“Excuse me?”
Kristen inclined her head toward the direction Morgan had gone. “Give me your decision, Miss James. Do we bring the good captain under your heel, or do you return home on the colonial ship?”
It must be the full moon, Serenity decided, because right then with the heat of his touch still burning her skin, she made the decision her heart cried out for.
“All right, Kristen. What do we need to do?”
Chapter 16
Unleashing Kristen was like turning loose a cyclone. Serenity wondered what she’d done to deserve all this!
The two of them spent the next morning in the drawing room, with Kristen tutoring Serenity on what Kristen considered the fine art of coquetry.
And what Serenity dubbed the fine art of foolishness.
Really, Serenity wondered, who had thought up all these ridiculous mannerisms and flirtations? And were men really so gullible?
Biting her lips, Serenity realized that yes, men really were that gullible.
“Now, stand up straight, Serenity,” Kristen ordered, pulling her shoulders back. Kristen walked around her. “Lower your eyelids. No,” she snapped suddenly, “don’t close them, just lower them a little…perfect.”
“I can barely see.”
Kristen shrugged. “You’re not walking through a nest full of vipers where you need to know where you’re going. You’re trying to steal a heart. Remember, love is blind.”
“So am I when I hold my eyes like this.”
“Serenity.”
“Forgive me.”
So the morning went, with Kristen showing her how to walk, speak, and perform all the other odd mannerisms Serenity had never mastered.
“Now for the best part!” Kristen warned, and Serenity gulped in apprehension. After all the bizarre and uncomfortable things Kristen had shown her, she shuddered to think what new torture Kristen was about to employ.
“What?” Serenity asked apprehensively.
“It’s time to learn the fatal stoop.”
“The what?” Serenity asked with a frown.
“The fatal stoop,” Kristen repeated. “It’s guaranteed to bring a man to his knees.”
Serenity pursed her lips. “It sounds dangerous. What am I supposed to do, knock him over the head with something?”
Kristen rolled her eyes. She grabbed an apple out of the silver bowl on the table that was set just inside the French doors.
She dropped the apple on the floor. “Pick that up.”
Serenity did, and all she got out of Kristen was a sharp tsk.
“Now watch me.” She dropped another apple. “Oh my, look what I’ve done,” she declared in an exaggeratedly sweet voice.
“Now,” Kristen said in a normal tone, “this is where he’ll stoop to retrieve it. And you must make sure to stoop at the same moment.”
“Why?”
She smiled. “Pretend you’re Morgan for a moment and I’ll show you. Go on,” she urged, “pick up the apple.”
As soon as Serenity bent after it, Kristen was there in her face.
Well, rather, Kristen’s ample bosom was right in her face. And from where Serenity was, she had more than just a little glimpse of Kristen’s cleavage.
Heat flooded her cheeks.
“Oh, that’s ridiculous,” Serenity said. “I couldn’t possibly do—” she hurriedly moved the apple back and forth between her own breasts—“that. Besides, he would know that I did it on purpose.”
Kristen shook her head. “Honey, I assure you, that man won’t think a thing. His mind will be on other matters. You could chop off his head and he wouldn’t notice.”
Serenity laughed. “We shouldn’t be talking about this. It isn’t proper.”
“Well,” Kristen said saucily as she wiped the apple against her sash. “You know what I have to say, proper has its place, but it sure doesn’t warm your bed.”
Ignoring Serenity’s gasp, Kristen tossed the apple into the air and caught it. “Now back to our lesson. After he gives back the apple, or whatever you drop, make sure you keep his attention on your body by taking the object and trailing it across your décolleté.” Kristen demonstrated by rubbing the apple across the tops of her breasts.
“But I don’t have a dé—”
“You will tonight.”
Later that afternoon they were in Kristen’s bedroom, where they had picked out a gown for that evening. Now Serenity sat at the vanity while Kristen experimented with her hair.
Dutifully Serenity listened to Kristen’s instructions for her dinner behavior, wondering how she could ever remember all of them.
However, the worst idea was yet to come.
As soon as Kristen’s eyes darkened and she put on an impish smile, Serenity knew she was in for it.
Kristen drew Serenity’s hair up into a topknot. “You know, what we need to cinch this tight is competition.”
Serenity just looked at Kristen in the mirror. “Competition?”
“Yes,” she said as she added a few hairpins. “We need to get you a man.”
“I thought that’s what we were trying to do.”
“Well, yes,” Kristen said, fluffing hair around Serenity’s face. “But we need a man other than Morgan. Nothing makes a man want a woman more than when he thinks another man is interested.”
Was that true?
Serenity didn’t know for sure, but by the light in Kristen’s eyes, she could tell her friend definitely believed it.
Not that it mattered. There was no other man interested in Serenity. No man other than Hopping Hands Charlie had ever been interested in her.
“Well, we’ll have to forgo that, since—”
“Actually,” Kristen said, picking up the brush and looking at Serenity in the mirror. “I know someone who will have Morgan stewing in his jealousy. Someone absolutely perfect for the role. Someone who owes me a favor and would…” She screwed up her face in thought for several seconds.
Finally Kristen shook her head and looked at Serenity determinedly. “I’m sure I could convince him to do it.”
Serenity was skeptical, but she agreed to follow Kristen into what turned out to be a wonderful excursion.
They rode into town in an open carriage so that Serenity could see just how beautiful the island was.
It wasn’t far to the small village, which was a model of efficiency. It held all the shops needed for a thriving community—butcher, baker, smithy, and more.
Serenity was amazed at how charming the place was. Shops had been built up, much akin to the style of Savannah or Charleston. Women dressed in modest fashions like hers and Kristen’s, of elbow-length sleeves and light cotton, blended in with the shameless daring clothes of the island women who wore short skirts and bared their arms.
But all that faded from her thoughts as Kristen led her into the smithy.
Serenity stopped in the doorway, momentarily stunned.
The smith stood before his forge with his bare back to them as he pounded a piece of iron with a huge hammer.
Never in her life had she seen the like.
Long blond hair was pulled back into a queue that hung between tanned muscles, which bulged and flexed while he struck a piece of red-hot metal with his hammer. His entire body glistened with sweat.
“Stanley!” Kristen shouted.
The smith paused and glanced over his shoulder. A slow smile spread across his face. “Kristen, my love,” he said before burying the metal piece back into the coals. He placed the tongs in a bucket of water and pulled his large leather gloves from his hands.
“Oh, my…goodness!” Serenity whispered.
He was gorgeous. Incredibly gorgeous.
His chest bare, she could see every well-defined, bulging muscle and vein. He looked like some half-naked mythic god emerging from battle.
Not even what she’d seen of his back had prepared her for coming face-to-face with this perfect piece of maleness.
He had a beautiful face with laughing blue e
yes and wide dimples that cut deep moons into his cheeks.
“Stanley,” Kristen said as if immune to his looks. “I’d like for you to meet a friend of mine. Serenity James. Serenity, this is Stanley Fairhope, the most handsome man ever born.”
Stanley gave a charming smile that showed off his two huge dimples. “And still it wasn’t enough to get you to marry me,” he said with a wounded sigh. “Why, you would never even allow me to call on you.”
Kristen rolled her eyes.
Stanley turned to Serenity. “It’s nice to meet you, Miss James.”
Serenity couldn’t speak.
His smile grew wider. “Take your time. Women do that a lot around me.”
He glanced back to Kristen. “Except for that one. I never could get more than a ho-hum out of her.”
“As if I would add to your overgrown ego. Besides, I know the real you, and you’re not half as charming as you think you are.”
He snorted. “Do you talk to your husband this way?”
“Absolutely. It’s why George married me and it’s why you can’t forget me.”
He shook his head. “I know you didn’t come all this way to pester me. Nor did you bother me for a friendly visit. Tell me, squirt, what’s the latest scheme you’re going to try and get me to take part in?”
Kristen grinned like the cat about to take the cream. Joining her hands behind her back, she rocked back and forth on her feet. “Very well, Stanley. I want you to court Serenity.”
His stunned look was almost comical, but at least it gave Serenity back her tongue.
“This is ridiculous, Kristen. Morgan would never believe that this man would be interested in me.”
Stanley cocked an eyebrow. “Morgan Drake?”
“You know him?” they asked in unison.
“Aye, I owe the man my life. I was on board the first English ship he attacked as a pirate.”
Serenity frowned. “Then how is it you owe him your life? I thought he took no prisoners.”
“No, ma’am, that’s not true. He whipped the English like the dogs they were, but he was kind to the rest of us who had been forced to serve them. Brought some of us here, while some stayed on board and became part of his crew.”
“Oh, drats,” Kristen’s aggravated voice intruded. “Then he would know who you are. It’ll never work now.”
“Nay,” Stanley corrected. “I doubt he’d remember me. It’s been at least eleven years. I was only fourteen and he wasn’t much older.”
Her face brightened. “Oh, good. Then he’ll have no idea who you are.”
“I doubt it.”
“Well then, fair Stanley, I dub thee Captain Fair-hope of the Sea Princess bound for Charleston.”
“Excuse me?”
“Tonight, you’ll be a colonial captain who is instantly attracted to our Miss James,” Kristen said, sweeping her arm toward Serenity in a theatrical move. “A captain who will try and get her to join him on his way home.”
He frowned. “Why?”
“Because our good Morgan Drake is in love with her, but he refuses to admit it.”
Stanley gave a most undignified snort. “You’re not about to drag me into the middle of this. I’ll not do anything to hurt Captain Drake.”
Kristen sidled up to Stanley and folded her hands into a steeple up under her chin. She looked up at Stanley from under her lashes, and Serenity watched in awe as Kristen wound the man around her finger.
Indeed, the mesmerized Stanley watched every move Kristen made like a starving man eyeing a feast.
“I’m not asking you to hurt him,” Kristen purred as she traced one finger down the length of his bulging biceps. She flicked her finger off his forearm. “I’m asking you to trick him.”
Blinking as if he just woke up, Stanley gave her a doubting glare. “Only a woman would see that as a difference.”
Kristen made a grand showing of folding her arms over her chest and narrowing her gaze on him. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t someone whose name I won’t mention try to tell George that I swore I’d never marry a sailor?”
Stanley stiffened. His jaw turned to steel. “You did say that.”
“Be that as it may, you did try to trick him into leaving me, did you not?”
“That was different.”
“Why?”
“All’s fair when it comes to love,” he said.
“And this is love. For Morgan and Serenity.”
He looked askance at Kristen. “Are you sure?”
“Never been more positive.”
“All right,” he said with a sigh. “For you, chick-pea. I’ll do it. But you owe me.”
Kristen’s smile grew wider. “I’ll have your suit delivered to you. I believe my maid knows where to borrow one.”
Kristen looped her arm through Serenity’s. “Come, fair maiden, we must now add more spice to the pot.”
Chapter 17
Morgan had no idea what he was in for that night. He’d spent most of the day with carpenters, trying to make repairs to his ship. But if the truth were known, all he really wanted was to see Serenity.
He missed her lively, infuriating conversation almost as much as he missed her presence. He couldn’t imagine what she’d found on the island to keep her amused. In truth, he’d half expected to see her on board his ship, trying to take the hammers from the carpenters and make the repairs herself. Or join the boatswains who were repairing the sails.
But that hadn’t happened.
Well, the last thing you need is her poking her head in while you’ve got a ship to repair. You’ve got impressed sailors to free, that’s where your thoughts should be, not on the doings of some virginal miss.
Tightening his cravat, he promised himself to put her out of his thoughts. She would be going home soon and he’d never again have to worry about his sails, or confront frilly underthings in his cabin.
He was glad of it, too.
Really, he was.
“Morgan!”
He paused at the dock as he heard Jake’s voice. His friend sprinted to catch up to him. “Please give my apologies to Martha. I’ll be late to dinner.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to find positions for Hayes’s crew in town. About half of them are through with the sea. And I’m…” His voice trailed off and Jake looked out at the sea with a wistful gaze.
“What?” Morgan asked, wondering what thought had cost Jake his tongue.
“Well, I was thinking that I’d be heading back on the ship for Charleston.”
Morgan nodded. He would be sad to see Jake go, but he understood. “You’re going back to Lorelei?”
“Don’t start—” Jake snapped, his voice full of warning.
Morgan held his hand up in silent surrender. “I’m not.”
“All right, then,” he said, slapping Morgan on the back. “I’ll see you up at the house later.”
Morgan turned around and headed for the stable where he’d rented a horse. For the first time he actually understood Jake’s impatience. He himself couldn’t wait to see Serenity.
It had been a long, long day and all he wanted to do was share it with her. She’d get a good laugh out of Barney’s bird attacking one of the carpenters when he made the mistake of hammering too close to Barney’s room.
Aye, and the fight Cookie and Kit got into over the last roll.
And he desperately wanted to hear her laughter.
With that thought, he set his heels into the horse’s flanks and took off for Robert’s home.
It seemed forever had passed on a snail’s shoulders before he entered the yard. He paused just outside and wandered into the garden.
Serenity liked flowers. He vividly recalled the way she looked holding the rose.
As carefully as he could, he picked her a rose bouquet. Aye, this would bring a smile to her lips, and maybe a little warmth to her heart.
Holding that hope close, he went back to the front door and entered the h
ouse. He swept his hat off his head and handed it to the waiting servant.
The first sound he heard was the laugh he sought. It rang out, reaching deep inside him.
She would be in the drawing room on his left. Heading that way, he halted in the doorway.
Serenity sat on the settee, wearing a breathtaking gown of white satin trimmed in lace. Her bodice had been cut dangerously low, showing off the tops of well-rounded breasts he longed to sample. The entire length of her chestnut hair had been swept up into a beautiful style that exposed the creamy smooth skin of her neck.
His mouth watered.
Her face was bright, and she reached one graceful hand over to pat…
To pat the arm of the man by her side!
The smile faded from his lips.
His eyes narrowed.
Who was this interloper who dared intrude on his…
Your what?
Territory?
He balked at the thought. She wasn’t his territory. She wasn’t his anything. He had no right to her, yet watching her laugh with another man made him furious enough to punch the fellow in his arrogant face.
Yes, his face was arrogant. His shoulders too broad. And his pants, they were cut so close that they were obscene! Who did he think he was, wearing breeches cropped like that in mixed company?
Morgan squelched the voice in his head that reminded him the pants fit about the same as his own.
That was entirely different.
“Morgan,” Martha greeted him with a smile. “Are those for me?”
Well, two could play Serenity’s game. He bristled under Martha’s too-direct gaze and handed her Serenity’s flowers. “Why yes, yes they are.”
Martha took them from his hand and gave them to the waiting servant. “Why don’t you come in and meet Captain Stanley Fairhope.”
There was a twinkle in Martha’s eyes, and if Morgan didn’t know better, he’d suspect her of some sort of foul play. But that was ridiculous. Martha, unlike Kristen or Serenity, was level-headed and trustworthy.
The so-called captain and Serenity rose to their feet, and Morgan didn’t miss the fact that the man’s hand lingered on her elbow.
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