A Pirate of her Own Read Online Free PDF

turned to a hard rain. Morgan scowled up at the sky, then at the pair before him. “Dammit, Kit, take Barney back to the ship and see to it that he’s dried out before he catches his death.”
    “Bah,” Barney snorted. “What’s a little water to a pirate?”
    “A bout of pneumonia if he’s not careful,” Morgan warned.
    Lifting his tricorn, Barney curled his lip and ran his hand through what little gray hair remained. “You treat me like I’m nothing but an old woman.”
    “Well, maybe if you didn’t follow me about like a mother hen I might not—”
    “All right, Cap’n,” Barney interrupted, setting his hat back into place. “You just go on about your business and me and Kit will see to it that the Revenge is ready to sail when you are.”
    Now, why did he have a hard time believing that?
    Because it would be the first time in your life that you ever won an argument with Lord Thick and Knotty Pate. Resigning himself to the inevitable, as well as to the fact that he might not get a chance to finish a single sentence for the rest of the day, Morgan left them there while he retrieved his horse from the nearby hitching post.
    He pulled himself up into his saddle and directed a meaningful gaze to Kit. “Take him home.”
    “Aye, aye, Captain Drake.”
    With one last look at the incorrigible pair, he set his heels into the horse’s flanks and took off after Miss James’s coach.
     
    Hours later, dressed in her best gown, and standing in the middle of her father’s ballroom, Serenity forced herself to smile.
    The open room was surrounded by Grecian columns wrapped with pink satin and ivy. A thousand beeswax candles flicked from the eight crystal and gold chandeliers and torchères positioned strategically around the room. The orchestra balcony overhung the right corner, and dancers twirled about while the other guests stood in clusters talking about politics, recipes, and the latest scandals.
    Since the party began, Serenity had been pulled aside countless times by matrons wanting to know if she’d heard from her runaway sister, Chastity, and by kinder souls who wished her a happy birthday.
    But it was terribly difficult to focus on her birthday party guests while her mind kept drifting back to her encounter with her mysterious man.
    It wasn’t every day that one of her characters manifested himself in her office. Especially a character so handsome.
    If only she had learned his name.
    If only she could quit thinking about him!
    There were over two hundred guests in attendance, not the least of whom were the parson’s family and hopping-hands Charlie Simms, who kept trying to drag her out into the gardens.
    People drifted around her as they went about their regular lives, while she had experienced something miraculous today. Something she knew she would never forget.
    Enough, Serenity! Pay attention to the dancers. Look at the matrons chaperoning their young charges.
    Concentrate on poor Parson Jacobs!
    The parson had already had to repeat himself three times while he talked to her. Even now she wasn’t really sure what he was talking about. Something to do with Jonah. Or was it Job?
    Oh bother!
    Nodding at the parson and murmuring what she hoped was an appropriate response to fill the few lulls in his conversation, she let her gaze roam about the room in search of Douglas. Maybe he could answer all her questions about her mysterious visitor.
    A flash to her right caught her attention. Turning her head, she looked up just in time to see her sister rush toward her with rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes.
    “Please excuse us, Parson Jacobs,” Honor said breathlessly an instant before she seized Serenity’s arm and dragged her rather rudely toward the open French doors.
    Serenity frowned. “Whatever is the matter—”
    “He’s here!”
    “Mr. McCarthy?”
    “Nay, not my beau, silly. Yours!”
    Completely confounded, Serenity stared at Honor as if she’d gone daft. What was she talking