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“No.”
Pippa huffed a frustrated breath. “Why do you underestimate me?”
William stared at her hard. He stepped forward and tugged one of her fists from her hips, then turned her hand over and opened her palm. He traced each of her fingers, leaving behind pools of heat where he touched her.
William looked at her hand while he spoke. “I am certain you are capable of leading the entire company of men. It is not that I underestimate you, Pippa, but that I value you too much. I...I lost my mother to a gunshot from a revenue man. She should not have gone with my father that night, but he needed someone to look out, and she was willing.” He closed his eyes as if the pain from that memory had lashed him.
Pippa wanted to comfort him but didn’t know how. She could understand his hesitance now. She took his hand in both of hers and ran her fingers along his palm in the same way he had done for her. He looked up, surprised, but then smiled. “I want to protect you, Pippa, and you know as well as I that Mac would have my head if he learned of my allowing you to participate in these clandestine activities. If nothing else, it’s breaking the law.”
That made her bristle. “Mac is not my father.”
“No, but he loves you dearly, and in lieu of your father’s presence, I’m certain I shall have to gain his blessing to court you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. Court her? Good gracious, she would like that very much. Pippa’s knees grew weak from the soft touch of her finger on his palm. She wanted to close her fingers around his and tug him close.
“Would you like that, Pippa?”
“For you to speak to Mac?”
“For me to court you.”
“Oh, that.” She was dizzy from his touch. Which way was up? The trees were so tall, they blocked the sky, and she felt cloaked in shadows and warmth. “I suppose it would be all right.”
William laughed. “Your eagerness astounds me.”
“If I am too eager, you may run away.”
His free hand brushed a loose hair from her forehead. “That could not be further from the truth.”
“So if I were to tell you I was devastated when I believed you might be playing me for a fool, you would not think less of me?”
“On the contrary, it would fill me with hope.”
“I like the sound of that.”
William gripped her waist and pulled her closer, while his other hand held hers between them, flush against his chest. She felt the beating of his heart and the quickening of its rhythm.
“Now will you tell me when you plan to hold your smuggling evening?” she asked sweetly.
William’s face broke out in a smile, his blinding grin only inches from hers. “No.”
Pippa frowned. “You do not trust me.”
“No, I trust you. I just know that you will not stay away, and I would prefer to keep you safe. Have we not already gone over this?”
She frowned. “Why does Mr. Ainsworth believe he is collecting on a debt?”
“Because he is, in a way.”
Pippa tensed, and William did not loosen his hold on her. “He was chasing us on the coast in Dorset when we got into a bit of a battle, us smugglers against his revenue sloop. One of his men was shot and fell into the ocean, and Ainsworth holds us responsible.”
Pippa sucked in a quiet breath.
William held her gaze, and she detected pain in his light blue eyes. “We believe that Ainsworth doesn’t know who is specifically responsible for that shot, the only reason we have remained safe.”
“That is why you’ve come to Devon.”
William nodded. “But it is not why I plan to stay. My father and Roger will not remain much longer, but I intend to. I want to be finished with smuggling; if not for my brother Jack relying on us to unload his next shipment, I would be finished already.”
