Chapter Twenty
Judith couldn’t believe she was going to do this. Again. It was so against her nature to sneak about like this. There had to be another way to talk to Nathan without stirring up any curiosity about it. But she couldn’t think of anything.
She hurried down to the lower level, aware that she had so little time she might as well not even bother. It was midmorning already. She hadn’t meant to sleep this late and Jack would be looking for her soon if she didn’t oversleep again, too. She might, though, after coming to Judith’s cabin last night before she retired. Jack had had to share with her everything that she’d learned from her father about the stowaway, and Judith couldn’t even admit she already knew half of it. Darned secrets . . .
She found Nathan putting his tools away. The exercise ring was finished. And he’d already repaired the animal pen. A few more minutes and she would have missed him.
He confirmed that, saying, “I was just leaving. Didn’t think you were going to pay me a visit—and what the devil are you wearing?”
“Clothes that are easy to put on. My maid let me oversleep and I was too impatient to wait for her to come back. As it is, I don’t have much time to spare.”
The way he was staring at her britches brought on a blush. She’d tucked them into midcalf-high riding boots, but the britches weren’t thick. Jack liked her clothes comfortable, which usually meant soft. So Judith didn’t tuck in the long, white shirt, allowing it to fully cover her derriere instead, but she did belt it. She had no doubt she looked ridiculous, but that’s not what his green eyes were saying.
“You’re actually allowed to dress like that?”
“On board ship, yes. I wore breeches the last time I sailed years ago. My mother agreed. Better than a skirt flapping in the wind.”
“For a child, maybe, but you’re a woman now with curves that—”
“Stop looking!” she snapped.
He laughed. “There are some things a man just can’t do, darlin’.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you deliberately wasting what little time I have before Jack starts wondering where I am?”
His eyes came back to hers. “Doesn’t work out well, you having me at your beck and call, does it? Not if you have to arrange it around your cousin.”
She’d already figured that out but did he have to sound so amused about it? “If you have somewhere else to be, by all means—”
She didn’t get to finish. He actually put his hands on her waist and set her on the crate next to him. It was a bit high for her to have chosen as a seat, leaving her feet dangling a few inches off the floor. But then he sat down on it next to her! It wasn’t wide enough for two. Well, it was, but not without their thighs touching.
She might not even have noticed it if she were wearing a skirt and petticoats, but in the thin, black britches, she could feel every bit of his leg against hers and the warmth coming from it. She could feel the warmth of his upper arm, too, as it pressed against hers, since he wasn’t wearing a jacket. The position was far too intimate, reminding her of how it had felt being pressed to his half-naked body yesterday when he’d kissed her. . . .
That pleasant fluttering she’d experienced yesterday showed up to fluster her further. She started to get down until she realized that sitting side by side, she wouldn’t have to look at him and get snared by his handsome face and sensual eyes. If she could just ignore that they were touching. If she could not wonder if he had put them in proximity because he wanted to kiss her again. She groaned to herself. She was never going to get any answers from him if this attraction kept getting in the way.
“Where did you grow up?” she blurted out. There, one simple question he couldn’t possibly evade.
He did. “Does it matter?”
Staring intently at the exercise ring in front of them, which was well lit with two lanterns hanging on its posts, she demanded, “Is this really how you’re going to adhere to the Bargain?”
“Well, if I say where I was raised, you’re just going to take it wrong.”
“Oh, good grief, you grew up in Cornwall?” she guessed. “Yes, of course. The one place in England well-known for smugglers. Why did I bother to ask?”
“I warned you’d take it wrong. But Cornwall has everything every other shire has, including nabobs, so don’t paint everyone who resides there with your suspicions.”
“Point taken.”
“Really?” he said in surprise. “You can actually be reasonable about something?”
“I favor logic, and that was a logical statement about a region.”
He snorted. “I’ve given you lots of logic—”
“No, you haven’t, not on matters that pertain to you personally. So did you learn carpentry before or after you took to the seas?”
“It’s my turn.”
“What? Oh, very well, ask away. I have no secrets to hide other than you.”
“I rather like being your secret.”
Why did that bring on a blush? Just because his tone dropped to a sensual level didn’t mean he intended it to. Or it could mean he did. The man could be trying to deliberately discompose her. Or was he getting as caught up in this attraction as she was? The thought made her feel almost giddy. If he wasn’t a criminal—but he was, and she had to keep that firmly in mind.
“Was that a question?” she asked.
He chuckled. “How big is your family?”
“Immediate? Both parents are hale and hearty. My sister, Jaime, is two years younger than I and doesn’t take well to sailing, so she stayed home with my mother. My half sister, Katey, is much older and is aboard with her husband, Boyd.”
“I meant the lot of you.”
She suspected he didn’t, but she answered anyway. “Don’t think I’ve ever counted the number. My father is the youngest of four brothers. They’ve all got wives and children, even a few grandchildren, so if I had to guess offhand, there’s more’n thirty of us.”
It sounded as if he choked back a laugh. She was not going to glance his way to be sure. Keeping her eyes off him was working—somewhat. At least she’d stopped wondering if he was going to kiss her—oh, God, now she couldn’t think of anything else. It had been thrilling, if a little overwhelming, but the feelings it had stirred in her had been too nice not to want to experience them again.
“—most of my life,” he was saying.
“What?”
“Your previous question.”
“But what did you just say?”
“Where did your mind wander off to?”
The humor in his tone made her wonder if he already knew, which made her blush even more. “Would you just start over, please?”
“When you ask so nicely, of course. I said that I was a sailor first, that I sailed with my father most of my life.”
“Except for the three years you worked as a carpenter. You mentioned that to my uncle. Where and why did you learn that trade if you already had a job with your father?”
“No cheating, darlin’. That’s three questions in a row you’re asking.”
She huffed, “I wouldn’t have to if you would elaborate, instead of giving me terse answers that only lead to a dozen more questions.”
He chuckled. “So you adhere to logic and exaggeration, oh, and let’s not forget stubbornness. I’m starting a list.”
“And you adhere to evasion. D’you really think that isn’t obvious?”
“You know, I’m having a hard time keeping my hands off you.”
She sucked in her breath, her eyes flying to his. His expression said that he wasn’t just trying to distract her. Blatant desire, poignant and sensual. It struck a chord, lit a flame. . . .
“Just thought you should know,” he added, then looking away, asked, “Where did you grow up?”
Judith needed a moment to come back to earth. Actually, longer. As if he had touched her, her nipples still tingled from hardening, her pulse was still racing. She would like to think she would have stopped him from kissing her just then, but she knew she wouldn’t have. Why didn’t he!?
Oh, God, the man was more dangerous than she’d thought—to her senses. She jumped off the crate to put some distance between them. She was going to have to be more cautious of his tactics.
“London,” she said, and said no more. Still watching him, she noticed when his mouth tightened just a little, but enough to guess he didn’t like short answers either. “Annoying, isn’t it, lack of elaboration?”
“I’ll survive.”
She snorted at his glib answer. “Well, since I’m usually more thorough, I’ll add, I was born and raised in London, as well as tutored there. In fact, I rarely left the city except to visit family in other parts of England, such as Hampshire, where I first met you.”
“And at least twice to America.”
She smiled. “Before I comment on that, I require another answer from you. Why did you learn carpentry if you already were working with your father?”
He glanced at her again and laughed heartily. She liked the way humor disarmed him so thoroughly, his face, his mouth, his eyes, all revealed it. It said that he was getting used to her and wasn’t the least bit afraid that she might land him in jail. Confidence that he could change her mind about him, or actual innocence? There was the rub. If she had that answer by now, then she wouldn’t be here—or she would, just for a different reason.
He addressed her last question. “I had a row with my father that led to my leaving Cornwall for good when I was twenty. I ended up settling in Southampton, which is where I took up carpentry.”
She repaid him in kind. “My first trip to America was with Jack, too, to visit her mother’s hometown of Bridgeport. This trip is for her come-out there before we have another in London. It’s unusual to have two, of course, but her American uncles insisted. If you don’t know what a come-out entails—”
“I do. It’s what you nabobs do to get yourselves a husband. So you’re going on the marriage mart, are you? Somehow, I didn’t expect you’d need to.”
Had he just given her a compliment, but in a derogatory tone? “I don’t need to. I’ve lost count of how many men have already petitioned my father for permission to court me this summer.”
“So you’ve got a host of eager suitors waiting for you to return to England?”
“No, as it happens, my father threw all those hopeful gentlemen out of the house. He didn’t appreciate the reminder that I was approaching a marriageable age.”
“Good for him.”
She raised a brow. “Really? Why would you side with him about that?”
“Because women don’t need to get married as soon as they can.”
“You’re talking about someone you know personally, aren’t you?” she guessed.
He nodded. “My sister. She should have waited for a better man who could have made her happy instead of accepting the first offer to come her way. It didn’t turn out well.”
Judith waited a moment for him to continue, but she heard the sound of approaching voices. She gasped. “That’s my father and uncle.”
“Bleedin’ hell, hide.”