“I’ve also seen your fine fellow,” she said. “He looks as if he might give Macha a worthy race. What is his name?”
She almost couldn’t hear his answer. “Ares.”
She heard it well enough and couldn’t help laughing. “Nothing whimsical about naming your horse after the male god of war, certainly.”
His expression was pained. “I bought him from Packton. His daughter named the horse.”
“And you can’t change his name?”
Beau actually ducked his head. “He won’t respond.”
She couldn’t quite wipe the grin from her face. “I need to meet this girl. If for no other reason, to hire her as a groom.”
“You do not.”
“She certainly knows her horses, if she knew to name him after the god of war. It so matches his owner.”
She got quite a scowl for that, even though there was a suspicious cant to the corner of Beau’s mouth. “We’ll race them,” he conceded. “See who’s the more godlike.”
And blast it if he didn’t warm her heart to the point she wanted to plant a kiss on his cheek. “I look forward to it.”
Before she could do something inadvisable, he turned back to his window.
“Did you manage to hand off the plans?” she asked.
“Drake will meet me later so we can talk.”
She drew a breath. “You can talk, or will the person who actually heard the conspiracy and recovered the plans be invited?”
“What we need to discuss would not be appropriate in front of you.”
The last thing she needed at this point was to be patronized. Briefly glaring at the back of his head, she returned to her own view. “Then it must be the breadth of Pamela’s skills you intend to discuss. I don’t know. I think I could learn something from that, don’t you? If we ever were to make use of them, anyway. I should hate to disappoint.”
Well, that answered that question. She guessed she’d ended up asking after all.
Beau’s response was a surprised bark of laughter. “Good God, Pip. Even for you that was outrageous.”
Oh, well. She’d walked right up to the cliff. She might as well jump. “Was it, though? Or should we clear the air with a bit of honesty? She thinks you’ll be back at her dainty feet within weeks, you know.”
She finally got a reaction out of him, although she was quite certain it wasn’t the one she wanted. His head whipped around, and she thought he stopped breathing. “Where did you hear that?”
Notdon’t be ridiculousorhow can you think that.
All she could do was flash him a big, false smile. “It is illuminating what one can hear from underneath a bed.”
He didn’t even bother to answer her; just turned back toward the window.
He was so close; I-can-smell-your-cologne close. Sharing his warmth close, whether he wanted to or not. Whethershewanted to. She couldn’t help feeding on it like sunlight, like air filling her lungs. It only fed the old hum until she could almost hear it.
“Did you know?” she asked, even knowing she was pushing him away. “That she was part of this, I mean. Were you at least suspicious?”
His glower was impressive. “Wereyou?”
“Not until she showed up with the gray-haired man.”
She didn’t think it was the moment to tell him she hadn’t thought Perfect Pamela smart enough for espionage.
“Lord Burke, you mean.”
