Instantly unable to breathe, he grabbed his throat with one hand and tried coughing to dislodge the bread.
‘Oh, dear!’ Meridith exclaimed and, leaping forward, she quickly began pounding on his back.
It took a few moments, but the bread came free, and Drake swallowed, sucked in air, and swallowed again. ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked, blinking away the water in his eyes and more than slightly embarrassed at almost choking to death right before her.
‘Do you need a glass of water?’ she asked, now rubbing his back.
He swallowed, and feeling fully recovered, from the bread, at least—the sight of her, as well as the touch of her hand on his back, still had his heart racing—he shook his head. ‘No, I’m fine. What are you doing here? I thought you were at Holdenstall.’
Meridith removed her hand from his back and took a step away to glance at the hallway. ‘Are you sure you don’t need a drink?’
Of whisky maybe, just so the bite and vapors of the alcohol could confirm that he hadn’t choked to death and was having a heavenly vision. ‘No, I don’t need anything.’ That wasn’t true. What was true was that it felt like an eternity had passed since he’d laid eyes on her.
His gaze shifted from her face, going lower, along the lines of the purple dress that fit her womanly curves like a glove fits a hand. She was so very enchanting. No other woman had ever stirred his blood like she did. No other woman had ever made him want the things that she did, made him understand the things he now understood, and he knew in his very soul that none ever would.
Despite years of sailing, where he’d faced numerous dangers, he’d never felt the depths of true fear until this moment. How could he possible expect Meridith—a refined, beautiful lady—tolove him? A selfish rake with no title other than that of captain, which had no real standing in the ranks of society that she was a member of.
She rested a hand on the edge of the front door. ‘Do you mind?’
Brought out of his dazed state, he grasped the edge of door and pushed it closed. ‘My apologies. I thought you were at Holdenstall.’
‘I was. I returned to London last night.’
With a plethora of questions swarming in his mind and the desire to kiss her, hold her, raging through his system, he was unsure what to do, where to start. He wanted everything now, all at once, but knew that wasn’t how things happened. With a hand, he gestured towards the parlour that was across the hallway from the front door.
She gave a nod and walked forward. ‘You have a lovely home.’
He laid a hand on her back, guiding her forward. The touch, though simple, sent heat racing up his arm and directly to his heart. He sighed at the familiar warmth growing there. ‘Thank you, but I can’t take any credit,’ he said. ‘George and Agnes, my driver and housekeeper, get all the honor. It was empty when I bought it. They furnished it and keep it up.’ He wanted to tell her that she could make any changes she wanted, or they could move; he could build her a new house—but that would be getting ahead of himself. ‘I merely stay here while in town.’
They entered the parlour and, though there was plenty of furniture, she stopped in the center of the room and turned about. ‘I am here to ask a question of you.’
Drake remained standing, his face inches apart from hers, and tried his best not to think about kissing her. That couldn’t happen. Not yet. There was too much that he needed to tell her, but first he would answer her questions. ‘All right. What is it?’
‘Does theLondon Starever take passengers?’
That was the last thing he’d expected her to ask. He gave his head a slight shake of astonishment. ‘No. She’s a cargo ship.’
‘Would it be something you would ever consider?’ she asked. ‘Say, just one passenger?’
An eerie sensation rippled his spine. ‘Why? What’s happened?’ The conclusion that immediately formed in his mind made air lock inside his lungs. ‘Are you thinking about running away because your family is forcing you to marry someone?’ He’d worried about that happening. Every day that went by, he’d felt as if he was working against an hourglass with the sand slowly trickling downwards, filling up the base.
‘No,’ she replied, ‘they’ve given up on the idea of forcing me to marry someone.’
The relief that washed over Drake from head to toe was real and allowed him to breathe again. ‘That’s good.’
She nodded. ‘Yes, it is.’
‘I’m glad they’ve accepted that you can make up your own mind.’
‘So am I,’ she replied. ‘I also have to admit that I was wrong about a few things. They weren’t trying to get rid of me—they merely wanted me to be happy. They had promised my father to take care of me, and that’s all they were doing. I just wasn’t seeing it that way.’
‘They love you,’ he said, knowing the feeling of both loving her and wanting to make her happy. It was his greatest hope that those two things could go hand in hand.
‘Yes, they do, and I love them. Peter said that you and your cousin have formed a partnership for Coastal Shipping.’
‘We have. I was wrong about several things, too. One of them was my family. Archibald and I have decided to work together to make Coastal Shipping all it can be.’
‘I’m happy for you.’ She lifted her brows, looking at him expectantly. ‘So, would you consider taking on a passenger?’
