Her sad sigh filled the quiet room. “I’d thought so. I’d just hoped you might see something different.”
“I’m sorry.” His sincerity was obvious. He’d known the betrayal evidenced in those records would cause her grief and had tried hard to cushion the blow. “There’s clearly been an outlay of cash that can’t be accounted for. Someone’s been siphoning money from you. Declan—”
Prim held up her hand. “No.” Then more firmly. “No, I can’t believe Declan would ever do anything to hurt his grandchildren.”
“Times are tough,” he allowed. “Even some of the most brilliant business minds in the country have lost fortunes. Banks go under every day. Maybe he did it to keep his afloat. I don’t know. Having you marry Leachman, having someone he trusted keeping your books, was his best bet on keeping you from finding out. They’re in it together, I’d wager. You’ll need to say something. Call the authorities.”
He was right. It would do no good to continue to deny it. “I know,” she mourned. “I just can’t believe it. The children will be heartbroken.”
“Better than bankrupt. I could help out, if you need it.”
“Thank you, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Our personal accounts are solvent. This is a tragic blow but not a devastating one.”
“Come here.” James opened his arms and drew Prim into his embrace. “I hate to see you hurt so.”
He tilted her chin up, settling his mouth over hers. Giving comfort, solace. She clung to him, relaxing against him with a contented sigh.
“You’ve been so wonderful to me, Jamie. All of this goes far beyond the bargain we made.”
“I don’t care about the bargain, lass,” he murmured. “I only care about you.”
His words were so sincere, they sounded more like a profession than a balm to provide comfort. Though her heart leapt, Prim sternly reminded herself he meant nothing of the sort. He cared, yes, but he was a man of deep caring. He wasn’t the sort to let a friend down.
They were that if nothing else. But Prim didn’t want it to end there. Or ever. She wanted him in her life as he was in her heart.
If she couldn’t have that, she would have him in her bed.
Laughing inwardly at the thought, Prim marveled at how far she’d some in such a short amount of time. From not being able to say boo to a ghost to standing up for herself, her rights. The thought of taking a lover would have appalled her a month ago.
But when that lover was James MacKintosh…
Well, she was discovering there was a lot of satisfaction in bucking the rules every now and then.
Returning her lips to his, she let the desire she had for him flow over her. Pour into him. Sliding her arms inside his suit coat, she hugged him tightly until she was pressed against him from breast to hip. His arousal stirred against her belly, and he murmured approval against her lips. His hands slipped downward, cupping her bottom and lifting her more firmly against him.
Yes, the rules were for fools.
“Will you take me to bed, Jamie?” she whispered.
“With pleasure.”
CHAPTER 28
The demand for equal rights in every vocation of life is just and fair; but, after all, the most vital right is the right to love and to be loved.
~ Emma Goldman
“No regrets?”
“I thought we thoroughly exhausted this topic.”
James grinned, his white teeth flashing in the dim light. His hand encircled hers, tugging her through the darkened kitchen of the Preston mansion and up a narrow set of stairs.
“So we have.”
She might have shed all regrets, but Prim did have her fair share of trepidation. It quaked within her knees and ankles with each step they took to James’s suite of rooms. Her fear wasn’t for what Mrs. Preston might think if she spotted Prim there or even for the sensibilities of his staff.
No, her nervousness was reserved for what lie ahead. He was, by all accounts, a man of profound experience. During their brief passionate encounters, she’d hardly been in the state of mind to consider what came next. She’d had plenty of time to think about it on the brief carriage ride from her house to his. She might have a decade of marriage under her belt, but she knew from gossip whispered behind screens in a hundred ladies’ retiring rooms that her knowledge was limited. Prim feared he might be disappointed in her lack of practical expertise, as it were.
