Page 18 of How to Seduce a Viscount (Wed Within a Year #3)

Her quicksilver eyes fixed on him with earnestness and it was all he could do not to reach out and take her hand in reassurance.

‘I am sorry, Luce. It was such a lovely day. All the delightful surprises. The storybook village with its happy children. The bakery with its iced sticky buns. And now I’ve ruined it. ’

She was irresistible like this, all sincerity and gratitude.

The combination made a man feel powerful, made him want to do things for her—like forgive her and overlook her omissions.

Luce fought the urge to do just that. To set aside his anger and his right to castigate her for what had happened.

But she’d withheld information and that had consequences.

‘I’ve come to learn that people like us have to live in the moments and for the moments because that’s all we get. We don’t know what comes next. In the next hour or around the next corner.’ He snapped his fingers. ‘In an instant, things can turn and moments can end just as they did today.’

She smiled and he sensed she wanted him to smile back.

Not yet. He would not relent, not with a smile or with his words.

He would not let her off that easily. ‘You did not ruin the outing. We had a few precious hours enjoying each other’s company.

But you did jeopardise my trust.’ He let his gaze linger on her, stern and strong.

‘ You should have told me from the beginning those men who followed you here had friends.’ He did not hide the accusation in his tone.

‘I thought we were a team and you took advantage of that.’

‘Your assumptions are not my fault,’ she replied coolly. Under other circumstances, he’d admire her aplomb. Right now, though, he’d appreciate some penitence.

‘Are we not a team?’ Luce pressed. ‘Are we not on the same side?’

‘We are a team.’ She was all calm assurance, her eyes wide with more of that earnestness she did so well.

‘Luce, I did not say anything because I wasn’t sure of them.

I didn’t want to unnecessarily borrow trouble.

There were a lot of people in the pub that night. They could have been two regular men.’

She leaned forward.

‘Honestly, what use would it have been for me to tell you? There were twenty people in the pub that night. Thirteen of which were men. Four with dark hair, seven with blonde and two with grey. That would have meant nothing to you. There is nothing out of the ordinary in that. And quite frankly, we had more important things to take care of between my recovery and cracking the code, than worrying over who else might have been in the pub with nefarious intentions.’

She put a hand on his leg.

‘Luce, I would not withhold information from you that could put you in danger. That makes no sense.’

Luce did not miss the qualifier. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t withhold information. She’d only share if she personally deemed it useful for him to know.

‘Many things in our particular world make no sense. Men sell arms to both sides of a war,’ he said in response.

‘For money. That makes sense even if it does not seem ethical.’

Wren squeezed his leg. He probably shouldn’t let her do that. He was quite susceptible to the intimacy of that squeeze, the intimacy of her nearness, the openness in her gaze and, by extension, he was susceptible to the logic in her appeal.

‘Luce,’ she whispered. ‘If you fall, I fall. My safety depends on yours. I gain nothing by keeping you blind. You know that.’

He did know that. There was nothing to be gained for her in having him at a disadvantage. He drew a cleansing breath and set aside his anger. Some distance might help as well. He would think better if her hand wasn’t on his leg, her touch reminding him of other aspects of their relationship.

Luce took up a position before the windows. The last of the afternoon sun was sparkling its farewell on the snow. The snow wouldn’t last much longer, a day or two, and then the roads would begin to be passable.

Wren came to stand beside him. ‘I have a confession,’ she said, lacing her fingers through his. ‘Sun on snow is beautiful. It looks like the ground is covered in diamonds.’ She leaned her head against his arm, not tall enough to reach his shoulder. ‘Winter wasn’t awful today.’

‘That’s because the sun was out. It was actually mild today. There’s a word for the warmth of sun on snow— apricity.’

‘You are full of archaic words, Luce Parkhurst.’ She gave a soft laugh.

He liked the sound of her, the feel of her, the ease with which their bodies communed.

He wanted to forget that he had doubted her, that he should be applying the same standards to her as he did to everyone else when it came to trust and belief.

One had to earn those things from him. But when he was with her, all he could think of was how she made him feel—seen, heard and appreciated as himself, not just as one of four. Not just as a Horseman.

‘The snow will be gone soon, Luce. After today, I think I should be, too. At least I can lead the men away from you.’

‘Absolutely not,’ Luce snapped, more upset with himself than he was with her.

He’d made her feel as if she couldn’t stay; that she had to leave before she was fully healed.

‘No, those men being here are exactly why you should stay. We should face them together instead of letting their presence separate us. That only makes us easier to conquer. You are not strong enough to be travelling alone and exposed. Don’t let them flush you out like dogs on a hare.

Grandfather would never forgive me.’ Nor would he ever forgive himself if she ended up hurt or worse because she’d left too soon.

‘We need a plan,’ Luce forged on ahead as if it had been decided she would stay.

‘I’d prefer to take the fight to those men instead of waiting for them to come to us.

Go on the offensive, as it were. We have the advantage currently since they don’t know yet who we really are.

Why not take a leaf from Grandfather’s book?

’ Luce slid her a glance. ‘We’ll borrow Vicar Paterson’s idea and invite them to dinner here.

You can resurrect your pickpocket role again.

See what they’ve got in their pockets. We’ll have the kitchen staff slip something into their food and ship them off to Sandmore. ’

‘Have them to dinner here? In your unfinished dining room?’

‘It wouldn’t take much to polish the table and set out the silver. In the candlelight you can’t tell how old the wallpaper is. At any rate, I am not looking to impress them.’ He was looking to get them as far away from Wren as he could so that she could heal in peace.

She slanted him a saucy look. ‘Well, it might be quite the adventure to feast with our enemies right beneath their noses, after all.’

‘Wouldn’t be the first time for either of us.

’ Luce gave a low chuckle as they made their way back to their chairs, a sense of accord restored.

Mostly. He’d learned his lesson: he could not let personal feelings override the need for caution when it came to assumptions.

Perhaps she had learned her lesson as well: teams did not withhold information.

But something about her reaction in the village still niggled.

This time, Luce forewent the tea and poured brandy alone into the teacups.

Wren tucked her feet beneath her and took the cup.

She had made that chair her own. It would be difficult to look at it and not see her in it when she did leave.

‘In the spirit of full disclosure, I want to enquire about something in the village. When you squeezed my arm, you were not just alerting me, you were afraid. Why was that?’ He’d noticed because the fear seemed out of character for her, this woman who wielded her knife with deadly precision.

She offered a small smile over the rim of her teacup. He would have to learn to guard against that smile better so as not to be distracted from her answers.

‘You are very intuitive. I was afraid, but not of them. I’ve met my enemy face to face before.

As you say, this is not my first time.’ Her quicksilver eyes were steady on him as his body considered the double entendre of her words.

Recalling the boldness with which she’d pulled him into an alley and kissed him, stirring last night’s sparks to life.

Wren Audley was nothing if not intrepid.

‘I was afraid of what those men represented. I hated knowing that my mistake had brought them into this peaceful place. I was afraid for the innocent people who might unintentionally be drawn into their web. People like the very gullible Vicar Paterson. I regret also, bringing them into your sanctuary. This is where you come to get away from the world and, despite your best efforts, the world has come to you.’

Dear lord, she’d read him like a book. She’d not seen through him, but into him and she’d made the perfect response.

How long had it been since anyone had thought of his needs?

Or seen what it was that he uniquely craved?

His own space, his own life. Sometimes family, even a beloved family, could be formidable.

Sometimes the Horsemen were overwhelming.

‘You take too much on yourself. It was not a mistake to ensure you didn’t freeze.’ He could give her absolution on that point. ‘Anyone with common sense would have chosen the same.’

‘You are kind to say it.’ She could not quite meet his eyes in her humility.

‘I am truthful to say it.’ Luce sat back in his chair. ‘I would like you to be truthful as well. May I ask you something?’

She laughed. ‘That’s hardly a fair question. You know I have to say yes, or where will all our talk of teams and truth be?’ Then she sobered. ‘Yes, you may ask me anything.’

He wanted to believe that was true. But experience had taught him otherwise. Where there was one secret, there was often another. If she’d not told him about the other men at the pub, what else might she conveniently be withholding?

He let his eyes hold hers for a long moment to indicate the gravity of the request. ‘I will only ask this once, so be sure of your answer. While we are clearing the air, is there anything else you are keeping from me?’