Echoes in Stone Read Online Free PDF Page B

crunched the smoky bacon. When she snaked out her tongue to lick a bit of that thrice-damned apple butter from her full lips, he barely controlled the impulse to flee the room.
    At least Holly hadn’t appeared to be in any immediate danger from her aunt, but these Palmer women were tricky creatures. Apparently, the only danger the woman presented was to his libido. Lily had barred her door to him long ago. Then after what had happened to his face—
    To the devil with decorum. Dash leaned back in his chair, stretching out his legs in an attempt to ease the fullness between them. If he stayed where he was, his napkin tented over his nether regions, she’d be denied the satisfaction of seeing the effect her attempt at feminine seduction was having on him. Lily had enjoyed playing the same game with him; she’d apparently taught her little sister the rules.
    Smile. Flirt. Charm.
    Deny.
    Except Jessa didn’t smile at him. She scarcely even glanced at him, except when she thought he wasn’t looking. Those dangerous green eyes would slide sideways, peek quickly at him, then glance back down to her plate when he returned her look.
    She didn’t chatter inanely at him about the weather, either, or her need for a new bauble, as Lily would have done. In fact, after her first aborted attempt at conversation, she gave every appearance of having been chastised into silence.
    Dash refused to feel remorse for that. He’d have fared better had he played the brute, rather than the gentleman, when he’d held her chair for her.
    She’d fussed about, smoothing her skirts beneath her, preparatory to sitting, providing him a fine view of a sweetly rounded bottom barely disguised by the drape of her skirt. Her hand, brushing his as he handed her the plate, had set off the same hiss of electricity he’d experienced last night. The last straw had been the scent of her hair when he leaned rudely—and deliberately—over her shoulder to retrieve the stand of jams. Her smell stirred memories of things long ago forgotten. Sunshine. Freshness. A tantalizing bit of lemon.
    The rain still spat in fits and bursts against the window, but he had to get out of this place. Away from her. A long, cold ride across the moors would shake the ache from between his legs and cool his rising ardor. Time he took control back from the little miss who sat there playing at being so coy.
    “If you’re finished toying with your food, I’ll be off now,” he said, rising and tossing his napkin down beside his plate. “Be in my study in two hours. In the meantime, I grant you permission to visit my daughter, so long as you say or do nothing to upset her. I will not allow anyone, even her aunt, to cause her distress.”
    With that, he turned, leaving Jessa sitting at the table, speechless. Round one to him.
     

 
     
    8.
     
    …the devilish glimmer of laughter in Lily’s emerald eyes…
     
    “I’M SORRY, MISS PALMER, but the Captain sends his apologies.” Mrs. Penrose stood in the doorway of the nursery, where Jessa had returned after breakfast. “He won’t be able to meet you today. Or for several days, likely. He’s been called away. Something to do with one of his businesses.”
    The coward. Was he avoiding her? Did he think if he put her off long enough, she’d give up and go away? Clearly, Lily had taught him nothing about the stubbornness of Palmer women. At the same time, the tension eased from Jessa’s shoulders, relieved her interview with her dour host would be delayed. The man unnerved her, leaving her feeling off balanced, edgy. At least his absence would provide an opportunity for her to delve further into Holly’s true circumstances.
    The letter she’d received, so long after Lily’s death, troubled her. When had it really been written? Had someone, cleaning Lily’s rooms after her passing, found it and posted it? If that was so, why hadn’t they enclosed some sort of explanation? Why only enclose the vellum miniature, with Lily’s