HERE WE ARE, only a day behind them, and we didn’t have to toss the cannon overboard,” Tyrus said as he came to stand beside Boyd at the rail.
Boyd didn’t take his eyes off the busy London wharf to glance down at the shorter man. The Oceanus, like many other ships anchored in the Thames, would have to wait its turn to dock, which would take days. That was why a skiff was already being lowered to take him and some of the crew ashore now. Not for the first time, he thought Skylark should buy a private dock away from the congestion of the city.
He knew Tyrus made the cannon remark to get a grin out of him. It didn’t work.
“If I thought it would have got us here more quickly, I probably would have ordered the cannon tossed over the side. They probably arrived here more than a day ago—that was a damn fast ship Malory had. But it doesn’t matter. Katey will be ensconced at her father’s house, so there’s no point in even trying to see her.”
“Is that going to stop you?”
Now that did get a grin out of Boyd. “Not a chance. But you know how the Malorys are. I’ve grouched about them enough times to you. So I think I need a little ammunition on my side in the form of my sister. At least Georgie can keep James out of it. Anthony I can handle, but not him and his brother together.”
“I hate to mention it, bucko, but your real opposition is going to be the little lady herself. I warned you not to sneak her off the ship like that, but having done so, you should have been straight up about it.”
“I was going to tell her before you arrived at the island, but the pirates showed up first. Hell, the night I took her off the ship I didn’t even think I’d get her all the way to shore before she woke up, but when I did, I was so relieved not to be in the middle of a very long argument with her that I relaxed and got some sleep myself. I only woke a little while before she did, so on the spur of the moment I spun a crazy tale to account for us being there. I figured she’d find it amusing later, since she’s so good at spinning tales herself. She might even have thought it was romantic on my part.” Tyrus snorted at that, to which Boyd added, “Some women might have seen it that way. Of course, I thought I’d have her agreement to marry me by then, too.”
“Did you tell her that?”
“Hell no. Her finding out before I could mention it took all amusement out of it. Besides, she wasn’t believing anything I said by then.”
As soon as Katey left The Oceanus for The Maiden George, he’d regretted not having made a full confession to Katey. That’s why he’d gotten so furious with the Malorys once he caught up to them, because they wouldn’t even let him see her so he could tell her that. He still didn’t think she’d believe him. She’d been too angry. But he’d wanted to at least try before the seasickness brought him to his knees.
But for the first time ever, he didn’t get seasick as soon as his ship sailed. Was the extreme emotion he’d been in the throes of responsible for that? Or was it the beating Anthony had given him? No, he doubted the latter. He’d sailed before after having a good fight with one of his brothers, and a few aches and pains hadn’t stopped the nausea from overtaking him then.
Besides, the punches that Anthony had delivered were nothing he couldn’t shrug off. He’d had worse from his brothers. He might have been knocked out briefly, but he’d managed to easily block the punches that could have broken bones.
He’d expected much worse from Anthony, so he had a feeling the older man had held back, and the reason was pretty obvious. Anthony assumed he’d gotten there in time to stop “the seduction,” so he’d just administered a mere warning with his fists.
But did they know now? It was possible. Katey had just spent a lot of time with them and could have mentioned it. Boyd could be walking right into a situation where his head would be blown off by an angry father. God, why did Katey have to turn out to be a Malory? It was bad enough when the family had merely been grateful to her for rescuing Judith. But now she was one of their own, and the Malorys went above and beyond when it came to family.
* * *
“No,” Georgina said flatly to Boyd a few hours later when he’d reached her house in Berkeley Square. “You’re lucky I don’t take a whip to you m’self. I’m not protecting you from James, not this time.”
Which didn’t bode well for Boyd if that was her first reaction to his remark. All he’d done was kiss her hello and tell her he might need her help. He should have taken better note of her surprise at his sudden presence in her parlor, as if she’d thought he wouldn’t dare show his face there.
With a sigh, he sat down next to her on the sofa. “What did your husband tell you?”
“That you intended to seduce that sweet girl on that trip and they got her out of your clutches before you could. But then I already knew that was your intention when they sailed off after you. You should have seen Tony. He was a volcano about to erupt.”
Boyd rolled his eyes. “Yes, I know. He erupted on me.”
A moment of sisterly concern filled her expression. “Did he hurt you?”
“Not really.”
“He’s losing his touch?”
He had to laugh at that. “That’s doubtful. But I’m guessing James failed to mention the seduction was his and Anthony’s idea?”
She pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare try that tactic with me, Boyd Anderson. You’re not passing the buck.”
He chuckled at her. “It’s true, you know. I asked for their help, and seduction was the first thing that came to their minds, but then that is their forte, so that’s understandable. But the fact is, I wanted to marry Katey before we even sailed off together. Hell, I wanted to marry her from the day I first met her!”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before you sailed?” she demanded.
“Because I wanted Katey so much, I wasn’t thinking straight back then.”
Georgina gave him a disapproving look, but asked, “And that’s not going to get in the way now?”
“No.”
She gasped in understanding, “Oh my God, you better hope James doesn’t find out.”
“Find out what?” James asked from the doorway.