“The clientele who frequented the Holcott-Fortney Inn were as prestigious as those who visited the Prince’s homes. Its stately stone and Corinthian column front as well as the grandeur of the Rococo décor inside were noted with superb detail all over England. It was considered the place to overnight or stay for months, if necessary, when in London. Dignitaries from all over the world had been welcomed beneath the roof for over fifty years.
Suites in the expensively ornamented inn weren’t spacious but Garrett had never found lodgings that were. It had never mattered. He never looked at where he was staying the night as home. Until now.
Julia had him thinking about dinner around a dining table, a game of chess in front of the fire, and waking up in the mornings beside a woman—a lady he cared for.
Garrett bypassed the dining area and walked into the card room. Wiley rose from the table where he was seated near an unlit fireplace. The room smelled of food, oil lamps, and freshly poured ale.
“It’s about time you showed up,” he offered with his usual good-natured smile.
“I’m lucky to have made it at all. I received word there was a problem with one of my ships in Southampton. Three of the men had come down with a fever. The captain was worried it might be something serious and infect the entire crew. I rode over there to check on them. Thankfully they were already getting better by the time I arrived, so I didn’t stay long.”
Wiley leaned back in his chair. “But you’re sure they don’t have anything contagious, right?”
“Claret,” Garrett said to the attendant who appeared at his side, and then looked back to Wiley. “I’m sure they do, but it’s not something that’s going to kill anyone. And don’t worry. I never boarded the ship.”
“Oh, well, that’s good.”
Garrett chuckled. “Tell me about Moorshavan—did you find out any more about him?”
“I found out it’s as if the man never existed. I checked the legal records and the house is registered to Mr. Moorshavan but he must have hightailed it back to Boston—where he said he was from, because no one in London has seen or heard from him since someone from the Lord Mayor’s office paid him a visit. I’m still waiting to hear from some of the men I talked to but I don’t know of any way to find Mr. Moorshavan other than hire someone to sail to Boston and look for him there.”
And that’s exactly what Garrett would do if it turned out the duke didn’t own the property. He intended to buy that house and tear it down because of what it represented to him—a life of never owning anything, never working for what you wanted, and always being beholden to family for every penny of your existence. He was going to build his new house there where he would live as a gentleman and a tradesman.
Garrett took a sip from the wine the attendant put in front of him. “Tell me about Miss Osborne. Has she arrived?”
Wiley looked down at his glass for a moment. “Not yet, but I’m hopeful it will be soon.” He huffed. “Imagine me waiting around for a lady to arrive and hoping the days will pass quickly until she does. Did you ever think you’d see the day?”
“I can’t say I did.” But Garrett knew exactly how his friend felt. He was anxious to see Julia. “Do you have a shilling in your pocket?”
Wiley shrugged. “A few.”
“I only want one.”
Wiley dug into his coat pocket for the coin and laid it on the table in front of Garrett.
Garrett placed a small box on the table and slid it toward Wiley. “It’s for you to give to your bride. It came from Africa. It’s made from ebony, their finest wood, and inlaid with gold and ivory. You told me if you ever married I’d have to pick out a gift for you from another country to give to your bride.”
“I remember but I didn’t expect you to.” Wiley picked up the box and examined it. “This is extraordinary workmanship and there’s no small amount of gold on this. It’s worth more than a shilling.”
“Its only worth will be in how much Miss Osborne treasures it.”
“Mr. Stockton,” an attendant said. “I have a note for you that’s just arrived.”
Garrett thanked the man, took the note and opened it. Julia wanted to see him. He looked around to the clock that stood in a corner. He had just enough time to go by and see Mr. Urswick before meeting Julia.
“Wiley, I’m going to have to cut short our meeting.”
“More problems with your ship?”
“No,” he said rising. “I need to call on Lady Kitson.”
“So you’ve gotten to know her,” Wiley said with a quirk of a smile.
“Quite well and I’m hoping to get to know her even better.”
After a frustrating visit with Mr. Urswick, Garrett found himself in the drawing room at the duke’s house. His manager had been diligent in going over the lettering and numbering in the book, and while Urswick was a genius when it came to adding long columns of numbers in his head, he wasn’t good at figuring out coded writing. He’d told the man to go home and rest. They would start fresh in the morning.
Garrett needed to do that, too. He’d spent the better part of three days in the saddle, but he had to see Julia.
He heard a door open and shut. His gaze zeroed in on the doorway to the drawing room as he heard light footsteps hurrying down the corridor. When she entered, Garrett took a step forward, but then stopped. She was flushed and out of breath. Her long-sleeved, cheerless widow’s garb was gone. She wore a dress of crisp, light blue muslin embellished with narrow bands of white satin ribbon at the waistline and hem. The low, rounded neckline showed the pillow-soft rise of her breasts. Capped sleeves showed her beautifully trim arms. Her shiny chestnut-colored hair was pulled up at the sides and hung down the back of her shoulders.
She’d never looked more beautiful. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her for as long as he wanted. If she’d been any other widow he could have. Just his being there for the second time could put her at risk—would put her at risk. That’s why Urswick had to find a way to make sense of the ledger.
“Lady Kitson,” he said with a nod of his head.
“Mr. Stockton.” She walked farther into the room and stopped on the far side of the fireplace. “I was outside with Chatwyn. I take it you received my note.”
Garrett grimaced. “Yes. I came straight here from my office.” He walked over to stand closer to her. “Did you have information for me?”
She glanced at the doorway and then returned softly, “Yes. The duke is better. I fear he’ll be up to traveling by the end of the week.”
“Time is short.”
“Yes.”
Garrett sensed movement in the corridor and it wasn’t York. It had to be the housekeeper. “I’m sorry to report that your butterfly net hasn’t been repaired yet. The man I left it with didn’t realize it was the duke’s, and he hasn’t put any time into it.”
He motioned toward the doorway with his head. Julia acknowledged him with a deep breath.
“It’s kind of you to stop by and let me know about it. Just today I heard the duke should be traveling to London soon.” She spoke calmly and moved away from him and more toward the farthest side of the room. “I’m sorry to hear it’s not ready. However, there’s another reason I’m glad you stopped by.”
He followed her, but didn’t take his eyes off the doorway. “What’s that?”
“Someone made a gift of fabrics and sewing supplies to the girls’ school. I was wondering if that might have been you?”
“Yes,” he answered. “I hope it was all right.”
“It was an enormously extravagant donation for the school, Mr. Stockton.”
“You have a sewing school. It was cloth and thread. How can that be extravagant?”
“It was more than that, really,” she said, a little tersely. “I can’t imagine what you were thinking.”
He lowered his gaze to her lips and thought how much he wanted to kiss them. It didn’t bother him at all that she was a little miffed at him for his gift. It made her all the more delightful. “My pardon for doing something charitable for a charitable school.”
She stared at him sternly, and whispered, “It’s not the gift, but did you pay for it or did you find it adrift at sea?”
Garrett had to admit that the question surprised him. “You think I stole the things I gave to the girls?”
“I don’t know,” she stated, clearly unsure of her condemning question. “However, I must admit it crossed my mind that you might have. You can’t make the school a party to your ill-gotten gains.”
Garrett and his men had risked their lives to take the grain off a foundering ship. They could have gone to the bottom of the ocean with it or caught the fever that had killed all who were onboard. And they didn’t take a penny for their efforts but gave it all away.
“The answer is no.” Garrett slowly scoffed out a laugh as he looked around the room, finding it hard to believe the woman he desired like no other thought he was a real pirate. Taking from the wealthy to give to the unfortunate. York woofed and Garrett looked back to the doorway. He sensed that whoever was there had walked away.
The truth was that Julia wasn’t all wrong about him. There were things he’d done that he wasn’t proud of, and his gentleman father wouldn’t have approved of. Life was a series of choices and he’d never met a man who always chose the right one.
“You really think I’m a pirate, don’t you?”
He watched her shoulders relax a little. “No. Maybe. Sometimes, I suppose. You are dangerous. I really don’t know what to think about you other than I can’t stop thinking about you.” She walked closer to him and lifted her hand as if to touch him, but thinking better of it, she lowered her arm. “But even if you did—”
“No, Julia,” he interrupted her quickly. “There is no if. I didn’t. I paid for every needle I sent to the school.”
“I believe you,” she whispered.
“You can relax a little,” he said. “Whoever was lingering at the door has left.”
She nodded. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we can’t use some of the fabrics. Only the highest paid modistes in London and Paris work with some of the fabrics and beading you sent over. The girls can’t use some of what you sent until much further along in their sewing skills. They’ve hardly learned to properly sew on a button. Most of the fabrics are much too delicate for them to work with.”
Garrett smiled. He was enjoying the banter with her. “The school is over a year old now. How long does it take to learn how to sew a dress or put a bow on a hat?”
“They are also learning to read, write, and add and subtract numbers. All these things combined takes time. A few lengths of muslin and broadcloth would have been much better.”
He bent his head forward, almost touching his nose to hers. “Are you going to give it back?”
“Of course not,” she answered breathlessly.
That’s what he wanted to hear. The tension that had built inside him ebbed away. “Then why are we arguing?” he said, his tone softening considerably.
“I don’t know.”
“Neither do I, Julia. I don’t want—”
One moment he was talking and the next he was silenced by the eager touch of her lips on his. His instinct was quick and impatient. He slid his arms around her narrow waist and brought her slender body against his. She leaned into his chest and a shock of pleasure ripped through him. The taste of her mouth was euphoric, inciting him to unleash all the stored-up desire he had for her in this one arousing kiss.
This was no dream. She was in his arms.
Garrett accepted the unexpected kiss with urgency and took control. Her lips softened and surrendered beneath his as they kissed over and over again. Her arms circled his neck and she traced the breadth of his shoulders and cupped his neck before her hands settled in the center of his back, holding him fiercely, possessively. His body stirred with wanting.
Whispered moans of hectic pleasure wafted past her sweet lips. Garrett caught each in his mouth and savored and swallowed each one. With an intensity initiated by her, he kissed down the length of her neck, across the swell of her breasts, and back up to her lips again and again as if he were a desperate, thirsty man drawing cool water from a well. She welcomed and participated in his greedy assault.
Their kissing was impatient and unrelenting in its fervor. Her body was warm, soft, enticing. His hands caught and tangled in her long hair falling against her shoulders. He crushed its softness between his fingers before moving his hands up and down her back, around her waist again, and past the flare of her slim hips. He wanted to touch every inch of her.
Much too soon she pulled back from him, gasping with little short breaths that caused her chest to heave seductively. Her moist lips hovered close to his. They were lush and tempting him to capture them beneath his once again.
Her bright violet eyes searched his, but for what, he wasn’t sure. Hadn’t his response to her unprovoked kiss told her everything she needed to know about what he was feeling and how much he wanted her? He’d wanted a sign that she was as thoroughly, madly hungry for him as he was for her.
Just in case she didn’t know what she had started, he pulled her up closer and tighter to his chest, pressing her soft breasts against him so there would be no doubt that at this moment he considered her his. Yet she continued to stay silent.
With a hint of a smile and in a huskily whispered voice, he said, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I know,” she said with uncertainty in her tone, as a tremor shook her. “It was dangerous and very forward of me.”
“No.” His smile grew wider. “It was what I wanted, but one kiss from you is not enough to satisfy me. I need more.”
A smile eased across her beautiful, full lips, and she whispered, “Then don’t let me stop you.”
He lightly, briefly brushed his lips across hers and then looked into her eyes once again. “You’re beautiful, Julia,” he whispered, and then reached over and kissed along the bare skin of her upper arm. He smiled again when he saw goose bumps pebble her smooth skin.
Garrett placed his lips on hers, giving her a slow, yearning kiss. He didn’t want them to rush and devour this kiss as they had their first kisses. This time they would linger, revel, and explore all the sensations blossoming inside them.
Julia tempted him with her excitement and willingness to be an equal partner in their embrace. He explored her body and she explored his with equal desire and respect. Their kisses were searching and desiring. Each kiss melted into the next and all he could think of was how good and desirable she felt cuddled in the circle of his arms.
Long ago he’d learned how to control his sexual emotions, as most seafaring men had. And it usually didn’t take him long to find his way into the arms of a willing woman shortly after setting his feet on land, but this time had been different. Somehow he knew he was waiting for someone special.
Something hard thumped Garret in the middle of his back. Fearing they’d been caught, he instinctively swung around and shielded Julia behind him, ready to do battle with whomever was challenging him. No one was there. His chest tightened, his heart thumped. A boyish giggle sounded down the corridor. A leather ball lay at his feet.
“Chatwyn,” Julia whispered, breathlessly.
Garrett’s tension eased and he chuckled. “The mischievous little imp threw the ball at me.”
“He—he saw me. Saw us kissing. I should have been more careful, but you make me lose all sanity.”
She seemed horrified by the possibility. “Don’t worry about him,” Garrett offered, wanting to calm her. “He obviously didn’t know what we were doing. He was laughing.”
“But I should have remembered he was in the house. The housekeeper was lingering outside the door. I was so caught up in how I was feeling that I—”
“Julia, it’s all right. We were just kissing. He’s fine.” Garrett reached for her, but she turned away. “I was certain that Mrs. Desford had left or I’d never have kissed you.”
“But I’m not.” She breathed in deeply. “I shouldn’t have forgotten myself, but it’s just that you—”
Chatwyn appeared in the doorway and looked directly at Garrett. “You get the ball,” he stated, his bright blue eyes sparkling. “It’s your turn to chase after me.”
“All right,” Garrett said. “You’d better start running.”
“You’ve got to catch me first,” Chatwyn said, then turned and bumped right into Miss Periwinkle, who took a firm hold of his hand.
“Begging your pardon, Lady Kitson,” the governess said. “He was thirsty and I brought him in for a sip of water. He slipped away from me while I was pouring it. I hope he didn’t disturb you. I’ll take him back outside.”
“Wait.” Julia walked over to Chatwyn and looked down at him with a glaring stare. “I want your attention right now, young man.”
His smile faded and he fixed his gaze on his mother’s perturbed face. “Yes, Mama.”
“What have I told you about a ball in the house?”
He didn’t move his head but shrugged and rolled his eyes to look up at Garrett, as if he’d been his partner in this offense. There was no doubt he knew he’d done something his mother didn’t like.
“Chatwyn, this is not a time to be amused,” she said sternly. “Look at me and answer.”
His smile faded again and he said, “Don’t throw a ball in the house.”
“That’s right. There will be no more outside play for you today. You must go to your room and sit in the corner with nothing to occupy your hands but your fingers. It should be a good time for you to practice counting.” She looked at the governess. “If he gets up, Miss Periwinkle, you are to scold him and put him back in the corner. He must stay there a full hour. After that, he’s not to come belowstairs the rest of the day. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, my lady,” she said timidly.
“Go.”
Garrett reached down, picked up the ball, and threw it up in the air a couple of times before saying, “Don’t you think that was a little harsh? He didn’t hurt me when he threw the ball.”
“It’s not that he hit you,” she said, with a twitch of a little smile. “I wouldn’t have minded if he’d hit you a little harder.”
Garrett chuckled. He loved her spitfire attitude. “You are always full of surprises.”
She accepted his praise with a nod. “I hate to admit it, but I do realize Chatwyn has a discipline problem. He knows better than to throw a ball or anything in the house. We’ve had more than one broken vase to contend with because of his wild pitches, but broken porcelain is easy to clean up. He recently threw a ball and overturned a lamp that caught a rug on fire. It could have burned the house down if the duke and I hadn’t been in the room and put it out quickly. So I would thank you not to tell me how to discipline him.”
That put Garrett in his place rather quickly. The only thing he could say was, “I’ll be more careful in the future.”
Julia clasped her hands together behind her back and lifted her chin and shoulders. “I was attracted to you the moment I saw you, Mr. Stockton. I should have never given in to our first kiss. It’s so much harder now to deny myself.”
“Passionately? I will never be sorry about that, Julia.”
Garrett’s stomach tightened and he strode up next to her. She remained still and calm. “We aren’t bound by vows to anyone else. What we do together will hurt no one. We are both free to do as we choose.”
Her gaze swept down his face, and he couldn’t have been more convinced that he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any other woman.
She turned away and murmured, “No, I’m not free. My first duty is to my son. Right now, he should be the only man in my life. I’ll walk you to the door.”
He started to grab her arm to stop her, but remembered how headstrong she was and knew he had to be patient with her. She wasn’t a woman to be rushed into anything. He must take his time and save this fight for another day.
“Before you go,” she said, handing his hat and gloves to him, “I wanted to ask you if we might share the good fortune your donation brought to the school with others. We can’t possibly use all the things you sent over. Do you mind if we donate some of it to another charitable organization?”
Her request didn’t surprise him. “Are there more children or dogs you want to help?”
“No,” she laughed softly. “It’s for the Sisters of Pilwillow Crossings. They can sell the excess of what we can’t use. The money will help them with their charitable work. They feed the poor three days a week and also help supply bandages and other things for those in need.”
“Do with it as you wish, Julia. Share it all if you wish. There were no strings attached to it.”
“Thank you. I’ve been thinking on this all day and before I have it packed, I’ve decided to let each girl pick a fabric, thread, and adornment for trim to have as her own. Since it was a gift to them. That way, when they are skilled and ready to sew on their own, they can make a dress of their choosing.”
An unfamiliar feeling stole over Garrett. He had endangered his life countless times on the seas and in gaming hells all over the world, but this was the first time his heart had ever been at risk. That was startling. But he had no doubt this lady was worth any price.
“That’s a considerate gesture. You are very caring of others, Julia.”
“One of the girls at the school gave me the idea. I remembered that she said when she makes her own dresses, she’s going to put many bows on them. I want her first dress to be special.”
Garrett smiled. “It will be.”
“I hope to hear you have good news soon, Mr. Stockton. Time is running out.”