“I wouldn’tbe avery goodagent if I failed my dutyso soon,” he noted dryly. “So the answer is yes. I need to keep an eye on you at all timesif I’m to protect you.”
She didn’t care to beregardedassomeone’s“duty,”although she pushed thatthoughtaside.Instead, she asked,“Why didn’t you tell me about Claudia?”
He shrugged. “I figured you would find out soon enough. Why spoil the surprise?”
“Indeed.”Shecrossed her armsand pursed her lips.“How did you get involved with the Home Office, Mr. Claymoore?”
His dark eyes were assessing, and she wondered if he would even answer, butafter a moment, he shrugged andsaid, “I needed something more in my life.”
That was something she could well understand. “And have you foundwhat you were looking for?”
He didn’t reply, so she took his silence as confirmation that hedidn’t wish to continue.Instead of prodding him further, she trailed a finger along the wall and asked, “Wereyouable to attendthe Duke of Chiltern’s wedding?”
“I wasn’t fortunate enough, no. Although I consider Gabriela friend, I was otherwise occupied.”Trying to chase your husband.He didn’t say it, but sheknewthat waswhat he left unsaid. “Why do you ask?”
“Triana is my friend.” She frowned. “Idaresay Iwish I would have attended their wedding instead of my own.”He didn’t reply, and as an awkward silence filled the air between them, shelooked back toward thesea andsaid, “Isn’t this the most delightful view?”
“I suppose.”
Isabellaturned back and narrowed her eyes at him. Perhaps it was his sudden wince, or the fact he hadn’t moved from his positiononthe doorframe.She tilted her head to the side.“Are you afraid of heights, Mr. Claymoore?”
He stiffened.“It’s not that I’mafraid,” he countered. “I just don’t have aparticularfondness for it.”
Isabella couldn’t help but laugh.Somehow, knowing that he had a fear, even though he might deny it, made him a bit more approachable.“So the hardened agent for Whitehall has a weakness, after all,”she taunted.
***
Ridge couldn’t very well counteract her statement,but theweaknesshe was currently feeling wasn’tbecause oftheir distance from the ground, althoughit was truehenever hadcaredmuchfor heights.
Itwas the ladybefore himthatcausedhis hearttostutter in his chest.
When he’d firstturned the cornerandseenLadyIsabella standing at the keep’s edge, herlong red hair shining like fire in the sunlight, her lavender dress flowing about her legs andtheglitteringsea in the background, he’dwished there had been a way to capture thatmoment forever.His chest still ached, even now, for hervery presencerivaled the majestic scenery around them.
Fall in love withme.
Ridge blinked, the spell abruptly broken. Hecouldn’tevensaywherethatdangerous and untenable thought had come from, but it wasn’t as though it was an idea he could ever entertain. Even if the lady was available, and shewasn’t, hadn’t he just told himself that he had nothing to offer a prospective wife?
In spite of the direction of his wayward musings, he yearned to prove to her—and perhaps even to himself—that he was still quite capable of doing his job properly, even if he didn’t care for the current surroundings.
Without a word, he withdrew theknife thathe kepttucked into his boot and let it fly. It landed just inches from her foot, stuck in between two stones.
She gasped and clutched the edge of the wall behindher with a white-knuckled grip as hewalked forward.She was still recovering from her shock as he stopped directly before her and bent down to withdraw the knife from the stones. He wiped it on the leg of his trousers and tucked itsecurelyback into his boot.
“You have it all wrong, Lady Isabella.” His looked at her steadily. Her face was still pale although she didn’t say a word as headded, “I’man agent for Whitehall,soyou’ll find thatweaknessisn’t a word that I have in my vocabulary.”
He allowed himself a momentof indulgenceto breathe in her scent as it mixed with the sea at her back, and then he turned and left.
