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This time, she bit off her words before making the claim. When she turned her face to the side to give him her profile, she’d sunk her teeth deep enough into her lower lip to leave a white ring on the plump flesh. Clearly, she needed rescue yet again.
She doesn’t want your assistance.When last he’d thought she needed it, she’d handled the matter with startling aplomb. Thaddeus held himself still, but it took a palpable effort not to grind his teeth.
Just lie and bloody well tell the man you’re meeting someone here.
But she didn’t do that. Instead, she caught his eye. Her smoldering gaze turned from furious to assessing, but he had no time to wonder at the change. She turned as swiftly away from him. Lifting her chin high enough that her bonnet slipped down the back of her head to expose the deeper tone of the damp hair beneath, she said, “I am not a woman traveling alone. I’m here with my husband, Mr.…” She hesitated a moment. “Mr. Crawford.”
So she was meeting someone here, after all. And how meekly she had sidestepped his question about whether or not she was married. Thaddeus should feel relieved that she would be well taken care of and he would have no part in it. Instead, he felt strangely disappointed.
No, he corrected himself. That strange gnawing sensation in his gut had to be hunger, not disappointment. He scarcely knew the lass.
But what he did know…
Then she turned to him, wisps of her hair escaping the confines of her bonnet and pins to curl in disarray around her cheeks. Her bright auburn hair gleamed with shadows of burnished copper and gold. Her eyes were wide, her lips parted, the color high in her cheeks.
He knew that look and it made his gut twist into knots. The expression in her eyes beckoned him over. The lass truly had the most astoundingly lovely eyes. Apparently, Lady Perdie wasn’t to be rid of him just yet. Unless he was being fanciful and willing to find any excuse to remain in her presence.
Damn it!
* * *
Perdie was exhausted,cold, hungry, and was tempted to withdraw the blade from her walking stick and threaten the innkeeper. Perhaps a little nick at his throat. The man was outrageous and most unkind. It was clear she was a respectable female, but he would not rent to her because she had no gentleman at her side. Perdie wanted to lash out, but she took a steady breath and retained her composure. The raucous sounds of laughter and snatches of song filled the night air from the patrons. Something that smelled mouth-wateringly delicious, the aroma of roasted beef, was also redolent on the air, and mortifyingly her belly rumbled.
When last had she eaten? And Felicity and Hattie? Perdie might be the youngest amongst them all, but it was her responsibility to take care of them. It was she who had fled, and she very well knew it was out of love and concern for her that they had accompanied her. Perdie could not let them sleep outside in the cold and uncomfortable carriage with no food in their bellies.
That had been her improper and exhausted musings when she had felt the heat of Thaddeus’s eyes on her person. Without looking, Perdie had known it was Thaddeus. Once he was close, it was almost as if she felt him—her body responded in the most peculiar manner, her skin felt warm, her heart raced frightfully fast. But the weirdest sensation was the tight, twisting ache low in her belly. The anomaly of her reactions perplexed her and certainly made her wary.
Shifting slightly, she stared at him. There he stood, watching her, as if he were undecided if he should venture over. The idea, wicked and terrible sparked inside then, and she uttered her first lie to the innkeeper. “I am not a woman traveling alone. I’m here with my husband…Mr. Crawford.”
Perdie had spoken decidedly, and the words seemed so strange on her tongue.
A fake husband would surely solve the problem. But would Thaddeus go along with her chicanery?
The innkeeper slanted her an incredulous glance, and his rheumy eyes swept the space behind her.
“I see no husband,” he clipped, his lips twisting in a sneer.
Perdie lifted her hand, crooking a gloved finger to Thaddeus. His brow lifted, his gaze narrowed, and a small little smile touched his mouth.
Oh, what was he thinking?
As their eyes met, she felt a shock run through her. Thaddeus was unlike any man she had dealt with in the past. A part of him reminded her of her brother, the duke. Thaddeus was most certainly less stern and arrogant. The man was charming, and clearly enjoyed teasing her. He was also quick to smile, even if his eyes were watchful, shrewd, and perhaps a bit cunning.
Perhaps it was the way he walked. Coming over to her now, he strolled with such confidence and innate grace, he appeared a man certain of his inherent power and privilege in life. A man of status. But that could not be right. Surely if he were a lord he would say so.
When he started walking over to her, she took a slow, deep breath and allowed her mouth to curve into a smile. It would hint of familiarity to anyone looking on, perhaps intimacy.
His eyes flared, and to her alarm they gleamed with the promise of carnality. Perdie was barely able to contain her gasp of surprise.
Perhaps her smile had been too flirtatious.
He looked tough, lean, and sinewy, and he carried himself with a commanding air of assertiveness. Thaddeus drifted closer, and despite the iciness of the night, he brought warmth with him. As he came up beside her, Perdie could not escape the feeling that with him she was safe, protected.
Stop being silly, she silently chided herself. This man is a stranger, and it is best I rely on my own ingenuity. Yet it was the kindness which he had shown her that she now relied on and trusted.
He stopped at her side, his unfathomable gaze staring down at her. “Perdie,” he murmured. “Is all well?”
A tumble of confused thoughts and feelings assailed, and Perdie worked to show an unaffected countenance. Perdie touched his arm and smiled. “Here he is now,” she said to the innkeeper while holding Thaddeus’s stare. “This man is my husband.”
