Raven and Wynter entered, neither of them eyeing anyone but each other as they headed straight to a side room, guided by Miss Goolan, who held a small snarl as though they sickened her.
Could that be the face of jealously?Whatever it was, that face was now turned her way.
‘Why are you standing there, Smithson?’
Scarlen raised one shoulder to her cheek. ‘I didn’t know where to sit.’ Bear was nowhere to be seen, but seeing as Goolan guided her to one of the side doors, she figured he must already be inside, waiting.
‘One hour,’ said Miss Goolan, pushing the door open, and Scarlen reluctantly entered.
Silver eyes glanced up from the bed, where he sat playing cards, and Scarlen tried not to frown as she was closed in with him, but it was a little difficult to hide her expression, as the cards on the mattress baffled her for a moment. ‘Not sure what you think I’m going to do with you in here, but we’re not having sex.’There, I said it.
A slight curl of his lip had her frown lines deepen. ‘You think too highly of yourself.’ He gestured at the bed, a thin green blanket draped over the mattress. ‘I was only going to ask you to play cards.’
Not what she was expecting. ‘We could do that outside.’
‘I have a reputation to keep.’
Scarlen scoffed, not meaning to, but it fell out by itself.
Bear met her eyes. ‘Everyone thinks you’re my girl. If you don’t want Judd pawing all over you, then best they think we’re intimate.’
‘Intimate?’
He shrugged one shoulder. ‘I was trying to save you from him, that’s all. He’s not exactly known for his kindness towards women, and I knew he’d claim you, as he likes the petite ones. He tried it with my sister before he found out she was a northerner.’
‘Oh,’ was all she could think to say.
‘You can stand by the door for the next hour if you like, or play cards with me. Passes the time.’
The confusion hadn’t left her yet, nor the wariness. It was all well and good seeing this nice side to him, but she knew his truth, and if he knew hers, she was pretty sure a different conversation would be taking place, one involving her blood splattered all over the room, and no Miss Harnish to heal her.
‘Do you know any games?’ he asked, shuffling the cards.
‘No. I’ve never played.’
‘Hmm. We’ll play Two Hand. Easy enough. We start with four cards each, then take turns picking one up from the pack. First to get two sets wins. We keep going until it happens, just place your first set down as soon as you get one. If we run out of cards before someone gets their second set, I take all the cards back and reshuffle. Make sense?’
Scarlen gave a small nod as she padded forward, perching on the edge of the bed quite far back from him, her heart thumping in her ears at the close proximity. ‘What’s a set?’
His smile was soft and lasted all of a split second before he showed her the cards to explain, but Scarlen was finding it hard to concentrate being so close to him. All she wanted was to ask him why he had planned to kidnap her. What had been his long-term plans for her?
Bear sniffed the air as though he caught a whiff of something, and Scarlen hoped it wasn’t coming from her, because whatever he was smelling, his pursed lips and knitted brow said it wasn’tsomething pleasant. She tried for a sneaky sniff of her shoulder when he started shuffling the cards again.
‘Do I smell or something?’ she blurted, her annoyance getting the better of her.
‘We all have a scent, Smithson. Just picked up on yours, that’s all.’
She bit on the inside of her cheek at the way he said her name with such emphasis. ‘Is that because you’re a bear?’
That slight grin flashed once more. ‘No. It’s because I have a nose.’ He looked her in the eyes, and her stomach flipped with a flutter of interest, which would never do, thank you very much.
Quelling the feeling of whatever was trying to mess with her mind, she asked, ‘What’s my scent like?’
His concentration was back on the cards as though her question bored him. ‘Don’t know. New smell.’
Paranoia set in, clogging her throat. Princess aroma? Oh, stop being stupid.‘Well, you smell like …’ She had no idea, as she hadn’t bothered to lean in for a good whiff.
Bear smirked. ‘It’s called demon fragrance. Designed to scare off southerners.’
