Octavian had instantly shot to his feet, drawing her behind him, and at the same time reaching for his pistol. He now breathed a sigh of relief and quietly slipped his pistol back in the lip of his boot when the person turned out to be one of the inn’s maids rolling in a tea cart.
Completely harmless.
The maid caught sight of Octavian and cast him a beguiling smile. “Do you require anything more, my lord?”
“No, my wife and I have all we need.”
The girl eyed him suggestively again, then bobbed a curtsy and sashayed out, quietly closing the door behind her.
Syd regarded him thoughtfully. “Am I mistaken or was she making suggestive overtures to you?”
He grimaced. “You are not mistaken.”
“Did she not see me standing right behind you?” Syd was appalled by the brazenness of some women. Who would be so bold as to make such indecent advances to a man while that man’s wife was standing right beside him? That she and Octavian were not married was irrelevant since everyone thought they were.
“I don’t know. Perhaps you were too well hidden. I’m a big man.”
“And what am I? Little and shriveled? I did not think I was all that well hidden,” she grumbled and remained staring at him.
He sighed. “What, Syd?”
She blushed. “Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Going to take her up on her offer?”
“Are you jesting? Blessed saints, no. I have no intention of it. Women approach me all the time.”
“Oh, I see.” There was no denying he had the good looks to put women in a swoon. No other man had ever made her heart flutter, something he managed to do even when she was irritated with him.
“You seem to be the only one impervious to my charms,” he said with a wry arch of his brow. “Syd, we are supposedly married two days now. What sort of knave would I be to cheat on my new wife? But just to be clear, I would never be unfaithful, even to a pretend wife. Not ever. So put it out of your head at once.”
“All right. Thank you, Octavian.” She went to the cart and began to set out the light fare the brazen maid had brought up. In truth, she wanted to dump it all back out into the hallway, which was something she might have done had Octavian actually been married to her.
But this was her rash and impulsive self getting incensed when she really had no right to be. Octavian was being so wonderfully decent and honorable about their pretend marriage vows. His behavior mattered most, not that of a conniving stranger they would never see again.
Besides, had she not often behaved outrageously herself? Never in any lascivious way, of course. Nor would she ever blatantly proposition any man, much less a happily married one.Having talked herself into calming down, she poured each of them a cup of tea and addressed the comment he had made about her not liking him.
Was it not obvious that she cared for him very much and did not know what to do about it? “I am not impervious to your charms, Octavian. But I was raised to be a lady and taught never to show such feelings.”
He laughed. “You may have been raised a lady, but that has not stopped you from expressing your feelings or opinions or doing anything you like. You are a hoyden and a hellion.”
She tried not to feel wounded by the remark because it was true and he was stating it as fact without intention of being hurtful. “Is there a difference?”
“Probably not,” he said with a shrug, but not a moment later cast her a slow, lazy smile. “Are you suggesting that you find me attractive?”
“Of course, I do. A woman would have to blind not to notice how handsome you are. In fact, you are the handsomest man I have ever set eyes upon. What do you think of that?”
The comment obviously surprised him, but instead of continuing to smile at her, he frowned. “And still, you resent me.”
Her eyes widened. “I do not resent you!”
He shook his head. “You do, Syd. But let’s drop the discussion for now. I find myself suddenly hungry. What did they bring us?”
“Cold ham, tea cakes, cheese, and apples. I’ll set some on a plate for you.” She began to fuss with the appetizing fare while he settled into one of the two chairs beside a small table.
He had earlier removed the jacket of his uniform and now looked big and wonderful, his muscles straining against the white lawn of his shirt. How could any woman resist his superb body or those gorgeous, silver-gray eyes?
