madness and mayhem before you’re even aware.”
If I am, she thought, I shall have even more reason to feel dreadful in deceiving them. In everything else, she promised herself, she would be truthful, since nothing less would do.
The coach hit a sharp rut, jostling the vehicle despite the excellent quality of its springs. Instinctively, she reached for the coach strap and held on, while across from her Cade did the same.
Moments later the coach righted itself and settled once more into a smooth forward motion. Meg lowered her arm and relaxed against the seat. As she did, she noticed the taut set of Cade’s jaw and the pale cast to his coloring. She watched him adjust his long frame on the seat, closing his eyes as he angled his body into what he obviously hoped would be a more comfortable position. His knuckles whitened as they squeezed around the coach strap.
“Is it your leg?” she ventured in a gentle voice.
His eyes snapped open and fixed on her, sharply green. “Just a twinge. I’m fine.”
She held her silence for a full minute, the coach wheels humming an easy cadence against the road. “Might you be more comfortable if you propped your leg out full-length against the seat?”
“I shall do as I am for now.”
“As you wish, but there is no need to stand on ceremony with me, you know. I believe the two of us passed that point some while ago.”
A slight twinkle gleamed in his gaze. “Hmm, I believe you are right on that score. Nevertheless, I will stay as I am.”
Folding her hands in her lap, she resumed her study of the scenery slipping past beyond the window. Cade returned to his reading.
Five minutes passed, then ten, Cade shifting every couple of minutes against the seat as if he couldn’t find a satisfactory position.
After another five minutes of the same, she knew she’d had all she could stand. “Enough of your stubbornness,” she said. “Put your legs up on the seat.”
“Miss Amberley, I do not think—”
“You don’t need to think , just do it.”
“I do not believe you have the wherewithal to insist I do anything.”
She stared at him for a long moment, realizing with his superior strength that he was quite correct.
“Very well, my lord. Go on suffering if you wish, but do not be surprised if you find you cannot walk across the inn yard at our next stop.”
He pinned her with a speculative eye. “Are you certain you are not already acquainted with my mother? The two of you should get along famously.”
“If she’s had to put up with five more males like you, then she has my profound sympathies.”
He laughed and returned to his reading.
Less than a minute later, though, he tucked his book to one side and without a word levered his legs onto the seat. A sigh escaped him as he leaned back.
“Here,” she said, reaching for one of the coach blankets. “Tuck this behind you.”
Taking the offered bolster, he attempted to do as she suggested, but couldn’t quite get it properly arranged.
Ignoring the swaying of the vehicle, she stood and took the blanket in hand once more. “Lean forward, my lord,” she told him, folding it in half, then slipping it securely behind his spine. “There. How is that?”
He relaxed into the new arrangement. “Quite comfortable. Thank you, you’re a good nurse.”
“And you, my lord, are a typical patient.”
“I believe I have just been insulted.”
Her lips curved. “I believe you are right.”
The coach lurched, forcing her to brace a hand against the back of the coach seat, her arm bowed over him. Cade’s hands came up at the same instant and clasped her around the waist, steadying her against a possible fall.
Her gaze locked with his own, their faces close enough for her to trace the short fan of his dark lashes and catch the spicy hint of shaving soap that lingered on his cheeks. His eyes lowered, skimming over her mouth in a way that made her lips part beneath the scrutiny of his gaze.
She drew an inaudible
If I am, she thought, I shall have even more reason to feel dreadful in deceiving them. In everything else, she promised herself, she would be truthful, since nothing less would do.
The coach hit a sharp rut, jostling the vehicle despite the excellent quality of its springs. Instinctively, she reached for the coach strap and held on, while across from her Cade did the same.
Moments later the coach righted itself and settled once more into a smooth forward motion. Meg lowered her arm and relaxed against the seat. As she did, she noticed the taut set of Cade’s jaw and the pale cast to his coloring. She watched him adjust his long frame on the seat, closing his eyes as he angled his body into what he obviously hoped would be a more comfortable position. His knuckles whitened as they squeezed around the coach strap.
“Is it your leg?” she ventured in a gentle voice.
His eyes snapped open and fixed on her, sharply green. “Just a twinge. I’m fine.”
She held her silence for a full minute, the coach wheels humming an easy cadence against the road. “Might you be more comfortable if you propped your leg out full-length against the seat?”
“I shall do as I am for now.”
“As you wish, but there is no need to stand on ceremony with me, you know. I believe the two of us passed that point some while ago.”
A slight twinkle gleamed in his gaze. “Hmm, I believe you are right on that score. Nevertheless, I will stay as I am.”
Folding her hands in her lap, she resumed her study of the scenery slipping past beyond the window. Cade returned to his reading.
Five minutes passed, then ten, Cade shifting every couple of minutes against the seat as if he couldn’t find a satisfactory position.
After another five minutes of the same, she knew she’d had all she could stand. “Enough of your stubbornness,” she said. “Put your legs up on the seat.”
“Miss Amberley, I do not think—”
“You don’t need to think , just do it.”
“I do not believe you have the wherewithal to insist I do anything.”
She stared at him for a long moment, realizing with his superior strength that he was quite correct.
“Very well, my lord. Go on suffering if you wish, but do not be surprised if you find you cannot walk across the inn yard at our next stop.”
He pinned her with a speculative eye. “Are you certain you are not already acquainted with my mother? The two of you should get along famously.”
“If she’s had to put up with five more males like you, then she has my profound sympathies.”
He laughed and returned to his reading.
Less than a minute later, though, he tucked his book to one side and without a word levered his legs onto the seat. A sigh escaped him as he leaned back.
“Here,” she said, reaching for one of the coach blankets. “Tuck this behind you.”
Taking the offered bolster, he attempted to do as she suggested, but couldn’t quite get it properly arranged.
Ignoring the swaying of the vehicle, she stood and took the blanket in hand once more. “Lean forward, my lord,” she told him, folding it in half, then slipping it securely behind his spine. “There. How is that?”
He relaxed into the new arrangement. “Quite comfortable. Thank you, you’re a good nurse.”
“And you, my lord, are a typical patient.”
“I believe I have just been insulted.”
Her lips curved. “I believe you are right.”
The coach lurched, forcing her to brace a hand against the back of the coach seat, her arm bowed over him. Cade’s hands came up at the same instant and clasped her around the waist, steadying her against a possible fall.
Her gaze locked with his own, their faces close enough for her to trace the short fan of his dark lashes and catch the spicy hint of shaving soap that lingered on his cheeks. His eyes lowered, skimming over her mouth in a way that made her lips part beneath the scrutiny of his gaze.
She drew an inaudible
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