I’d like to show you just how bad I can be.
“No, I’m the nice Kendrick. Ask anyone.”
He caught her glimmer of a smile. “I have not forgotten how truly nice you are, sir.”
That sounded . . . tepid.
They walked in silence but for their footsteps crunching on the gravel. A soft breeze wafted about them as flower beds gave way to shrubbery and a stand of oaks lining the path. After a few minutes, they reached a small gazebo overlooking a pond. It was a charming scene and decidedly intimate.
You’re in trouble now, mate.
Kade ignored the warning voice in his head.
“So what are you going to do?” he asked as she led him up the steps.
Charlie flopped down onto a cushioned bench that ringed the inside of the gazebo. “Hold my ground, I suppose. Papa has the bit between his teeth, and I’m not sure if even my mother can pry it loose this time. Not that she’ll want to, once she’s thought about it. She can’t wait to marry me off.”
He propped a shoulder against the wrought iron column at the entrance, refusing to give in to the temptation to sit next to her. “That’s rather dreadful.”
Charlie curled her legs up under her skirts and leaned an arm along the railing as she gazed out over the water. In the deepening dusk, somehow she seemed very alone at the moment.
“I can’t really blame them, sinceI’mrather dreadful. They’ve been very patient with me, especially my father.”
The touch of sadness in her voice twisted his heart. Tossing his caution into the pond, Kade went over and sat next to her.
Charlie twisted a bit to glance up at him, her eyes shadowed and full of hidden depths. She wasimpossiblybeautiful.
Kade took her hand. “You are the opposite of dreadful. You are smart, funny, and very talented. Your parents are beyond fortunate to have such a splendid daughter.”
She blinked a few times, as if startled by his praise. Then she flashed a quicksilver smile. “Perhaps you could give them a recommendation? They might actually listen to it, coming from you.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
She squeezed his fingers before pulling her hand free.
And thank God.
He was—they were—courting enough trouble as it was.
“And what about you, Mr. Kendrick?” she asked in a lighter tone. “Are you going to join in the infamous treasure hunt, or do you intend to flee our fair shores? I recommend the latter. Life is only bound to get more ridiculous in the days ahead.”
While she undoubtedly appreciated the absurdity of the situation, Kade also heard something else—embarrassment. Underneath her rather brash exterior lurked a sensitive soul, one that took refuge in music and nature. No one in her family understood her. That such knowledge pained her was evident, at least to him.
Kade knew what it was like to feel alone, even when surrounded by people who loved you. Sometimes, even with the best of intentions, love didn’t always know or understand.
He gently turned her to face him. “I told you that I would help you, and I meant it.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. Then she crinkled her nose. “You do realize that Papa will think you’re in the hunt for my hand. Or, properly speaking, my dowry.”
“Charlie, I don’t need your dowry,” he gruffly replied.
And what the hell did he mean by that?
Kade found that he didn’t give a damn. Charlie looked so beguiling in the soft light of a just-rising moon that all he could think about was kissing her.
He started to dip his head. She breathed out a fluttery sigh and tilted her chin up, as if to meet him. Her lips parted, and—
“Och, finally. I’ve been lookin’ all over for ye,” intruded a most unwelcome voice.
