“But it’s help I donotneed. Surely I can wait to be picked up when they drop off supplies.”
“Mr.—” She suddenly realized she had no idea what his name was.
“Mr. Runington,” he said, looking pleased to finally tell her. “Zadock Archibald Runington.”
She almost twitched in annoyance. Had sheasked? Though that was hardly fair, since her pause was nearly an ask of its own.
He continued, “I’m afraid I still do not know your full name, Miss Wains.”
“Because Miss Wains will more than suffice. Mr. Runington, do you not realize the supplies would not come for several weeks? And I must say I do not have sufficient food for two of us for that long.” Especially since she’d been sharing a lot with Kallias, though he did make up for it by bringing a lot of fish. “Moreover, it is not simply about you. I need to report the shipwreck so that others can be on the lookout for your crewmates.”
He sat up and rolled his eyes. “I’m telling you they’ll be fine.Youwon’t be though, breaking protocol like this.”
“I’m not breaking protocol! I’m doing my job!”
“Oh?” She could have sworn his eyes said ‘a job you shouldn’t have.’ And his next words confirmed it. “Miss Wains, you really shouldn’t have this job at all. Come back to the mainland with me. Since you saved me, I’ll be your provider. I’ll get you everything you’ve ever wanted—”
“Stop.”
“—dresses, diamonds, jewels. A beautiful woman—”
“Stop.”
“—like yourself doesn’t belong in some no name place like—”
“Mr. Runington, please.”
“—this lighthouse or the backwater towns around here. You wouldn’t lock a flower in a vault, would you? No, you belong in the city, with a man on your arm. A man like me.”
“Mr. Runington!”
“What?” he replied innocently. “Your beauty is immense, my dear. Like the flames of God have descended from above.”
She was too shocked to even speak. She wasn’t quite sure what this was, but had three men really propositioned her?
“Mr. Runington—”
“Zadock, please.”
“Mr. Runington,” she said again, quite pointedly. “I am flattered, truly, but I fear there has been some sort of misunderstanding.” She swallowed, trying to think carefully over the words. “I understand you’re offering me a reward of what you think to be the highest quality, but I am quite content here at this lighthouse.”
“That’s preposterous!” He stood for all of half a second before his head seemed to swirl, and reaching back for the couch, he sat again. “You don’t belong in a place like this.”
“I very much do. I thank you for the offer but—”
“But nothing! If you are still mad about yesterday’s remarks, I do hope you can see that I was half delirious from blood loss. What I meant then was to be no insult but to say what I am now: that someone so stunning must come to the city. It simply will not do.”
“It will do, thank you. Mr. Runington, you know nothing about me but my face. And while I am certain you would find me a good match in the city”—she watched his eyes to confirm that yes, he did consider himself that match—“I do not wish it. I do not like crowds. I like nature. I like the quiet and the solitude—”
“You only say that because you have not seen how much better it is.”
“—and I have no intentions of wedding.”
That, finally, got him to shut up.
“So thank you again for the offer, but I really must ask—”
He stood again, so abruptly she stopped speaking and with so much vehemence that head swirl or not, he would not be stopped, and he took several—she thought aggressive—steps toward her. She backed up accordingly.
