“Await my note,” he told her tersely instead.
“You are a good man, Mr. Elijah Decker,” she shot back. “But never fear, your secret is safe with me.”
With those parting words, she turned and swept from his office. The door closed before he could argue or disabuse her of her misguided fancies.
Because he was not a good man, especially not where Jo was concerned. And sooner or later, she would learn that undeniable truth herself.
The hard way.
Chapter Nine
Just when Johad begun to fear she would have to go another night without seeing Decker, the note arrived. It was after tea, and the missive was hidden within a letter from his publishing company concerning the publication of the last pamphlet she had delivered for the Lady’s Suffrage Society.
Tonight.
Half past eight.
D.
From the moment she had read those scant words and seen his beautiful, masculine scrawl, her heart had been pounding with exuberant anticipation. Decker haunted her every thought. She had spent the entirety of the day preoccupied with thoughts of him. Of his kisses. She had been on edge, laden with anticipation, wondering when his next note would arrive. Until, at long last, it had.
And now, she was on her way back to him.
This evening’s escape had proven more treacherous than the previous two occasions upon which she had made her way out of her brother’s townhome in the night. Julian and Clara were in residence this evening. She had shared dinner with them and then professed she was tired and in need of some additional rest.
Although it was perhaps down to her inner anxiety at sneaking out with the two of them at home, Jo had sworn her sister-in-law had frowned and that her gaze had not been merely understanding but searching as well. Julian, who had eyes only for his wife, had scarcely seemed to take note of her premature exit.
As Jo slipped into the mews at the appointed hour, it occurred to her that she may have inadvertently left Decker’s note behind, nestled amongst her other correspondence. But his carriage was in sight, awaiting her, and she did not dare take the chance of returning and risk being observed. If someone caught her now, she would lose her chance of spending more time with Decker alone.
What were the odds anyone would enter her chamber whilst she was gone? She had dismissed her lady’s maid for the evening. Her lights were lowered. As far as the entire household was concerned, she was abed.
Her heart was already lighter. The pent-up excitement tangled in knots in her belly ever since she had gone to his offices earlier could no longer be contained. Her every sense was heightened. The night smelled like imminent rain and the promise of summer. The air was damp and humid. Darkness had never seemed more inviting. In the distance, a low roll of thunder sounded above the ordinary din of the city.
Jo’s heart was aflutter by the time his servant gave her a hand into the vehicle.
She entered to find him awaiting her as usual, his long legs on display in black trousers, his eyes almost cobalt in the low light. Their gazes clashed and held as she entered, and suddenly, everything else fell away. She forgot about the note, about the possibility of detection. She scarcely heard the door close at her back. All Jo could do was drink in the sight of Decker, so big and powerful and handsome.
“Josie.” He grinned.
There was his sobriquet for her.It suits you, and I like it, he had said. And she liked it, too. And, as she had told Decker, she likedhim.
Too much.
Fartoo much.
Her heart plummeted somewhere into the vicinity of the soles of her handsome boots. All the rage, finest leather, crafted just for her, thanks to her sister-in-law Clara’s immeasurable wealth. They pinched Jo’s toes, but she had worn them because she wanted to look her best for him.
“Decker,” she greeted him in return.
His hands clamped on her waist and he hauled her toward him. She let out an embarrassing squeal of surprise, her hands finding his broad shoulders, as she landed sideways in his lap.
“Finally,” he muttered.
She inhaled, worrying her lower lip with her teeth, for she felt the same way, as if an interminable eternity had passed between when she had last seen him in his offices and this moment. “You saw me this afternoon.”
“And yet, waiting for this evening was torture.” He grimaced, but the action did not abate his allure one bit.
As for torture? Jo knew the feeling. Wrong or not, part of her was pleased to know he had been thinking of her and suffering. Perhaps even longing for her in the way she longed for him.
