Warmth crept upward from her collarbone to the tips of her ears. She fought to keep it under control lest she confirm his teasing words. So absorbed in the joy of their dance, she’d nearly forgotten where she was and the scrutiny they’d be under. Now, she was uncomfortably aware of the many curious eyes following them around the room.
“You’ve an odd sort of flirtation,” she scolded. “You’re impossibly flattering yet inappropriate.”
“Thank you.”
That with a wink and a sly grin. The irreverent reply. He was an unbelievable rogue. He played his part in this whole deception beautifully. She had to remind herself she couldn’t credit a thing he said when it came to such outrageous flirtation.
But Prim knew she could take his words regarding her inner strength to heart. His support in that, at least, was sincere.
He was doing so much for her, helping her. Bringing laughter back into her life, confidence. His belief that she had the gumption to surmount her current difficulties gave her real hope for the future. Prim wished she could help him as well.
Much was hidden behind his roguish wit and wicked smirks. More too beneath his confident exterior. She’d seen it. At times, sensed it. She wondered if he missed his family back in Scotland and had asked him about it but he’d laughed it off.
Prim tilted her head to the side, studying him as he whirled her around the floor. “Are you all right? You seemed a trifle lonely earlier.”
His chuckle sounded strained to her ears. “Nonsense. How could I be lonely when in such wonderful company?”
“You are only just in company, wonderful or not,” she pointed out.
“Either way, it’s nonsense I should be lonely, surrounded by so many.” James laughed again. “Besides, I’ve told you before, I have siblings. Ten of them, in fact. Born right in the midst of them. You think you haven’t known a moment’s peace in your life?”
He was prepared to laugh it away, but Prim wasn’t willing to let it go just yet.
“I have three children and as many brothers, yet sometimes feel incredibly lonesome. You’ll find no recrimination from me by admitting the same.”
For a moment, she caught a glimpse of something in his eyes. Pity? Grief? She wasn’t certain.
“Do you miss them?”
“Absent family is always missed, aren’t they?”
His dismissal was clear so rather than press him, Prim took the subject more broadly. “So eleven children? That is a large family. Tell me about them.”
“Tell me about yours,” he countered, searching around the room. “I saw amongst your usual entourage another younger man with similar coloring as yours. Another brother? I might have met him, I think.”
Prim didn’t need to look around to know who he was referring to. “Jeremy, yes. The youngest of the three of them. Just a year older than I in years, though I’m still a young girl in all their eyes. He said he’d met you yachting last summer.”
James nodded at the memory. “That’s right. It was at Station Number Six in Newport to watch the racing of the Corsair Cup, right?”
She nodded again. “I was there as well.”
He frowned, trying to place her. “Were you?”
“Yes, it was right before Fletcher died.”
“I’m sorry.”
“As my brothers are constantly reminding me, it’s been well over a year.” She shrugged, licking her lips.
His gaze flicked downward, lingering before finding hers again. His eyes a shade darker than they’d been before.
James cleared his throat. “I’m familiar with the eldest, Shane, isn’t it? From the other night. Who’s the third?”
“Dennis. You probably haven’t met him. He recently returned from a trip to Italy,” she told him. “I overheard Shane telling Jeremy he’d followed an opera singer there.”
“Well, a man has to follow something, right?”
The corner of his lips kicked up attractively, prompting a rush of heat to accompany the amusement his teasing provoked.
