Part 24 (1/2)
Hunter drew a deep breath through his nose and made an attempt to relax the tight knot of muscles between his shoulders and calm the sick rolling in his gut. He wasn't going to lose his temper. He was not going to begin issuing unreasonable orders just because Kate had once again once again put herself in danger. This time by questioning a known smuggler, whom she'd once had a put herself in danger. This time by questioning a known smuggler, whom she'd once had a tendre tendre for, and who for, and who still still had a had a tendre tendre for her, and who now expected to meet her at dawn so that they might exchange money for illegal goods and- for her, and who now expected to meet her at dawn so that they might exchange money for illegal goods and- ”What the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l were you thinking!”
Very well, he was going to lose his temper.
She s.h.i.+fted her weight and gave him a hopeful smile. ”That the information might be of use?”
It was, but that wasn't the point. ”I ordered you to avoid Lord Martin.”
”And so I have, at every opportunity,” she countered. ”There was simply no way for me to do so in the parlor. Not without giving him the cut direct in front of a room full of people, and I thought it best to avoid that sort of attention. The rumors that would have resulted-”
”I also ordered you not to try your hand at charming information from him.”
”Strictly speaking, you said it was too much involvement. You never explicitly forbade it.”
The knot in his back grew tighter. ”That is-”
”Also, what I did wasn't so much charm as goad.” She s.h.i.+fted again. ”Strictly speaking.”
He bent his head to catch and hold her gaze. ”I am ordering you, explicitly forbidding you, from doing anything, speaking to anyone, or going anywhere that has to do with the smuggling operation unless you do so under a direct order from me. Do I make myself clear?”
That, he a.s.sured himself, was a perfectly reasonable order.
Apparently, Kate did not agree. ”You're being unreasonable.”
”I'm not.”
”You are.”
”I'm...” He wasn't going to let the argument disintegrate into a childish string of accusations and denials. But b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, if she had made herself a target...
”I am not. And And,” he was quick to interject, ”if we continue on in this vein, we'll never get around to deciding what's to be done with the information Lord Martin gave you.”
She pressed her lips together as if to physically restrain her tongue. Her eyes narrowed. She took a deep breath through her nose. And then, apparently, she caved.
”You are.”
He wanted to laugh. Despite the anger and fear, and the considerable amount of energy it took to keep both under control, he wanted to laugh at that one monstrously stubborn comment.
”You are the single most bullheaded individual I have ever met,” he informed her and watched her lips twitch. ”Are you quite through?”
”That depends.”
”On?”
”On whether you made that order simply because you're angry I managed to obtain in five minutes what you and Whit could not in days.”
That hadn't occurred to him. Though now that she mentioned it, it was a trifle embarra.s.sing. And he could certainly understand why she'd wonder. He could also see her bringing it up in an effort to s.h.i.+ft the focus of blame from her to him. At a guess, he would say it was a little of both.
Taking her hand, he drew her to a chair, and then picked up another to set it close enough for their knees to almost, but not quite touch. He wanted to be near her, but not so near as to be distracted from his purpose.
”My purpose in issuing orders is not to spite or punish you, Kate,” he told her as he took his seat. ”My primary mission, you'll recall, is to keep you safe. My methods may be different, but I am no less determined than Whit to keep you from harm.”
”Is...is that all this is to you? A mission?”
He couldn't help himself, he reached out to brush the backs of his knuckles along the soft skin of her cheek. ”You know better.”
She gave a small nod, and he let his hand fall away.
Her hands plucked at a ribbon on her peach skirts. ”It's only that...you've asked nothing of me in this investigation but to watch the staff.”
”I'd have asked you to search the house as well,” he reminded her.
”You'd have asked me to re-search the house,” she corrected. ”It's not quite the same.”
”It's only been a matter of days.”
”I know.” She sat back in her chair with a small huff. ”I hadn't intended on goading information from Lord Martin. But he was there. there. Right there and it was so easy. And to have to endure his company and Right there and it was so easy. And to have to endure his company and not not have him speak of the one thing that interests me about him was more than I could-” have him speak of the one thing that interests me about him was more than I could-”
”I know.” He remembered well the long hours in town with Lord Martin.
”He's not at all suspicious, I a.s.sure you.”
”You can't know that.”
”I can,” she retorted, frustration creeping into her voice. ”I've known him longer than you. He's really not at all clever.”
”I'm inclined to agree.” He blew out a long breath. ”An entire barrel of brandy at five in the morning?”
She nodded. ”Oh, and he said something else. He said...” She scrunched her face up a little in thought. ”That I couldn't breathe a word to anyone because it wasn't his secret to tell.” She relaxed her features again. ”That's odd, isn't it?”
”Very.”
”What are we to do next?
He gave her a hard look. ”I meant what I said, Kate. You do nothing else in this investigation unless I specifically-”
”May I at least offer suggestions?” she cut in with a roll of her eyes.
”I would welcome them.”
”Then I suggest you and Whit investigate Smuggler's Beach tonight.”
”Thank you,” he drawled. ”But there is a possibility these particular smugglers use a different beach. Unlikely, if Pallton House is the base of operations, but possible.”
”But you will go to Smugglers Beach?”
”Yes.”
”And I suppose it would be too dangerous for me to come along and-”