It just is.
She turned her hand and watched the ruby red liquid swirl and cling to the bowl of the glass. It was in the past, and God knew it had taken all the strength she had to leave it there. It had nearly destroyed her, and if she let it back into the present, there was no telling what it would do to Julian. She wouldn’t steal his chance at happiness from him—
Slam!
Charlotte jumped up from her chair and spilled half the glass of port down the front of her white night rail.
“Charlotte! I know you’re not asleep. Open this door.Now.”
Charlotte clutched the night rail to her throat. What in God’s name was Julian doing out in the hallway, shouting—
“I will not leave until you open this door!”
No, not just shouting, but pounding against the door until the wood threatened to splinter. She hurried across the room and pressed her mouth into the gap between the wall and the door frame. Had it grown wider since he started pounding? “What do you want? Didn’t the maid deliver my message?”
“Oh, I got your message.” He gave the latch a violent wrench. “Now open this door.”
“I will not,” she hissed into the gap. “I told you, I’ve retired for the evening. I’m not decent.”
“Decent?” He gave a disbelieving snort. “It’s a bit late for you to worry about that now, when just the other night I had my mouth on your—”
Charlotte threw open the door, grasped his arm, pulled him inside the room, and slammed it shut behind her. “For God’s sake. What’s the matter with you? Do you want the entire inn to hear how you…”
Well. There was no way she was going to finishthatsentence.
He smirked. “How I what?”
“Never mind what.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. Every innocent traveler within shouting distance didn’t need to know he’d put his mouth on her—
Well. There was no way she was going to finishthatthought. “What do you want, Captain West?”
An angry growl tore from his throat. “Don’t call me that.”
He was growling at her?
“Don’t call you Captain West?”
“You heard me.”
She gaped at him, and for the first time noticed he looked a bit disheveled. His dark hair fell over his forehead in a tousled mass of waves, he’d left his coat somewhere, and his cheekbones were flushed, as if he’d—
“For pity’s sake. You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”
He waved a hand at her night rail. “So have you. Either that or you’ve stabbed yourself.”
Charlotte glanced down at the red port stain on her night rail.Damn it. “That’s your fault. You made me spill my port when you tried to smash my door to bits.”
He leaned a hip casually against the door. “I wouldn’t have had to smash your door to bits at all if you’d simply come down to dine as you said you would.”
“Is that what this is about? My not coming down to dine? I beg your pardon. I didn’t think you’d mind, and I confess I find the extremity of your disappointment surprising.”
“Do you?” In the blink of an eye he abandoned his relaxed post to prowl toward her. “You think I don’t care if you eat? You can’t afford to miss another meal, Charlotte. You’re already too thin.”
“Is that so? Well, I don’t recall you complaining about my figure the other night!”
Oh, for pity’s sake!She hadn’t truly just said that, had she?
He ran a finger across his lips as his hot gaze raked over her. “Oh, I’m not complaining, sweetheart. On the contrary. Your figure is all I’ve been able to think about for the past four days.”
