“Do you mean to wait until we’re in Edinburgh?” he protested. “We can leave them in Calais and they’ll figure out a way home.”
He was only half jesting.
“I’m serious, Evan. It’s just a few days. I don’t want to give them the wrong impression. This is meant to betemporary.”
It nettled, but it was the truth.
“I don’t want to make things any harder later. Adalyn and I have already begun to talk about possibilities with the cordial business. Beatrice offered to help secure tutors for Clarita and introduce me to some of her friends. Things are moving so fast.” She was being sensible and he was behaving like his cock had absolute reign over his mind and body.
“We have to be prudent,” she said against his lips, and it was truly pathetic how relieved he was that she wasn’t pulling away completely.
He kissed her, then let her go with a sigh.
“Iambeing prudent,” he retorted with absolute sincerity. “If I was doing what I actually want, you’d be horizontal on that chaise with me buried inside you, not talking about my blasted relatives.”
“Evan!” she gasped, but there was as much desire there as outrage.
“You’re probably right,” he groaned. “God knows my family has absolutely no decorum. They will likely be barging in here any minute like a pack of sodding rhinos.”
She grinned at that, and he caught the quick glance she shot at the ring on her finger. They smiled idiotically at each other until Evan’s prediction materialized into an extremely bothersome reality.
“We’ve been wondering where you were!” exclaimed a fresh-faced Adalyn as she entered the small parlor with her pack of barking throw pillows.
“Where else could we possibly be, Adalyn?” Evan asked in exasperation, while Luz Alana sent him a look that clearly saidThis is exactly what I was referring to.“We are on a moving train.” His sister ignored him and made her way to Luz Alana.
As annoyed as he was, he liked how much his sister and Luz Alana got on. “Oh, Evan—” Addy looked at him, eyes brimming with tears “—you gave her Mama’s ring.” Luz Alana bravely allowed Adalyn to tug on her limb as she examined the ring.
“It fits you perfectly, and itsuitsyou.”
His pretend bride-to-be nodded stiffly. Adalyn knew they were not actually engaged, which made her putting on that show much more irritating. Despite what she’d been through, his sister still believed she could will the things she wanted into being. If only that were true.
“Thank you,” Luz said a little too brightly, then swiftly directed Adalyn’s attention to less treacherous waters. “Did you want to look at the cordial recipes? I have my great-grandmother’s journal here,” she offered. Adalyn practically shrieked with enthusiasm, and the two of them ducked into the private bedchamber to retrieve the book. Evan would’ve sulked over the interruption, but Beatrice trampled in with her retinue of children, plus Clarita, Amaranta and Murdoch in tow.
In a matter of seconds there were Scots, Dominicans and Jamaicans sitting or lounging on seemingly every surface of the train car.
“Luz, mira, this spider can eat a goat in one gulp!” Clarita called from where she sat on the floor, holding up a book open to a page where there indeed was an illustration of a gigantic furry spider crawling up a palm frond with a live goat between one of its pincers.
“I don’t know if those are based on real creatures.” She shot a glare at Evan, who had presented her younger sister with the book that morning. The volume was supposed to be an “illustrated history of the wonderful and curious things of nature,” but so far Luz had been forced to behold depictions of steamship-sized, man-eating octopi and a creature that looked like a mix between a whale and a boar.
Evan, who was in his usual predator-in-repose sprawl on an armchair opposite Murdoch, nodded encouragingly at Clarita. He’d sat on the opposite side of the room to Luz, which she supposed was his way of heeding her request they refrain from any intimacy while in the company of his family. Except barely thirty minutes into the truce she’d imposed, she was ready to put an end to it.
The man was like a fever that she could not break, and what was worse, she was not certain she wanted to. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment, halting on his powerful thighs, one of which at the moment was bouncing a delighted baby Fiona. She let her gaze roam higher to his snowy-white shirt, which Luz knew hid sculpted muscle and that silky swirl of sable hair. Her heart raced as she recalled the way Evan had loomed over her when they’d made love. Ravenous for her. She heard a hitch of breath come from his direction and turned to find him staring at her with such naked lust that when he winked at her heat pooled between her legs. She had to force herself to look away.
An amused laugh from Amaranta pulled Luz’s attention back to Adalyn, who was sitting next to her on the small settee.
“Sorry,” she said, embarrassed. “Where were we?”
“I think these could be very popular, Luz Alana,” Adalyn said, pointing at Luz’s grandmother’s notes for a pineapple cordial, which involved soaking the rinds and core of the pineapple and cinnamon sticks in a mixture of rum and sugar. There would also be syrups without alcohol which Luz hoped would allow them to appeal to a wider market.
“I’m also considering experimenting with adverts that are aimed at ladies,” Luz added, glad to see that Adalyn could appreciate her vision. “My friend Manuela found some street advertisements in Paris. There is a new style of illustration using very floral and feminine designs. Many Parisians are using them to sell their liqueurs and confections. She knows a few artists she thinks could make some sketches for us.”
“Something easily identified.” Adalyn nodded, contemplating Luz’s ideas. “I adore it and love even more the thought of women in Hispaniola and Scotland and beyond all working to make a product that was created for women to be consumed by women.”
“Yes, that,” Luz said, unable to hide her excitement.
“My mother may be a useful collaborator, Luz,” Murdoch said from his perch next to Evan. “She’s very connected to West Indians tradespeople in Scotland and England.”
“That would be wonderful. I’m looking forward to meeting Mrs. Buchanan.”
