“I really don’t think—”
“Then permit me to do the thinking,” he teased, one corner of his mouth tilting upward charmingly. “The straw piece with the yellow ribbon would do nicely.”
“It’s very pretty,” Shannon said. Where was the shopkeeper? “But not suitable for where my husband and I will be going.” She stressed again that she was a married woman, and this time saw it made no impact on him.
“Oh? Then perhaps that riding hat, the one with the—”
“No!” She had seen the black velvet hat sporting a silver-gray plume, and its resemblance to the one Aurora had worn made purchasing it completely out of the question. “No,” she said more softly, seeing her companion give a small start of surprise. “The fur piece would be better. We’re sailing north to Boston in one week. My husband has family there.” She realized she was rambling, but her discomfort was growing rapidly. His eyes. There was something about his eyes. “It’s a wedding trip of sorts. We were only recently married.”
His mouth quirked again. “That does little to ease the pain, Mrs. Fleming. I shall always regret not coming to town earlier and paying court myself.”
“I wish you would not speak so,” she said.
“Then I won’t,” he offered gallantly. “I can see I am making you uncomfortable when all I wished to do was offer help—and make your acquaintance, of course.”
He brushed aside some ribbons and material that were scattered on the worktable and set Shannon’s packages down. Tipping his black felt hat slightly, he made a small bow. “Good day, Mrs. Fleming. It has been a pleasure.”
Relief mingled with surprise that he should take his leave with no more prompting on her part. “Yes, well, thank you again.” The odd familiarity of his smile stayed with her long after he had departed. Even when the shopkeeper appeared, apologizing profusely for her inattention to a patron, Shannon found herself thinking of Peter Rhoades’s perfect features and his brilliant emerald eyes.
Hours later, when she was sitting at Brandon’s feet in front of the fire in the library, her arm curved over his thighs and her head resting against his knees, Shannon caught herself visualizing Peter’s face as she stared at the flames. “Do you know anyone named Peter Rhoades?” she asked.
Brandon’s fingers continued to comb the silky length of Shannon’s hair. “No. Should I?”
“No. I suppose not. He didn’t seem to know you.”
“Now you’ve piqued my interest, madam,” he chuckled. “Who is this Peter Rhoades who doesn’t know me but knows my wife? And where, pray, did you make his acquaintance?”
“I met him in town while you were attending to business and booking our passage. He helped me carry my packages into the milliner’s.”
“Dare I hope he was three times my age with a hump on his back and wart on his chin?”
Shannon rubbed her cheek against his knee in a contented feline gesture. “Then you do know him,” she grinned.
Brandon growled softly in the back of his throat. “Did he dally with you?”
“A little.”
“And you with him?”
“A little.”
“Honest,” he said. “But not what I wanted to hear. Should I be jealous?”
“You must make up your own mind as to that.” Her lashes fluttered coyly; her eyes brightened with humor. “He was quite the most astonishingly beautiful man. Near to your age. No hump. No wart.”
“Have you no guile? I think I would prefer that you lie to me.”
“A lie would serve no purpose,” she said seriously. “I still choose you. I always shall.”
“In spite of my want of fine looks,” he grimaced.
Shannon’s hand brushed his thigh teasingly. “In spite of that.”
“Humph. I think I shall call the rogue out if I chance to meet him. Mar his Adonis countenance with a scar perhaps.”
“Oh, no. That would give his face character, something that he decidedly lacked for all that he was charming. He would be infinitely more intriguing if you gave him a scar. Besides, there is no need. I find I much prefer your dark eyes to his green ones, and your smile to his.”
“Well, that is something at least, though I wish you had not noticed his eyes at all.” Brandon tugged on Shannon’s hair. “It occurs to me that you dallied overlong, m’dear, to have taken note of such things.”
