The ill-tempered man seemed to chew on his tongue, and then decided that, yes, he did want to fight with her. She could see it plain on his face as he realized that he didn’t care whether she was a lady or not—she was going to have to pay for the perceived transgression.
Then, Freya felt warmth against her back. She straightened her spine, pressing back just enough to feel Nathan behind her. Honestly, all she needed to see was the way the man across from her had to crane his neck upward to look him in the eye. He chewed his tongue again, and decided Nathan wasn’t worth the satisfaction he might have gotten from forcing his money back into his own hands.
The wooden floor underneath them creaked slightly under Nathan’s bulk as he shifted from one foot to the other; no doubt he was crossing his arms over his chest in that no-nonsense way he was so prone to doing. She could imagine the stern look on his face, giving the man a warning that Nathan wasn’t going to take such disrespect lightly.
Freya enjoyed it a good deal more than she should have.
The others at the table all excused themselves, the man to her right politely thanking her for the game and remarking that he was going to need to copy a few of the tricks he had watched her use. She would have been only too happy to teach him, but he didn’t linger long enough for her to even offer her assistance.
Alone at the table, Nathan finally joined her.
He started to scoop up all the discarded cards into a pile, setting them to rights so that he could start to shuffle them. Another thing that seemed to be muscle memory for him, she noted.
“Where did ye learn tae play cards like that?” Nathan asked, brow arched in a playful question. “I think none of them were atall ready fer ye tae mop the floor with them, lass. I can feel quite a few bruised egos.”
Freya giggled and shrugged. “I tried tae warn them. It’s nae me fault that they didnae listen tae me!”
Nathan smirked and handed her the cards as she reached for them, wanting to do the shuffling herself.
“I just had a lot of free time, is all.” Freya said in a way that clearly indicated there was far more of a story there than she wanted to tell.
Nathan just waited for her to continue, gazing at her expectantly.
“And what were ye daeing watching me anyway? Werenae ye supposed tae be looking around the ship? Minding yer business?” Freya asked.
“Dinnae change the subject, lass. I asked ye a question,” Nathan insisted firmly.
Freya rather liked that tone of voice. She heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Ye willnae believe me even if I told ye.”
“Try me.”
She smirked. “The nuns taught me.”
Nathan’s eyes widened. He leaned in closer as if this were some highly scandalous secret. “The nuns taught ye tae cheat at cards? Isnae that against God or something?”
Freya reached for him, slapping at his arm playfully as she laughed. “They didnae cheat, ye lout! They used tae play in secret. It was a highly competitive game. I heard about them meeting in secret, because the Abbess would never have allowed such anti-Christian behavior. And, well, I’ll admit I went because I wanted tae see if they would really break the rules so that the next time that I was in trouble, I could use it against them.”
Nathan snorted a laugh. “Of course, ye did.”
Freya smirked. “And, well, I got what I wanted. But I wasnae expecting tae see them playing so happily or sharing just so much. Habits all a mess,” Freya laughed as she motioned to her head, mimicking the headwear the nuns adopted as a symbol of their faith. “One of them liked tae hike her skirt up over her knee when she played, said that it made sitting easier… but I tell ye, seeing the stockings on a nun isnae something I’ll ever forget.”
Nathan cringed and shook his head. “And now ye have shared that vision with me! How kind of ye.”
“Ye’re the one who asked in the first place!” Freya giggled as she continued. “But it wasnae long afore they found me spying on them. I had tae beg and plead with them tae let me play instead of punishing me fer snooping and tae this day I am still stunned and shocked they allowed such a thing.”
Freya shrugged, shuffling the cards more just so that she would have something to do with her hands.
“I picked up a lot of tricks that way. Then, when I finally left and moved intae me village it came in handy. All the sailors would spend their nights playing cards and I actually used the money I won from playing the cards tae finish me hut.” Freya chuckled and covered the lower half of her face with her hand as if she had something she was supposed to be embarrassed about, but simply was not.
“Well, that’s a good skill tae have I suppose. If all else fails, then we can settle somewhere and make a living off yer skill,” Nathan teased.
It was such a simple, off-handed comment for him to make, but the underlying implications of what he was saying settled deep inside of her. Would that even really be an option? If they were unable to figure out who he was, or where he came from, would he truly wish to start a life with her? It would be a lie to say she hadn’t ever thought about it, because of course she had; she often had.
“Come, let’s head back tae the cabin and let these poor sods scoop up what’s left of their pride,” Nathan said, offering her his hand to her. She, of course, took it. However, the moment she started walking, all the coin she had won started to jingle loudly in her pockets and she almost doubled over with laughter at the shocked look on Nathan’s face.
They hurried into the room so that she could dump all the coin out on their bed.
“Aye lass, this is a fair income,” Nathan said, staring at the pile of coin on the bedding with a glimmer of pride in his voice.
