Alanna (When Hearts Dare Series Book 2) by Kathleen Bittner Roth Page A

outside of your left leg is a little too high. Not an easy reach. Even with your skirts up, it could cost you precious time.”
    She folded her arms over her chest. “It’s not a dagger, it’s a sgian dubh .”
    “Well, I’ll be damned.” Mischief threaded through his words. “How is it you know what a sgian dubh is? Or is it the Scots part of that Scots-Irish blood of yours?”
    She turned and tossed her words over her shoulder. “And how would you, a border ruffian from the middle of nowhere, know about a particular knife worn inside the stocking of a Highlander in full dress kilt?”

Chapter Eight
    Wolf sat before the fire tearing pages from the daily journal he kept, and tossing them one by one onto the flames when Thompson returned. The captain, his usual cup in hand, pulled up a chair beside Wolf. “Care to share the dull mood?”
    Wolf shot Thompson a glance, and resumed tearing the paper into strips and tossing them into the flames. Guilt seeped through his gut again.
    With a loud slurp of tea, Thompson leaned back, stretched his legs, and heaved a tired sigh. “I hope your foul mood isn’t about Malone. You can’t be sailing the waters of Cape Stiff feeling melancholy. Not when you’re apt to spend a good deal of time strapped to your bunk.”
    “It’s not about Malone.” Hell, no place on board to be alone.
    “Better to clear the air, son.”
    Wolf tossed what remained of the ledger on the floor beside him and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I did something today I’m having trouble living with.”
    Thompson remained silent.
    Wolf shrugged. “Not sure I know how to go about correcting things.”
    “You mean the knife?”
    “No.” Wolf kept his gaze fixed on the flames charring the paper he’d tossed in. “I mean I accosted one of your passengers today, and it’s not sitting well on my conscience.”
    Thompson cocked a brow.
    Wolf heaved a sigh. How the hell did he go about saying what needed to be said? “While you were meeting with the Malones, their daughter came to call.”
    Now it was Thompson’s turn to keep his eyes fixed on the fire. “What happened?”
    “I’m not sure if I really know. She invited herself in here, but when I tried to help her right back out, she wouldn’t budge. Sat there muttering something . . . some crazy fool things.” He didn’t know why, but for some odd reason, he didn’t want to divulge the part about her suggesting marriage.
    “And?”
    “After the battle I had with her father this morning, I sure as hell wasn’t in a mood to go another round if he found her in my stateroom. I finally got mad and shoved my hand up her dress to scare her off.”
    Tea spewed back into Thompson’s cup. “You . . . you what?” He leaned forward, bent to look at Wolf’s face. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
    “Would I make this up?”
    Thompson set his cup on the floor. “And she let you?”
    Wolf frowned when he saw a look of amusement mixed with incredulity on Thompson’s face. “ Let me? Damn it, Thompson, she didn’t have a choice. I had one arm behind her, and the other crossed in front of her. She had no place to go.”
    Thompson leaned back, his look of amused surprise turning to one of undisguised humor. “She must like you,” he said with a little chuckle and a shake of his head. “Tell me more.”
    “ Like me? God Almighty, Thompson. Don’t try to tell me if you spent the morning threatening me and warning me to stay away from your daughter, and I sat here tonight telling you I spent the afternoon with my hand shoved up her dress so far I could steal her necklace, that all you’d have to say is, she must like you. ” Wolf grabbed his journal, tore the rest of the written pages out, and tossed them all into the fire. “What the hell’s wrong with you, anyway?”
    Thompson slid his body down so his head rested against the chair’s back and grinned. “What you did wasn’t right, I’ll grant you. If it were any one of my