“Since my mother left, I have had trust problems. Not just with you, but with most people I have met. Even when I first started working for Carolyn, it was difficult to trust her. But now, she is my best friend.”
He smiled. “Carolyn is a wonderful woman with a kind heart.”
“Indeed she is.” She touched his chest before she realized that was a mistake. Underneath her palm, his muscles flexed. “But so are you. I have never known a kinder man.”
Taking her hand in his, he lifted it to his lips and turned it over to kiss her palm. Warmth spread through her, and she treasured the feeling, if only for a moment.
“Maxey, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. I would fight dragons for you, if only you would trust me.”
She studied the bruises still fading on his handsome face. “I know. I saw.”
He kissed her fingertips. “It was then when I realized what kind of danger I have put you in. Which is why I am sending you back to the Lake District once we dock in Devonshire. I have already talked to the captain, and he will set sail as soon as he can. He will protect you. I have also written to Carolyn and explained everything that has happened to let her know you are safe.”
Her heart sank in a sea of confusion and sadness, and at the same time, anger filled her soul. He wanted to send her home? Without him? Helpless frustration built inside her, making her chest ache.
Strange, because this was what she had wanted all along, wasn’t it? Finally, Nash could free himself of her.
She swallowed the lump of emotion lodged in her throat and pulled her hand out of his grasp. “Are you certain I’ll be safe?”
“I have devised a plan in case somebody is waiting on shore and watching us. After we dock, I will take you with me to the nearest inn. The captain will have his cabin boy come later and meet us in the room. The boy is about your height and coloring, so you can dress in his clothes to leave, and our watchers will think you are the servant.”
She shrugged. “It sounds plausible, but how areyougoing to remain safe?”
“I have not figured that out, but I will be extremely cautious. I will not let my uncle win.”
“So, you think if I am by your side then, it will make your mission more difficult to complete?”
“No, but I will be putting you in danger. If you met with another accident or illness, my heart would not be able to take it.”
How could she understand this man? Did he really want to be rid of her? Was he saying these words just to alleviate her worry?
“Oh, Nash, you do care,” she said sarcastically.
He gathered her in his arms and kissed her forehead. “Yes, my sweet Maxey, I do. More than you will ever know.”
She fought for control. But there was a different tone in his voice that made her pause, one she hadn’t heard before. She pulled away and stared up at him. “I don’t understand.”
“When I thought I had lost you in the sea, heaviness grew in my chest so much I could have suffocated. Then, when your fever spiked so very high, and the physician’s methods were not working, I could not stand the massive pain of losing you.” He pressed the side of his face against hers. “I would have died for you. If God would have let me, I would have taken your place.”
His confession tugged at her heart, weakening her resistance against him. Dare she believe he held some feelings?
Ridiculous.
Cursing her premature enthusiasm, she found her anger again and pulled back. “Thank you for your concern, but once I leave with the captain, I will not be your problem any longer, and there will be no reason to worry about me.”
His forehead crinkled. “Maxey, I have never thought of you as my problem.”
With a shrug, she turned away from him and snuggled into the bed. “I’m tired now, Nash. I would like to sleep.”
Gathering the blankets around her, she turned to her side and fought the feelings welling inside her. She didn’t know what bothered her most, his evident change of guilty emotion toward her, or his readiness to dispose of her the first chance he got.
*
The sun hadset into a tranquil sea, and a soft dusk slowly captured the day as Nash stood at the rail of the ship and gazed out on the water. Darkness intruded upon the blue-green depths of the sea, splaying a million stars overhead on the dark velvet backdrop of a clear night sky. His thoughts carried him back to a time when he was a different man.
Until recently, he was satisfied with his life, not bothering to question fate. His childhood had been happy, until his sixteenth year. Nash wasn’t certain the root cause of the constant bickering between him and his father, but animosity only grew from there.
Then the fateful night came when Nash returned home after spending a pleasurable evening with a woman of ill repute—which, of course, wasn’t his first time, but his father would have no more of Nash’s wicked lifestyle. He was given the ultimatum of straightening up or leaving the family. Nash was stubborn and wanted to live his own life, so he left.
