The next day, he was gone. And she, like a ninny, had wondered if she’d done something wrong…if she’d somehow lost the supposed sparkle that he’d seen in her. It was the sort of stupid thing an adolescent girlwouldthink, she thought darkly.
Luckily, she was no longer that silly miss; she was a woman who wasn’t fooled by a man’s careless compliments. By the kind of trifling flirtation that Timothy Cullen probably employed with every female he met.
She clenched her jaw. “I can take care of myself.”
“If that’s the case, why don’t you?” His mild tone didn’t mask the challenge in his question. “Whyaren’tyou taking better care of yourself, Pippa?”
Her breath caught as his question pierced her armor, the answer plunging into her with unerring accuracy.Because I killed the man I married, and I deserve whatever happens to me.
Edwin’s final masterpiece flashed in her head: the woman with the red-gold tresses, beautiful face, and desperate longing in her eyes.Portrait of a Lady Dreaminghad won Edwin his heart’s true desire—recognition. If only the price had not been his life.
As Pippa tried to shove the memories back into their locked box, the barge lurched, knocking her off her feet. Childish laughter rang outside as she went flying. Cullen dove, his arms encircling her, his brawny body twisting to take the impact of the fall. They landed on a cushioned bench; winded, she found herself sprawled atop him once more.
His eyes, the rich brown of buried earth, drew her in. Her hair fell in a curtain around them, blocking out the world, and she couldn’t look away, couldn’t move as he reached up. The brush of his knuckles sent feathers of heat over her skin. His scent of sea, soap, and male wafted into her nostrils, and her senses brimmed with awareness.
Of his uncompromising masculinity and strength. Of her own sudden desire to melt into it…
“You all right, sunshine?” he asked.
Reality returned in a blink. She couldn’t let this stranger unravel her. Wouldn’t be weak and exposed and pathetic once more.
“I don’t need your help,” she stated.
She scrambled to her feet; he followed suit.
“Everyone needs help sometime,” he countered.
“The way your sister tells it, you’re not exactly a fellow one can count on, are you?”
His mouth tightened, telling her that her barb had hit home.
Although Pippa didn’t know the entirety of what had gone on between the siblings, she’d heard Maisie’s bitter complaints that Cullen hadn’t been there when she needed him. After kissing Pippa, Cullen had left the Hunt Academy and never returned, missing his sister’s milestones. After Maisie graduated, she and Pippa had mostly lost touch, save for the occasional catch-up letter. In her missives, Maisie wrote about her life as a housekeeper in Bristol and omitted any mention of her brother.
Being intimately acquainted with regret, however, Pippa saw it in Cullen’s gaze. She didn’t like hurting him—hurting anyone—but she wanted him to stop pestering her.
“Would my friendship be such a terrible thing?” he asked quietly.
Perhaps not…if she trusted him. Which she did not. While his intentions seemed harmless, she didn’t understand why he’d bothered to look out for her. She wished she could trust her intuition to guide her; when it came to males, however, her instincts had led her down the wrong path one too many times.
She leveled a look at him. “Does afriendhide behind a mask?”
“There’s a reason for my mask,” he said in a curt tone.
“I know the reason. You’re themysteriousPrince of Larks.”
Lines bracketed his mouth. A knock cut off whatever he would have said next.
“Cull, Long Mikey says to come on deck quick!” A girl’s voice came through the door. “A lighter pulled up, wif a giant fellow and group o’ ladies who look like they mean business.”
Reinforcements had arrived; Pippa welcomed the excuse to end this encounter.
“Those are my friends,” she said. “As they do not like to be kept waiting, I’ll bid you adieu.”
She marched to the door, but Cullen beat her to it.
Opening it, he inclined his head.
“Good evening, my lady,” he said. “We’ll finish our discussion another time.”
