Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95222 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
‘Those houses––’
‘Were both number thirteen.’
‘Bloody hell.’
‘Indeed. Thankfully, they stood empty at the time. Perhaps it is foolish, but I would rather not have the deaths of anyone playing on my conscience.’
‘Seems reasonable.’
‘I agree.’
‘Great. Then I must be going.’ I still need to find my wayward sister. ‘Thank you, Fitzgerald. Do sleep well.’ I march down the steps, surely leaving behind a quite perplexed man staring at me. I hear the door close and stop on the cobbles, casting a beady eye across the square, wondering where on earth she could be. ‘The stables,’ I say to myself. ‘Of course, the stables.’ I pivot fast.
And crash into something. It yelps, and I realise something is, in fact, someone. ‘I do apolo––’ I am bombarded from all directions by the most inexplicable shocks that render me quite stunned, but I still manage, out of instinct, I suppose, to lift my hands and hold on to the person, stopping them from falling flat on their face.
There is no yelp this time, but a … whimper.
The shocks I felt sizzle under my skin, heating it, and I look down and come face-to-face with a mass of dark blonde hair. Her face is buried in my chest. Or squished. Or flattened. My God, her scent is quite intoxicating. Honeysuckle. It reminds me of our home in the country. The smell is as bold as she is.
We remain quite still, the pair of us, my fingers clawed into the bare skin of her upper arms between the end of her gloves at her elbows and the start of her cap sleeves. Creamy, soft, warm flesh. I find, and it is quite out of my control, my nose dropping to the top of her head and inhaling, taking a huge hit of that scent. An overdose, I am sure, for I am dizzy. Never before has a woman made me dizzy with pleasure, least of all when fully clothed. Blood starts to pump in all places, and I shift from one boot to the other, willing it to pipe down, but when her bosom pushes subtly into my chest, even with my smart new velvet jacket between us, my attempts fail miserably. My God, I am on fire. Burning.
And then so very quickly, I am stone cold, my hands dropping her and moving back. ‘Are you hell bent on being ruined?’ I ask, running a stressed hand through my hair.
Taya’s eyes dart, her mouth opening and closing rapidly, as if she’s struggling for words. And then she finds some. ‘Get your dirty hands off of me,’ she seethes. ‘Or, I swear it, I will scream so loud, Scotland will hear me.’
Somewhat dazed and very confused, I stare at her fierce expression. ‘What?’
‘I am not interested in your advances, Mr Melrose, so please do stay away or I will set my brothers on you.’ Spinning, she pushes her shoulders back and walks away, leaving me standing like a gormless fool on the cobbles, wondering what the hell just happened. Advances? Brothers? She is stark raving mad!
I go after her, outraged, stamping along behind her, chasing her heels, my fury building. ‘You are insane, woman,’ I say, looking at her arms swinging to match her stride, her hands clasping the skirt of her dress to hold it up, making it swoosh dramatically. ‘I would never waste my affections on you.’
She snorts. ‘You make it sound as if you are fussy, and we all know that not to be true if you entertain the likes Lady Dare.’
What on earth? ‘How the hell do you know that?’ It is out before I can think to stop it, when I should have taken a moment to consider denying it. But, my God, she’s infuriating. Twists my brain. Sends me crazy!
‘I overheard a conversation between your mother and my lovely new sister-in-law.’
She did? She has a habit of eavesdropping. And whyever would Mama and Eliza be discussing my love life? I will be having a very stern word with them. Wait. I don’t have a love life. ‘Jealous?’ I ask, with a lack of anything else to say in my defence, but it appears that one word has quite an impact, and Taya stops and gasps, her nostrils flaring angrily. I smirk dirtily, satisfied.
‘Absolutely not!’
‘Are you quite sure about that?’
‘Quite sure,’ she grates, before shoving me in my chest, making me grunt a little with surprise, and marches on.
I narrow my eyes on her back. ‘You should not be out alone at this hour.’ I bark, an annoying streak of concern emerging. No hour at all, actually, but something tells me Taya Winters is not one for rules.
‘Everyone is too drunk to notice my absence. One brother is tending to his new wife and the other has paid a visit to Gladstone’s.’
Oh? Not Kentstone’s, the less respectable gentleman’s club? That surprises me, I would have expected Sampson Winters to be quite the rogue. Regardless, back to the matter at hand. I may find Taya annoying, for many reasons, but I do not wish harm upon her, so I shall do the right thing and escort her home, despite it being highly inappropriate, and hope we are not spotted alone. I would have guessed Taya Winters cares not for being ruined, if I hadn’t heard with my own ears her concern for the family name. So what on earth is she doing wandering out alone at night and placing herself in the company of a man without a chaperone?