Page 14 of The Wildcat and the Rogue (The Shifter Season #8)

JANE

I keep glancing over at Ewan and thinking about the way it felt to kiss him. I'm not entirely sure what possessed me to do it at that moment. Perhaps it is because of how passionately he was talking about wanting to help my family and to help the others who have been wronged by his father.

One thing is for certain, there is no forgetting the way it feels to have finally kissed him. I touch my fingers to my lips, catching Ewan's attention as I do.

He gives me a lopsided smile that tells me he knows exactly what I'm thinking.

I clear my throat and look down at my knees, not really sure how to deal with his attention on me. What if he thinks the kiss was bad? Or he could tell that I have no experience? It had been good for me, but there is no way for me to be sure about how he truly feels.

My thoughts are broken by the carriage rolling to a stop outside the jewellers, and nerves take over for an entirely different reason. Now, we have to find out whether my plan is any good. I was just thinking out loud when I said it over breakfast, and I have no idea if it could work. But Ewan seems keen to at least try, which I suspect I should take as a good sign.

The door opens, and Ewan hops out of the carriage, turning and offering me his hand. I take it, the touch only reminding me of our kiss and how it felt to have his hand on my lower back. I want to feel that again, but I know here is not the place.

His thumb brushes over the spot on my wrist where my short gloves end and I suck in a sharp breath, the sensation of his touch almost too much to bear, even if it is that fleeting.

I meet his gaze, and the two of us stand transfixed there until the groom appears with the box containing a necklace of equal size to the one we're trying to liberate from the Whitstripes. It is nowhere near the quality of the one Lady Whitstripe has, but we're hoping that doesn't matter in terms of how long it's going to take to have it cleaned. The amount of time it takes won't even matter, we just need a rough idea of how long Lady Whitstripe's necklace might be with the jeweller if she does indeed go have it cleaned. Finding out when she chooses to drop it off is going to be a different challenge.

"Shall we?" Ewan asks, offering me his arm now that I am down from the carriage.

I nod and put my own through his, resting my hand on his lower arm as he leads me inside. A man not that much younger than I am stands at a counter, startling when he sees us. He rushes out and bows deeply.

"Good morning, sir, ma'am. Welcome to Rosten and Sons," he says. "Do you have an appointment?" He looks around nervously, as if he thinks he's doing something wrong.

"We don't, I'm afraid," Ewan responds. "Mr Milne. This is my wife."

I give the man what I hope is a friendly smile. "I heard about your business from Lady Whitstripe, she said that your services are highly recommended." It is a blatant lie, and one that I hope the young man can't see through. It is unlikely, I doubt he has spent much time discussing anything other than jewels with the lady, if even that.

"Ah, yes, Lady Whitstripe, she is a dear customer of ours. My father, Mr Rosten, is actually out at an appointment with her now."

"Oh, of course, I should have thought. She said her necklace needed cleaning just last night." My heart races. It's more direct than I intended to be, but Mr Rosten the younger has made it impossible not to ask.

"Yes, cleaning, I believe that's what my father said."

"It's actually why we are here ourselves," I say. "I have a necklace, a family heirloom that is in desperate need of attention." Another lie. Which is not something I particularly like doing, but it seems to be necessary for the situation.

"I can take a look, if you'd like," he says.

"That would be excellent." Ewan sets the box with the necklace down on the counter.

Mr Rosten undoes the clasp and studies the necklace inside. "This is a very fine piece, Mrs Milne."

"Mmm." I hope he isn't going to start questioning the value of it. In truth, I don't know much about the necklace inside. Ewan promised that it would serve the purpose and I trust his judgement. He's probably done something like this many times.

"It will take about a week to clean a necklace of this size," Mr Rosten says.

"Is there perchance a way you could be done sooner? We have a ball on Friday that my wife would like to wear it for," Ewan says.

The jeweller grimaces. "I can see what can be done, but it generally does take that long."

"Ah, well. I suppose I shall have to find something else to wear," I say to Ewan, touching his arm. This is exactly what we need. A timeframe for how long the necklace is going to be at the jeweller. There is a chance that we could be wrong about Lady Whitstripe wanting to get it cleaned now, but that does seem like the most logical choice.

"I can send a note if we are finished sooner," Mr Rosten says quickly, probably hoping not to lose a customer.

"That would be agreeable," Ewan says.

The jeweller seems relieved.

"Here's my card." Ewan pulls one out and hands it to the man, who takes it and sets it with the necklace.

"Thank you."

We say goodbye to the jeweller and head out the door. I'm admittedly a little relieved at the fact we got the information we needed, even if it's going to mean that we have to act fast.

"You should have the carriage take you home," Ewan says. "I'll go speak to my man about making a copy of the necklace."

I nod. "It is a short amount of time to pull this off."

"It should be doable," he promises. He pauses for a moment as if he's going to say something else, but thinks better of it and leaves. I let out a frustrated sigh. I'm not certain of what I want, but I know it isn't this. I want to experience whatever it is that we can truly have between us.

But I know that we need to ensure our future with the fee for retrieving the necklace, and that's got to come first.