“Why is that?”
She didn’t need to look at him to know his brow had furrowed into a deep line.
“Because now we have it out of the way,” she said, her voice light and breezy. “We solved the problem.”
How convinced she sounded. She’d always been a good liar.
“That was what we were doing in my bed last night?” A tetchy beat passed. “Solving a problem?”
She angled her head so she could meet his eye when she spoke her next lie. “Yes.”
Jamie detected aflicker of something in her gaze. She didn’t quite believe heryes.
“More was shared between us than two bodies solving a problem,” he said, careful to keep his voice even. Otherwise, he might find himself shouting at the deuced frustrating woman.
“How can you know that?” asked the deuced frustrating woman. “Desire can be very deceiving.”
“This isn’t a question of desire. It’s a question of l—”
Her eyes flew wide, stopping him mid-sentence. Which was for the best, truly. What L-word had he been about to say?Lust?Or an altogether different L-word?
She covered her mouth, and he realized her shock had naught to do with him, but rather a point over his shoulder. “Oh, no,” she said, panic replacing shock. She brushed around him. “No, no, no, no, no.” Her feet gained momentum with eachno.
“What is it?” he called at her back, alarm setting in. The woman was near imperturbable. What could be upsetting her?
“Sir Bacon,” she called over her shoulder.
That would account for it.
His gaze swept the area, following the sound of barking to the far side of the pond. There was Sir Bacon at the bank, wading through a clump of reeds and becoming increasingly worked up over the group of pelicans, which he seemed only now to have noticed, his entire body straining with the effort of his barks. Hortense was jogging now, calling out to the feisty, little beast, who was decidedly ignoring her.
To watch this perpetually composed woman become a sprinting, shouting harridan, well, it was a sight. Just as she reached Sir Bacon, the dog jumped into the water and began swimming.
Standing on the soggy bank, she shouted, “Come back here, you blasted dog!”
Sir Bacon simply swam on toward the pelicans, who had started taking notice of the scrappy interloper. As he joined Hortense at the water’s edge, Jamie thought a silly smile might have overtaken his face. He hadn’t smiled like this in…days, weeks, months…years? Had it been years?
Her voice transitioned into a wheedle. “Sir Bacon,” she sing-songed, “if you wouldn’t mind returning to shore, it surely would be appreciated.”
On Sir Bacon swam.
Hortense flashed Jamie a hopeful glance when he drew abreast with her. “Would you happen to be carrying a breakfast meat with you this morning?”
“Afraid not.”
She planted her fists on her hips and let out an exasperated huff.
Meanwhile, a scene began to unfold on the water, and all they could do was watch, helpless, as Sir Bacon caught up to the pelicans, his little legs working like pistons. Since ignoring the little pest hadn’t proven effective, the pelicans began flapping their wings in warning. Intuiting where this scene was heading, Hortense started calling out to the stubborn dog with yet more serious urgency, interrupting herself to say, “Who knew he could swim like that?”
“A dog of many talents,” Jamie said equably.
Unfortunately, said talent appeared to be breaking through the pelicans’ natural peaceableness and working them into a royal tizzy. As one, the birds switched direction and aimed directly for the dog. He must have seen the error of his ways, for he made a sharp reversal, now making for the shore as fast as his little legs could swim. The pelicans, however, weren’t content to let him get away without consequences for disturbing their morning meditation. A lesson was to be taught.
The chase was on.
Hortense crouched low as she waved him into shore with her whole body. “Swim faster, Sir Bacon!”
Even Jamie found himself calling out to the dog. The birds were gaining on him.
