I hummed, considering whether I wanted to share. “You’re an honorable man. It’s quite annoying, really.”
“I know. It irritates me as well.”
“You should consider being less honorable.”
“I would say I was at least a little dishonorable no more than an hour ago.”
“You were. You should do it more often.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.
Before I could scold him for the blatant lie, the carriage rocked as we turned to the inn. I leaned across him to peer out the window. To my astonishment, the smoky blue of dusk greeted me.
The Crimson Lily glowed with light from the hearth. “When did the sun set?”
Kit was frozen for a moment before silent laughter racked his chest, jostling me. My smile formed in response.
“I have absolutely no idea,” he said.
“Hour or two ago,” came the response when the door opened. Rory’s bemused face peered in. Struggling to right myself, I slid off Kit’s lap in slow motion and sank toward the floor. He caught me awkwardly around the shoulders just before I plopped on my bottom. “All dressed in here?” she asked, repressed chuckles wavering in her tone.
“Rory…” Kit warned, still hauling me back up and settling me beside him.
“What? It sounded like ye may’ve had a wild beastie in here. Thought ye might’ve had to sacrifice yer delicates to satiate it.”
“Be nice, Rory. I just got him to stop trying to sit across from me. We don’t want to scare the little turtle back into his shell.”
Kit groaned. “Oh Christ, you’re not going to start calling me a turtle like you call Tom a cricket, are you?”
“One, Thomas is a little cricket. His legs and arms are too long for his body and it’s adorable. Two, I hadn’t intended to but now, absolutely, I will be doing that.”
Something bordering on a growl escaped his chest, and he stomped out of the carriage, not pausing to hand me out.
“Wait,mon petite tortue,” I called after him as I snatched my reticule from the opposite seat. I turned to Rory. “How long do you suppose I can continue to call him that before he abandons me by the side of the road?”
“We’re driving, lass. He cannae abandon ye. And if the sounds I heard out there were any indication, he’ll let ye do a lot worse than that.”
I watched as Kit turned back briefly to be certain I was still behind him, then continued on, albeit at a more sedate pace.
“Do you really think?”
“Aye. Go get him.”
When I entered the inn after righting myself just the tiniest bit, it boasted a raucous crowd of men several drinks into their evening and seemingly a few rounds of hazard as well.
Kit shifted uncomfortably at the table he’d procured when I entered, then rose to guide me over. There was a tall, fair one, who was passably handsome. He directed the others in that slow, loud, overly enunciated way drunken men had. There was a smaller, greasy looking man with unnaturally yellowed skin. And a portly one with ruddy cheeks and a loose smile.
I noted that Kit placed me so my back was to the group as well, while he faced them. I hardly thought it a necessary gesture, but the effort made me smile at the table.
With his obvious discomfiture, it seemed needlessly cruel to tease him as I had planned.
He forced his gaze from the group and turned to me. “I, uh, I asked them to bring out the roast. Is that— Does that suit?”
“Yes, thank you.” A cry rang out from the men and Kit’s gaze shot that direction. “They’re fine.”
“They’re groggified, and you’re the only lady here—and the prettiest any of them have ever seen.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
