Her father chimed a fork against a goblet, calling for attention. A small dais had been set up for the occasion and Rutherford stood on it now with Bryn on one side and Selby on the other. The lantern light loved her, bouncing off the discreet brillants in her hair and the tasteful diamond choker about her neck. Virgin or not, she was indisputably a lady of quality.
Kitt’s eyes drifted to Selby and something twisted in his gut. Selby looked well in his evening clothes, every inch an earl’s grandson. He was just the sort of man for Bryn: young, attractive, respectable. He would never put her in danger—then again, he’d never excite her either.
On the dais, Rutherford raised his glass and began his speech. Kitt forced himself to listen, dragging his thoughts away from Selby and Bryn. ‘Thank you, everyone, for coming tonight. This is the beginning of an historic turning point in the history of the island and in the history of the British empire. It also marks the beginning of our partnership, long may it prove prosperous.’ There was applause and everyone drank.
‘You should be up there with them,’ Ren growled at his side. The other investors were clumped together in the front row, congratulating one another.
Kitt shrugged his nonchalance. ‘I’m in, that’s all that matters.’
‘You don’t have to keep yourself apart.’ Ren’s response was fierce. ‘You’ve been safe for years. No one even remotely connects Kitt Sherard with Michael Melford. Surely, there’s no harm in—’
Kitt shot him a hard, silencing look. Ren had crossed an invisible line. ‘I cannot take that chance. I can never be sure and the risk is too great.’ He could not be discovered. His family was counting on it, and now his brother’s future bride, whether she knew it or not, was counting on it, too. She and her unborn children. Oh, yes, the risk had grown exponentially.
Ren didn’t know when to stop. ‘I don’t think Miss Rutherford minds. I think she’d be very interested in whatever you had to offer, the way her hips were swinging.’
‘She might, but I cannot ask her to risk it.’ Although God knew he wanted to. Each time he saw her it was becoming harder to resist acting on the attraction. Who was he fooling? Every time he saw her, he did act on the attraction and so did she. Each time things went a little further, became a little more explosive. There would come a time when neither would be able to pull back. Kitt relished it and rued it.
Ren was not cowed by his stare. ‘Seems like there might be more than a little infatuation going on.’
‘Sod off, you...’ The last of his unsavoury comment was lost in the tapping of another goblet. Rutherford wasn’t done with his announcements.
‘What’s this?’ Ren asked sotto voce, but Kitt shook his head, he didn’t know.
‘If you would all humour me one more time, I would like to offer a second, more personal toast,’ Rutherford announced.
Kitt listened, but his eyes went to Bryn. There’d been a moment’s surprise on her face. She had not expected this either.
‘Tonight also marks the beginning of my partnership with James Selby as we embark on a new venture at the Sunwood Plantation. May this, too, be the start of new innovations and scientific research into the agriculture of the island.’
Kitt felt Ren stiffen beside him, both of them exchanging quick looks. This was the plantation project he’d heard about on his rounds. He wished he knew more, wished he wasn’t so sceptical of Selby. On the dais, Bryn looked out into the crowd, searching for him. He met her gaze, holding it. He would never reach her. People were moving around them, making their way to the long dinner tables laid out under the white canopies.
He could see she was stunned by the news. Something protective inside him wanted to go to her. She hadn’t known, which meant one thing: Rutherford hadn’t researched it. He had merely taken Selby’s word and Selby was a man easily misled. Kitt’s gut knotted with suspicion. He needed to know the location of Sunwood Plantation.
‘What are you thinking? It’s on one of the smaller islands. I can send you the co-ordinates. It’s about a day’s sail away.’ Ren intruded on his thoughts.
Kitt’s response was grim. ‘I’m thinking it’s all happening again.’
Chapter Eleven
It had all happened without her! The thought ran through her head in a repetitive loop. Her father, who was in the habit of telling her everything, hadn’t told her this. That was the part that hurt. When had he decided this? Why hadn’t he told her? She feared it was because he wasn’t sure. Why else would he keep the secret except out of concern that she would argue with him?
In her disappointment, she’d instinctively sought out Kitt in the crowd. He’d been as stunned as she, perhaps even more so. His expression had been grim, as if he knew something she didn’t. She was desperate to talk to him, but that would have to wait. Dinner was at round tables of eight and she’d spread the investors across all the tables in the hopes of building interest from others in the bank. She was seated with Selby at her father’s request. There’d be no chance to talk to Kitt until much later, if at all.
‘He’s a poor sport, that one, an absolute loner,’ Selby said, his head nodding towards Kitt’s table where everyone was laughing. The handsome Earl of Dartmoor was seated there, too, and champagne was flowing freely. They looked as though they were having fun.
‘I don’t know why you would think that,’ Bryn replied in Kitt’s defence. This habit of Selby’s to malign Kitt was most unbecoming.
‘He can’t stand the idea that anyone else can make money. I’d wager he’s envious over the plantation. He’ll probably try to sabotage it at some point. If I were your father, I’d be on the watch for something sly.’ Selby shook his head. ‘I vow, he’ll be difficult to work with. If his pockets weren’t so deep, he wouldn’t have been asked to join.’
None of you would have been asked to join, Bryn thought rather uncharitably. Did Selby really believe all this nonsense about friendships? This was business, pure and simple. It was about who had money. Even now, the tables reflected that. There were the prime investors her father had gathered, a secondary group, and then there were the connections, all the people who hoped to persuade the investors to invest in them.
‘Just think about it—any time an idea comes up, Sherard seems to take issue with it,’ James persisted with a huff.
‘You are quick to condemn him,’ Bryn pointed out a tad more sharply than she meant to.
Selby shot her a hard look. ‘You are quick to defend him. There are better gentlemen present who hold you in great regard. I would aim higher if I were you, Miss Rutherford. You’ve done an admirable job of setting up house for your father. This party is a splendid example of that. The other women like you, too. I would warn you not to throw away all the good you’ve done by championing a bounder who is best left to the company of men.’
This was a new side, a harder side, of James Selby. Bryn reached for her wine glass. ‘I shall certainly consider that.’ She smiled to suggest he was forgiven and trailed a hand along his sleeve. ‘Enough about Sherard. Tell me about the island—where is it exactly? Perhaps I could get you to write those co-ordinates down?’ Bryn shifted in her seat to better show off the tight bodice of her dress. James’s eyes followed.
She’d been surprised by his outburst. The man did possess some spine after all. Too bad it was supported by bile. There was no love lost between Selby and Kitt. It could create some difficulty on the board if the two insisted on competing. She could easily see her father in a bit of a tug of war. Her father liked Kitt, but it was Selby who’d availed himself of her father’s time and ingratiated himself. Kitt had been aloof and absent, not the best of recommendations if her father had to choose between them.
You should apply that same standard for yourself. Who should you believe? Selby, who tries so very hard to be all a gentleman should be, who has supported your father at every turn, or Captain S
herard who takes liberties with you, sails away without notice and shows up late for dinners, making it clear his priorities do not lie here, all of which points to the fact that he is hiding something.
* * *
Bryn was still considering these competing ideas when the guests departed shortly after midnight. Kitt had departed much earlier—at least, she guessed he had, to her disappointment. He’d not said goodbye to her. For all she knew, he’d slipped out the garden gate. Selby and his mother were the last to leave.
Selby clasped her father’s hand warmly, congratulating him on a wonderful evening. Not for the first time she wished she could like him more. Selby was safe, comfortable. He would be a doting husband, all a girl should wish for, and yet he stirred her not one iota, except to irritate her. But she’d stirred his gentleman’s blood enough to get the co-ordinates.
‘We’ll leave for the other parishes, day after tomorrow, early in the morning, before it gets too hot,’ James was saying. That got her attention.
‘Are we going somewhere?’ she enquired politely.
‘I hadn’t had time to tell you, we’ve just decided.’ Her father smiled broadly. ‘Some of the other investors thought it would be a good idea to make a survey of the island and see what’s out there to invest in. We’ll only be gone a week. James has lined up some people for us to meet with.’ Her father was leaving on a trip? One more thing he hadn’t told her.
A sense of panic began to well. How had everything got so far out of control without her knowing? It wasn’t that her father needed her consent. It was just that she was used to being consulted. The closeness of the last two years was slipping away.
The Selbys left, the door shut behind them, the house quiet after being filled with the noise of guests all evening. She smiled at her father. ‘I could make us some tea and we could talk it all over,’ she offered. ‘It was a grand evening.’
Her father shook his head and started up the stairs. ‘I will pass, my dear. I am too tired and I have busy days ahead. James is coming by tomorrow to go over some things about the Sunwood project. They’re going to need a little more start-up capital than originally thought to get the new crops in—’
‘Yes, about that,’ Bryn interrupted. ‘Did you research it? I was surprised by the announcement. I had no idea you were considering it. What do we know of it?’
‘James knows of it. He would not lead me astray. It would hardly enhance his reputation to have an investment go foul at this juncture. He knows what he’s doing. I have every confidence in him.’
But Kitt had thought otherwise. It’s not that I don’t trust Selby, it’s that I don’t trust his judgement. Who was she to trust? The gentleman or the rogue? Perhaps Selby was right. She was unduly influenced by Kitt’s good looks and flirtatious ways.
With her father gone to bed, there was no sense in staying up. Bryn picked up a lamp and made her way to her own rooms. She didn’t expect to sleep, she had too much on her mind: her father’s new investment, Selby’s comments about Kitt, all the little revelations of the evening. All of which led back to the very point she’d been considering since the day Kitt had taken her out to the rock: did she trust him?
Perhaps she did. She’d certainly been quick enough to seek his opinion tonight and even quicker to question Selby’s choices instead of questioning Kitt’s. The bigger question was why she trusted him. Was it true? Did she defend Kitt because she was drawn to him? Was infatuation influencing her decisions? There was admittedly a lot of him to be infatuated with.
She wasn’t naive enough to believe she was the only girl who’d ever been swayed by good looks, or even swayed by Kitt’s good looks to be specific. But for a woman who’d promised herself freedom, it was hardly something to be proud of. Bryn stepped inside her room and set the lamp on her dressing table, and began to absently pull the pins from her hair, her thoughts trying to sort themselves out. What was she playing at with Kitt? How far could she let it go without compromising her dreams? Her promises?
‘Very lovely.’ A voice spoke out of the darkness beyond the scope of the lamp and she grabbed up her hairbrush out of reflex, prepared to wield it like a club, although she recognised the voice all too well. Perhaps all the more reason to have a club.
‘Speak of the devil!’ She gasped. ‘What are you doing in here?’ Kitt’s long form emerged from the shadowy folds of her canopy bed. ‘Although I should hardly be surprised. You have a knack for showing up in odd places.’
‘I couldn’t leave without saying goodbye to the hostess.’ He gave an impish grin and walked towards her. He’d taken off his evening jacket. She could see it now, folded at the end of her bed. Without it, his shoulders looked even broader, his waist even narrower, his maleness more prominent. He took the brush from her hand. ‘What were you thinking to do with this? I don’t recommend it as a weapon of choice.’
‘A girl has to use what she has at hand.’
Kitt put the brush down. ‘Did you learn anything else about the plantation?’
‘Are you planning on investing after all?’ She was trying to view this interaction with a level of objective detachment that had nothing to do with the fact a handsome male was in her bedroom after midnight, walking slow, seductive circles around her like a stalking tiger. Instead, she tried to focus on Selby’s warning. ‘Selby thinks you like to discourage others on purpose.’
‘What do you think, Bryn?’ His eyes never left hers as he circled.
‘I don’t know what to think,’ she admitted honestly, her voice a little hoarse.
‘As it should be. I don’t know what to think either. I don’t know enough about this to think anything, which is both worrisome and relaxing. Maybe there’s nothing to worry about. Maybe there is and that should be a concern to your father. If he’s being taken advantage of, the whole bank board will look foolish.’
‘The Rutherford coffers can handle a loss,’ Bryn said, trying to convince herself Kitt’s words didn’t raise some alarm.
‘It’s not about money. It’s about reputation. This would be a loss of credibility at the fledgling stages of the bank’s formation. It could be devastating.’ Kitt’s voice was velvet in the darkness, seductive even delivering bad news. Potentially bad news, nothing was certain yet. She couldn’t jump to rash conclusions.
‘What are you going to do?’ She was certain he was going to do something.
She could almost feel his grin as he came up behind her, hands at her shoulders, his breath at her neck, feathering her ear. ‘I am going to find that island.’
‘And if you don’t?’ She was sure he could see the race of her pulse, her body firing so easily at his touch. It was as shameful as it was delicious.
‘Either way, we’ll know if we have anything to worry about, princess.’
‘Do you know where to look?’
‘No, but I have some ideas.’
Bryn licked her lips in a slow motion, an idea coming to her. She held up the paper she’d carried in her pocket just out of reach. ‘I have the co-ordinates.’ She watched Kitt’s eyes light up. ‘But, I’ll want a forfeit for them.’ He was leaving, again. Everyone was going somewhere, except her. Maybe she could go, too. Bryn turned in his arms, pressing her hips lightly against his in suggestion. ‘When are you going?’ She gave him a coy smile, her gaze dropping to his mouth.
‘Oh, no, minx, you are not coming along.’ Kitt’s voice was husky, though. He was not unaffected by her little flirtation.
She flicked her tongue over her lips, her hips moving more strongly against his. ‘I didn’t say anything about that, did I? Maybe I just want a proper goodbye kiss.’
This time it was her tongue that initiated, her tongue running over the even line of his teeth and the smooth planes of his mouth as it explored. It was her mouth that moved over his, drinking and tasting the full flavour of him, her hands that anc
hored in his hair, drawing him to her, against her, until she could feel the unmistakable press of his erection.
‘What are you doing, princess?’ Kitt’s voice was no more than a groan.
‘Giving you a reason to come back.’ She gave his lower lip a final tug with her teeth and stepped away, knowing full well her own breathing was as ragged as his.
It was his cue to depart. There was only so much she was willing to risk with her father just a few doors down and her own thoughts so unsettled. ‘You can find your own way out?’
Kitt gave a snort. ‘I hear the trellis works pretty well.’
Bryn waited until he’d swung a leg over the balcony railing and disappeared over the edge before she followed him outside, her eyes marking his progress as he jogged through the now-deserted garden and out the gate. The only way to trust him would be to test him. Bryn knew what she had to do. She had a day to get on that boat. Round one might have gone to him, but round two had gone to her, he just didn’t know it yet.
Chapter Twelve
She was giving him a reason to come back, all right. That kiss was still on his mind two days later as he sat in his cabin, the Queen of the Main heading out to sea once more on the evening tide. He was supposedly charting a course for Selby’s island, something his mind was only half-engaged in. The other half kept getting sidetracked by memories of Bryn’s warm body pressed up against him, very deliberately. It was the deliberate part he kept going back to.
As enjoyable as the kiss was, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d done it for a reason. If the reason wasn’t to tag along, what was it? He’d replayed the scene over in his mind numerous times, much to his body’s chagrin. But nothing stood out. That particular mystery would have to wait until he returned. Perhaps the kiss was nothing more than what she’d suggested—a reason to come back.
But that carried its own set of complications. Beyond their clandestine, rather spontaneous meetings, what more could there be for them? A woman of her quality was meant for a gentleman. If you were in England, you’d have rank and be more than acceptable. The thought was shocking in its rarity, although it wasn’t shocking in its occurrence, poised as it was on the aftermath of recognising Selby as competition.
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