He bit back another scathing rebuttal that he wasnotblushing. “Are those the photographs you took last night?”
“They are indeed. A list of names. Come around and look at them.”
He did so, standing near enough to her to inhale the clean fragrance of her, as well as the light scent of a recently unfurled rose. She’d also bathed, and he fought against envisioning her in that tub with dewdrops rolling along her flesh. He concentrated instead on the captured images. A list of words:Duck. Cannon. March.“I’m not certain what I’m looking at.”
“It’s supposed to be the names of those involved in the plot. Apparently, they’ve been given alternative designations, perhaps in an effort to make them more difficult to identify. Although I’m not certain they’re quite as clever as they think. Look here.” Moving so her arm pressed against his, she rested a perfectly manicured finger beneath a word. “Wolf. You or your father?”
“Obviously my father. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. In addition, it’s scratched through, no doubt symbolizing he’s no longer a party to their shenanigans.”
“A couple of other names are scratched through as well.”
“There must be close to two dozen names here. I’d not expected so many to be involved.”
“I don’t believe there are that many. I think some are false names, a means to trip us up, to have us searching for ghosts. Or else the entire document is designed to have us chasing our tails. It was too easy to find.”
He wondered if her use ofusreferred to the two of them or to whomever she worked with before he came along. She and Brewster, perhaps. He didn’t much like being excluded from her little group. Moving away from him, much to his disappointment, she lowered herself to the chair she’d no doubt shoved away from the desk earlier to give herself room to stand. He settled a hip on the edge of the desk. “How did you even know where to look?”
She shrugged. “The one to whom I report suggested I might find something in the study, that perhaps Podmore is involved. Hiding places in desks are not uncommon. But they are not usually so easy to locate. I suspect it would take you at least an hour to ferret out the one in my desk.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“If you want it to be.”
He was tempted, might have even taken on the task if his stomach hadn’t decided at that precise moment to growl like a ravenous wolf.
She lifted a finely arched brow. “Have you not eaten?”
“I wanted to see what you were up to first.” And he’d wanted to reassure himself that herwound hadn’t laid her low, that she was recovering. He’d needed to know she was well, even as it irritated him that she dominated his thoughts.
“We should see you fed before you leave.”
He shouldn’t be bothered that she was ready to toss him out, but he was. “I’m not fully healed yet.”
“You don’t seem the worse for wear.”
“If we’re going to work together, it seems beneficial for me to stay within easy reach. Besides, I have questions yet.” He sighed. “And I’ve nowhere else to go.”
“Your brother. Or your sister. She’s a countess, for God’s sake. I daresay there is plenty of room in her dwelling.”
“I don’t want to risk placing either of them in danger, although I did leave my clothing with Griff.” He spread his arms slightly, his shoulder limiting his movements. “I’m wearing his evening attire.”
She gave him a hard look. “Just so you understand, I am not the scarlet woman you’ve assumed me to be. If you remain here, our relationship is purely business and nothing more.”
He gave a curt nod. “I would expect no less.” Which was a lie. He’d been hoping for more. He returned his attention to the items on her desk. “What are you going to do with these?”
“Take them to O—”
“O?”
“My contact, to see if he can determine what they mean.”
“I’ll go with you then, shall I?”
“If I said no, would you follow me?”
“Absolutely.”
Her smile of pleasure was stunning. “I’d have expected no less of you.”
