But then, he hadn’t been expecting that answering look of desire in thoselovely, brown eyes either.
Time and time again he’d told himself thatnothing could come of an affair,other than to satisfy a natural human urge. While that wasn’t without its merits,hewouldn’tdisrespect her that way.She a married womanandalso extremely vulnerable right now.She might think that she wanted him, but she wasmerelysearching for a way to fill the voidin her heart,and repair her pride after Wistenberry’s desertion. It would be entirely too easy to break herspirit, and while Ridge may be many things; he wasn’t a bounder whowould intentionallyset out to ruin a woman’s life.
And tonight, he’dalmostmade the worst mistake of all, allowing himself to become distracted.
A rustle in the bushes ahead put him back on alert, when his concentration had been threatening to lapse yet again. He held his gun at the ready, and stayed close to the shadows as he scanned the area ahead. The scent of danger surrounded him, but it was familiar. This is what he’d been trained for.It waswhat he knew.
A few more steps andhe would encounter the culprit.
He tensed, pulling back the hammer and waited—
AManxshearwater hopped into sight, its dark eyes peering up at him as they faced off against one another.With a loud screech, it lifted its black and white feathers as a warning that Ridge was getting too close to its nesting grounds.He exhaled heavily and lowered his pistol,as oneside of his mouth kicked up in a grin. “Don’t worry, I’m not after your young,” he murmured.
The bird didn’t seem convinced, however, merely let loose another sharp cry. Ridgetucked his pistol away andturnedto head back toward the castle. While his suspicious mind hadn’t encountered anythingof concernthis evening, that didn’t mean there wasn’t any threat to be found. He still believed that Wistenberry would come after his wife, and with time runningagainst him, Ridge vowed that he would be ready.
***
Isabellaspent a fretful nightpacing her room until exhaustion finally set in and shedrifted off into a restless slumber.When she woke, she dressed without waiting for Claudia, for she was anxious to hear what, if anything, Mr. Claymoore had found the night before.
However, that wasn’t the only thing she was curious about.
Last night he’d paid her one of the highest compliments she’d ever received.All those years she’d pined after Simon, she had always seen herself as a pitiful, dowdy spinster. She realized now that she’d settled for someone who hadn’t been worthy of her affections, believing that he was the moon and her stars. Instead of lifting him up in her esteem, she should have been doing it forherself.
But even with all of Simon’s emptyflattery and praise,hehadneveroncetold her that she was beautiful.Lovely and adoring, and any other adjective that she’d kept close to her heart for so long, but never…beautiful.
So naturally, itmade her question whether Mr. Claymoore was sincere or if he was just using such flowery prose as a way to distract her.
Either way, sheintended totell him thatshedidn’t have time to play these foolish games.But what would happen if she found that his words were genuine? She certainly couldn’t entertain the thought of taking him on as a lover, even ifsomething told her that her disastrous wedding nightwouldn’t be repeated with a man like Mr. Claymoore.He was handsome and virile and highly…compelling. A man with his past, who had lived such a torrid lifestyle, would certainly know a thing or two about pleasing a woman. And if she did decide to beginan affair with Ridge,at leastshewould be in control.
Heading downstairs, she set out to get some answers from her wayward protector. Shewent tothe kitchensfirst, where she found himshrugging on hiscoat and preparing to head outas if nothing was wrong. It immediately sparked her ire, for he wascalmlygoing about his day while she’d beenworkingherself into a frenzyhalf the night. “Why didn’t you come and see me this morning? I was worried sick!”
He glanced at her, but didn’t pause what he was doing. “I didn’t come to your room, so that should have told you there was nothing to concern yourself with.”
She crossed her arms. “We need to talk.”
“I’m afraid it will have to wait. I’m busy.” He started for the door,and she rushed forward to block his path.
“Where are you going?”she demanded.
He sighed heavily. “To the stables to help Mr. Hopper.”
“Sonothinghappened last night?”she persisted. “Simon wasn’t lurking under the hedge?”
And with that, she got moreofareaction.He stiffened, his dark eyes sparkingwith warning. “I don’t take my job lightly.”
“I never said you did.”
He stared at her for a moment more, and then attempted to leave. “Seeing as how you are well and unharmed today, I have other duties to attend to—”
“Did you mean what you said on the beach?”She hadn’t intended to blurt it out like that, but he was in such a hurry that he wasn’t giving her muchchanceto speak.
He hesitated with his hand on the door, but didn’t look back at her.
“Didyou?” she persisted.
“Itwas a waytodivertyour attention.”
Her gaze narrowed, although her heart plummeted. “From what?”
