceiling.
“Harriet?”
She turned her head to the man. “If I ask you to leave, will you?”
He sat back and threw an arm over his eyes. “I can’t do that,” he whispered.
“I meant the room, not me.”
He peered at her from beneath his arm. She caught a flash of amusement in his eyes. “Will you climb through the window once I leave?”
“We are on the third floor.” She grinned. “Perhaps.”
She caught the quick quirk of his lips.
“Shall I give you a moment then?”
His voice was tired, and he looked as weary as she felt. She was not completely unfeeling—let them both have a reprieve for the night. The knowledge that he would give her a bit of space enough for now.
“No need.” She returned her gaze to the wood beam that crossed the ceiling. “I do have a question though. Is jumping into a river to swim after a ship not a tad too much? What if the captain hadn’t helped you?”
“What did you expect me to do?”
“Board another ship to give chase. Hire people to retrieve me.”
“I’d never do that.” A small pause. “I’d never hire someone else to do a job that belongs to me.”
Harriet went hot all over.
Words such as that could rob a woman of her breath!
She cleared her throat. “Just so that we are clear, you are sharing the floor with Calstone.”
“As you wish.”
The man’s soul hadn’t fully turned to black coal yet. A drop of decency remained. And some peace did return to her heart at his answer.
Her eyes drifted shut.
Why was it that the more she conversed with him, the moregentlemanlyhe seemed to become? So unlike the man that hadn’t even thought to speak to her before he waved a special license in her face.
“Are you all right, love?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not just saying that, are you?”
