Loving the Earl: A Loveswept Historical Romance by Sharon Cullen Page B

his irritating, constant presence.
    “The proprietor refused to do business with me.”
    “Mmm.”
    Claire took a deep breath. “He said he wouldn’t purchase my gems without the approval of my husband.” She clenched her teeth together when she thought of the man’s pompous air and his superior sniff. As if doing business with a woman was beneath him.
    Damn it. It was as if her husband’s hand was still clutching her from the grave.
    Blythe held out his hand and Claire looked at it blankly.
    “Give me the jewels.”
    She hesitated, staring at those long, tanned fingers. The jewels were all she had left, the only thing keeping her from returning home with her tail between her legs.
    He wiggled his fingers. “What other choice do you have? I’ll pretend to be your husband.”
    Oh, good God, how had it come to this? She’d sunk to a new low, having to trust the likes of Nathan Ferguson.
    She closed her eyes in defeat and placed her reticule in his outstretched hand. Several long moments passed until she finally looked at him. He was staring at her, an unreadable expression on his face as he tested the weight of the reticule. Already she regretted handing it to him.
    “Would you like to come with me? We can pretend we’re happily wed.” His smile was more of a smirk and it was exactly what she needed to get her emotions back in line.
    “Absolutely not.”
    His laugh followed him into the shop.

    Nathan pocketed the substantial blunt the proprietor gave him for selling Claire’s jewels. It’d been easy enough to pretend he was Claire’s husband. The shop owner asked no questions, morethan pleased with the quality of the gems.
    Nathan turned to exit the shop, but instead of leaving, he stepped into the shadows to watch her. She was standing by the carriage, looking down the street, her hands clenched in front of her and the morning sun glinting off the waterfall of red hair.
    An unexpected pang of guilt hit him in the stomach. She looked so innocent standing there, waiting for him to deliver her money. She was altogether too trusting.
    He’d known she would have a difficult time selling her jewels. There were scrupulous dealers and unscrupulous dealers. Dealers who would not blink twice at
selling
a woman jewels but balked at
purchasing
her jewels for fear she was up to nefarious deeds—like funding an escape from her spouse. No dealer wanted to face a furious husband.
    Fortunately for Nathan, she’d stumbled across a scrupulous dealer.
    She was chewing on the corner of her lip again, her small teeth working the soft flesh. His body hardened, his fingers clenched into fists and his own tongue touched the corner of his mouth, wondering what hers would taste like.
    He stepped back, appalled at his thoughts. She was definitely not a woman to toy with. She came from a very respectable family that would string him up by his balls if they knew he’d dallied with their sister. Nathan didn’t need that sort of trouble. He didn’t
want
that sort of trouble.
    Yet he couldn’t very well leave her in Paris when someone was after him.
    Her blunt sat heavy in his pocket, and his anger at himself and the situation didn’t help matters. He found that he was just as angry at Sebastian for throwing them together. What if he told Claire that Sebastian had asked him to watch out for her? He suspected the scene would not go well. For him or Sebastian. Claire wanted independence. Desperately. He was interested in learning why a woman who was given everything would want to run off on her own.
    He exited the shop and her gaze immediately went to him.
    “Well?”
    His voice deserted him. His power of thought deserted him. His ability to breathe deserted him, so stunned was he by the pure beauty of her.
    She made an exasperated sound. “Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to tell me if you sold my jewels?”
    “I sold them.”
    Her eyes lit up. “Oh, thank goodness. And … thank you, my lord.”
    “My