The smile that stretched his full lips was all predatory, sending a shivering chill down my back. “Of course. Take all the time you want.” He kissed my forehead gently before walking away and leaving me confused. But unhurt, admittedly.
As I walked back to the dining hall, I brushed past a table where Mrs Morrison was having dinner with a short, boyish man. She gazed up and shot me a glare of pure hatred before leaning closer to the man and whispering something. He turned towards me, then to her, his cheeks flushing.
“I’ve never seen that woman before, darling. I swear it,” the man said.
“She said she danced with you,” Mrs Morrison said.
I slowed my pace. Wait. Was the man Mrs Morrison’s husband? Edward?
“Excuse me,” I said to the not-so-happy couple. “Mrs Morrison, is this man your husband Edward?”
“Of course he is,” she said at the same time he said, “I’ve never danced with you.”
A new headache started to pound in my temples. What in blazes was going on? “You’re right. I’m sorry. I think I’ve made a mistake.” Blazes, the man couldn’t possibly be mistaken for Edward. If the name of the man I’d danced with was Edward. I flashed a smile and scurried away before Mr and Mrs Morrison could ask me more questions and drag me into their marital problems. I headed to Rennie’s table, the room spinning a little.
The scowl on his face softened when he peered at me, standing up. “Do you feel better?”
I massaged my forehead. “Actually, no. I’ve just met Sandro.”
“What?” He scanned the hall. “Where is he? How did he come here?”
“I don’t know, and before you ask, no, I didn’t help him. His presence surprised me as much as it surprises you.”
“It can’t be,” he muttered through his teeth.
“I just wish to lie down and sleep.”
He folded his napkin and took my elbow. “I’ll take you to your room.”
I let him lead me to my cabin, his arm coiling protectively around my waist. The contact with him felt familiar and comforting. Everyone was lying or keeping secrets from me, and I couldn’t understand whom I should trust, but Rennie cared about me. It was something.
Rennie’s bag and satchel were lying in a corner in my cabin, a sign he meant to stay here. When his arm released me, a tiny pang of disappointment stung my chest.
“Do you have a screen?” he asked.
“No.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll turn around then and give you some privacy while you change.” Facing the wall, he opened his satchel and rummaged through it.
I unbuttoned my shirt and untied my skirt and petticoats. Somehow the fact he could hear the swish of fabric as I undressed and knew what I was doing started an illicit pulse between my legs. I washed using the cold water in the basin and a bar of soap, then I slid into my apparently transparent pink nightgown. While I washed and changed, he didn’t pay me the slightest bit of attention, but kept reading a stack of documents, his broad shoulders facing me.
When I was tucked under the quilt, I cleared my throat. “You can look now.”
He turned around without glancing at me and checked that the door was locked. “Do you mind if I leave the light on for a while?”
“No, I don’t.”
He settled himself in his usual spot on the floor with his back to the door and kept reading.
“What are you reading?” I asked, propping myself on my elbows.
“A scientific document.” A deep line creased his brow.
“Why does every answer you give me have to be so enigmatic?”
“Because the situation we are in is complicated.” He flipped through a page.
“You can’t possibly be comfortable on the floor.” I didn’t like the distance between us.
