Tobias had tried to prepare him for that possibility. After all, everything that had happened to his father before he'd arrived in New South Wales had taken place over thirty years ago. It was a long time.
"Who are you?" Elyse fastened that blue gaze on him. "I don't remember Jerrold mentioning you." Not that he would necessarily, but she wanted to know more about him.
"And you're not English," she informed him. "Your accent is... different."
"All right. Then, who am I?" Zach countered, wondering just how much she thought she knew. He was curious since she seemed to be so certain.
"You're possibly from one of the colonies," she began. "Perhaps Burma or Hong Kong. You obviously sustained an injury, perhaps in the Queen's service."
"Go on," he told her.
"I don't recall anyone of the name St. James. For all I know, you might be a pirate come to remove everyone's valuable possessions."
When he didn't respond or offer any argument, it seemed it was more a matter of what hewasthan what he was not.
If she was right, she might very well be venturing into dangerous territory. He was a maddeningly handsome man with the aggravating air of someone who didn't give a damn about anything or anyone. And the eye-patch only heightened the air of mystery and danger about him, in spite of the spotless shirt and the formal black waistcoat and pants. He slowly shook his head.
For heaven's sake! She hadn't meant to embarrass him. Then, he raised his head, and she realized he wasn't embarrassed at all. He was laughing!
"I don't see what's so amusing," she announced. But he only continued laughing, as if he found something she'd said amusing. "What are you laughing at, sir?" Oh, what she wouldn't give to wipe the smile off his handsome face.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, reaching to wipe what appeared to be a tear from the corner of his eye. Then he cleared his throat and tried to hold back another fit of laughter.
"It's just that you've found me out," he confessed.
Elyse drew back in surprise. In spite of her observations, this was not at all what she expected.
"And you're quite right, Miss Winslow," he said, bowing low from the waist.
"I'm not at all what I appear to be," he said, his manner now teasing. Zach delighted in the way her mouth twisted thoughtfully.
Most women would have given him some wide-eyed, simple look and then played the confused, naive young virgin.
He found Miss Elyse Winslow, soon-to-be Lady Barrington, a breath of fresh air. She didn't give a damn about appearances, or she wouldn't have come out on the veranda with him in the first place. And, as it was, she had no idea just how close she'd come to the truth.
Leaning toward him, as if to share a secret, her eyes sparkled. "With that patch, I'd say you're a pirate."
Zach watched her, only a trace of a smile lingering at the corners of his mouth. "A pirate?"
"Of course. Which would explain why you found the pendant so fascinating. And," she hesitated, "why you still haven't given it back to me." She leaned closer. "You sir, are undoubtedly a blackguard and a scoundrel, probably with a price on your head."
Taking another step toward him, Elyse's hand shot out, her target the pearl and diamond pendant that dangled from his fingers.
His fingers closed around her wrist, and his other arm stole around her slender waist, pulling her against him.
"And you, dear lady, are a thief." His breath was warm against her cheek.
She was very definitely a thief. But he doubted she understood his meaning. She could steal a man's heart with those eyes that promised something elusive. And unless he missed his guess, that something was desire, but he doubted Barrington was even aware of it. No, this was something she kept to herself, holding back, almost as if she was waiting.
He reached up, stroking the back of his fingers against her cheek.
"Please don't," she whispered only to find herself drawn more intimately against his muscular body.
He sensed something deep inside as he held her, and he felt the trembling that had her hands pressing against him as if to push him away.
"What are you afraid of?" he whispered.
"I'm not afraid."
