Bound By Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page A

out. Now he couldn’t tell. “A brother or a father then?”
    “I am an only child, and my father rests in the churchyard up the hill. I notice you don’t mention a husband?”
    “You are known to me, if by reputation only, and I am well aware that you are a widow—if of the merriest kind.”
    She shifted so her skirts dropped, covering her bare toes. It wasn’t until they disappeared from view that he realized how taken he’d been by their casual innocence. He’d never noticed a woman’s feet before, but those sweetly curled pink toes had distracted him.
    He dropped his head back into his hands. If he didn’t look at her, his thoughts would be safe.
    She didn’t speak for a moment, and he sat staring at the scarred tabletop and listening to the jostle of horses below.
    “We must determine how I can get out of here without being seen.” She spoke finally. “I don’t fancy the village knowing I spent the night with you. Assuming, of course, we were not seen last night.”
    “I don’t believe we were. I hustled you up the stairs once I had decided on a course of action. And we most certainly did not spend the night together. I slept in my carriage.”
    “Your carriage?” Her full laugh filled the room. “You actually worried for my reputation.”
    “Reputation may seem a matter of ridicule to one such as you, but I can assure you I take it most seriously. And it was not your reputation I was concerned about.”
    Her laughter died at his words. “One such as I? I don’t wish to know what you’ve heard of me.” He heard her slide off the bed. “It doesn’t matter in any event. If you’ll tell me where I might find my shoes and my other stocking, I’ll be gone and trouble you no more. You can forget you ever met me.”
    If only he could. He couldn’t even pretend that he’d soon forget the way her hair had spread across his pillow as she slept, or the glisten of her lips as she licked the last crumb of bacon from her fingers, or that delicious laugh. He rather imagined that last would float around the edge of his dreams for a lifetime.
    “There’s still the matter of my watch. Lady or not, I will not countenance thievery.”
    “I can only say again that I did not steal anything. Unless, of course, you added it to the pot and I took the hand.”
    “You know that is not what happened. It fell from your cloak when you prepared to leave.”
    She was silent again. He looked up, trying todetermine her mood. He was not used to a woman who could maintain a silence. His sisters had never been quiet women. Violet was always too busy trying to take control of a situation she had no business being involved in. And Isabella…well, Isabella simply could not stop talking.
    He pushed aside the thought of Isabella. He dreaded the circumstances he might find her in. His own guilt rarely let him rest easy. He curled his fingers into a tight fist. He would finish with this nonsense and be away.
    Lady Westington was resting her head against the mantel in a pose reminiscent of his earlier one. She lifted her head and stared at him through weary eyes. “I am not a thief. How many times must I repeat that to make you listen? I certainly have no need of your watch or any proceeds it would bring. I could buy a hundred, I daresay a thousand watches should I need another.”
    “I have not found that theft is always based on need.”
    “That is true, but nonetheless it was not me.”
    “I saw you take it. What other explanation do you offer?”
    She rubbed her temple. Perhaps his headache had spread to her. No, more likely it was merely the remainder of her indulgence of the previous night. “I do not feel the need to offer any explanation to you.”
    “Then perhaps I should have the local magistrate summoned. Even in a backwater such as this I am sure he is up to the task of demanding an answer.”
    At his words he saw a flash of concern.
    She massaged the tight lines of her forehead. “Robert would not take kindly