Her gaze snapped back to meet his. “And what else about me have you read?”
Finally, some spunk. He grinned. Being demure did not suit her.
“Quite a bit. For instance, you’ve received some of the best training to be had in dancing, so I would expect you excel at most every activity you partake in. Also, I know this image you portray is fake.”
She swallowed and glanced around them as he continued. “I think you’re afraid to let the world see the real you. So, you hide behind the convenient mask of a wallflower.” He paused to look her up and down. “Would I be wrong to bet that you’re a completely different person at home?”
She opened her mouth, but he lifted a finger to her lips. “Don’t answer.” God, her lips were soft. He fought the wild urge to claim them with his own. Instead, he pressed on. “I think you’ve been hurt.”
Her eyes widened.
“No, not by a lover. By your parents’ loss. And that hurt lingers. It dictates your choices. You try to bottle up how it makes you feel, and in turn, bottle up who you are.”
Something in her eyes went hard and he clamped his mouth shut. He hadn’t meant to dig so deep.
“Don’t presume to know me so well, Lieutenant.” Ice crept into her words. She stepped back. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a wall to grace.”
Her hands bunched into fists at her side, and she spun away.
When she disappeared into the ballroom, he sighed and leaned over the railing. Familiar footsteps approached.
“Not like you to let a beautiful woman hamper a mission.” Isaac, his best friend and first officer, appeared from the shadows.
Christian ran a hand through his hair. “The mission was aborted before I set eyes on Miss Warstein. With her in the hallway, the bloody criminals would have never chanced their meeting.”
His blood simmered.
So close.
So damn close to putting a face to the elusive Captain Remington. Intelligence had hinted the pirate would be in attendance. And when the meeting place had been leaked by a well-paid footman, it had all but sealed the crook’s fate. Only to have a pretty redhead unhinge the whole plot with her aching feet.
Pretty redheads in general had become a new source of trouble.
He sent a silent curse out against ridiculous women’s fashion and pounded his fist against the railing. “How did we miss him? Who knows when we’ll get another chance like that?”
His friend drew nearer. “Don’t worry. We’ll get him in due time. Plenty of other fish to catch. For now, how about we head to the tavern? I think a few rounds of ale along with a warm, willing body would do you good.”
Christian’s finger rose to the tiny scab on his neck. “I’m going home.” A vision of flaming hair billowing in the wind flashed before his eyes.
Other fish indeed.
*
“Find her.” Christianslammed his dagger into the map on his desk. His new dagger, since a certain wench now had his government-issued one. “I don’t care how you do it.”
His officers nodded and filed from the room, but Isaac stayed behind.
“Are you sure it’s wise to expend so many resources on one pirate?”
Christian turned from his friend and paced in front of the desk. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Hell, I’ll fund the mission myself if I have to.”
“All because you were bested by a woman?”
Muscles tensed, Christian stopped and stared at the painting above the fireplace.Bested by a woman. He’d heard the whispers among his men since that day. His teeth ground together. He would never live it down.
“No,” he growled and pointed to the portrait.
His mother.
