Page 19
Mrs. McKinnick blinked owlishly.
“You would…?” She delicately cleared her throat. “You would truly do that?”
A smile blossomed across Trinity’s face, softening the corners in kindness and compassion. She was not beautiful in the classic sense, nor did she possess the popular pale blonde locks favored by the haut ton.
Regardless, Devin’s breath caught in his lungs, and a weird sensation tugged behind his ribs. What about this woman intrigued him like no other ever had?
For nigh on a decade, he’d had his pick of gorgeous, alluring women. Yet, this unassuming companion had him discarding protocols, common sense, and his self-imposed strictures with the abandonment of tippler who’d downed too many ales.
“Indeed,” Trinity said, no guile in her clear blue eyes. “If the children and Mr. Everingham are willing, that is.”
“Can we, Mama?” Gladys bounced on her toes. “Can we, ple-ee-ase?”
The child drew out the word into several syllables in a toe-curling, wheedling whine.
“Do you know how to play swowds?” Georgie asked Devin matter-of-factly, holding his puckered thumb at the ready to stuff back into his mouth.
Devin had swiftly finished shaving, dried his face, and donned a shirt. “I believe I can manage a decent battle with blades should I be required to defend a lady’s honor against a notorious pirate.”
A smile tugging the corners of his mouth upward, he struck a fencing pose.
Georgie looked at his Mama and gave a solemn nod, one more befitting a magistrate.
“I agree, Mama.”
Devin bit back a bark of laughter.
“Thank you, Miss Ablethorne.” Mrs. McKinnick managed a wan smile. “I gladly accept your generous offer. I am in the family way again, and I have not adjusted to sleeping on the ship.”
“Splendid.” Trinity winked at Devin, and he grinned. “I shall be but a few minutes. I shall meet all of you in the saloon.”
She disappeared into another cabin as Mrs. McKinnick ushered her children along the passage toward the largest chamber aboard the ship.
Well, I’ll be tarred and feathered.
Somehow, Trinity had wrangled Devin into the role of a nanny, and he did not mind in the least—if it meant spending time with a certain young lady.
Be careful, a wise, cautionary inner voice warned.
What was there to fret about?
He had anticipated a shipboard flirtation as a distraction and a source of entertainment, and it was not merely male arrogance that made him confident Miss Ablethorne was not immune to him.
Her curious blue gaze roving over his bare shoulders and chest attested to her interest.
What could go wrong?
