He shifted, like he wanted to move toward her but held back. “Do you regret last night?”
She jolted at the question and at the tense look on his face. He was truly worried he’d gone too far, truly worried she wished he hadn’t.
She moved toward him since he wouldn’t. Slowly, she lifted a hand and brushed it over his cheek, smoothing her fingers across the harsh line of his jaw and the curve of his bottom lip. He let out a low sound of pleasure at the touch.
“In a long list of regrets in my life, Asher, last night is not even on the first page,” she whispered. “Nor the second. Nor any page at all.”
Relief filled his face and made him look younger, more innocent. He smiled. “Good. Because I don’t regret it, either.”
She felt heat fill her cheeks. “But you also didn’t…benefit from it.”
He arched a brow. “Didn’t I? I assure you, watching you come undone is a benefit I cannot fully describe. I would very much like to do that again.”
Her lips parted as excitement filled her. She hadn’t felt this way in so very long. Like she was alive again, after burying herself deep.
She backed away at that realization. It was too frightening. She couldn’t trust him or any man with her heart. Her body, yes. Everything else she had to protect.
“We should talk about the book,” she said.
He nodded, and his smile said he didn’t feel put off by her backing away. “Yes, we should. The money trails are fascinating.”
“But they aren’t leading anywhere,” Felicity said with a frustrated groan. “Because tracking who was blackmailed by that book years ago doesn’t tell us anything about the man who has it now. It’shimwe need to investigate.”
“And how do you suggest we do that?” Asher asked.
“If we could find him, perhaps we might be able to trick him.”
He wrinkled his brow. “Or just take him. He’s under suspicion of murder—Dane would have every right to simply arrest him.”
“And risk not getting to the book?” she asked, fear rising in her.
“You think he won’t have it with him?”
“If you had a pile of blunt, would you carry it around with you, falling out of your pockets so anyone could see or take it?”
He smiled gently. “I’m not certain I’ve ever had apileof blunt.”
She folded her arms, trying to fight the urge to laugh at his teasing when this moment should be serious. Focused. “You know what I mean, Asher.
“I do, I do,” he said, lifting his hands in surrender. “You’re saying the man would be a fool to keep the book with him.”
“And he’d be a fool not to have some kind of backup plan if he were caught or arrested. That book could be his chance at freedom if it trulydoescontain secrets that are pertinent to the Crown.”
“You think he’d leverage it to be free,” he said.
She nodded. “If he’s not a complete idiot, he would. Now, perhaps the guard or the War Department will have no interest in my secret. Or perhaps they would arrest me and off I’d be transported. Or…or hanged.”
She lifted a hand to her throat and thought of that night not so long ago when Erasmus had choked her. It was a terrible way to die. She did not want to repeat it at the hands of her king and country.
His face had gone pale and all attempts to tease her seemed to be over at that statement. “I would never let them happen.”
“You might not be able to stop it. Our best chance is to get to him before anyone else does, before he breaks that blasted code and convince him to give it to us so we can remove any information about my past.”
“The names are the only thing on the page we obtained that aren’t coded,” he mused. “We would be able to find you even if we couldn’t read it. But how do you think we’re going to convince this man, this murderer, to just hand over such a valuable thing.”
“Wearen’t. You are.”
He stared at her a moment, clearly struggling to understand. “Me?”
