Nowhere Near Respectable Read Online Free PDF

scanning the stormy night while the cloak billowed around her.
    Guessing she had no idea which way to go, Mackenzie pulled up next to her. “Dover is several treacherous miles, there are no villages nearby, and the rain is going sideways, so we’d better take shelter,” he remarked. “I know a comfortable barn that’s about half an hour away. Farther than the smugglers are likely to follow.”
    Her face was a pale oval against the dark fabric. She asked, “Might they do that?”
    “I left the fifty-guinea purchase price, which will mollify most of them.” Mac remembered Howard’s furious expression. “But Howard might be drunk and angry enough to pursue us, and maybe he can persuade some of his friends to come along. Better to put some distance between us and them.”
    “There is no ‘us,’ Mr. Mackenzie,” she said icily. “I have every intention of distancing myself from you as well. I most certainly will not share a barn with you.”
    “There is a gale blowing off the Channel,” he pointed out. “Shall we continue this discussion undercover?”
    She looked up into the rain, shivering. After a long pause, she said, “Your word as a gentleman that you won’t trouble me in this barn of yours?”
    “I give my word that I won’t harm you, but if I’m not a gentleman, my word is worthless. You must trust your instincts.”
    “It’s hard to be afraid of a man who admits to laziness and a distaste for the sight of his own blood,” she said with a sigh. “I’m tired enough to take my chances with your uncertain honor. That and my knife should keep me safe.”
    “Never fear, I’m harmless,” he said in his most guileless manner. “Women are a lot of work even when they’re willing. Why would I want an unwilling one?”
    She snorted. “Very well, but remember that I am armed, Mr. Mackenzie.”
    It wasn’t the most gracious agreement Mac had ever heard, but it would do. He set César in motion in the right direction—and the warrior maiden followed.

    Mackenzie’s barn was isolated, with no other farm buildings visible. Kiri pulled up beside it gratefully. She was wet and exhausted and any shelter would do. Hard to remember that she’d started this day with hot chocolate and fresh bread served in a comfortable bedroom at Grimes Hall.
    Her unwelcome companion dismounted and opened the wide doors so she could lead Chieftain into the barn. “There will be hay inside,” he said. “Burrowing in should help warm you up. I’ll rub your horse down for you.”
    She dismounted creakily, aching in every muscle. “I take care of my own mount.”
    “Spoken like a true horsewoman,” he said with approval. “I’ll see if I can get a fire going. There’s no one close enough to see.”
    Wondering where he’d find dry wood, she removed Chieftain’s saddle and blanket. As the horse munched on a pile of hay, she used handfuls of the dried grasses to wipe him down.
    When she finished one side of the horse and moved around to the other, she was surprised to see Mackenzie striking sparks into a nest of tinder. It caught immediately, and the flames showed a stack of kindling and cut wood piled nearby.
    “Convenient to have firewood here,” she said as smoke wound out the door, which he’d left ajar. “Do your smuggler friends use this barn for storing goods?”
    “Sometimes, which explains the wood. But they’re not friends of mine.” He slipped his tinderbox back into his greatcoat. “Merely business associates.”
    “Drinking is your business?”
    “I have an establishment that requires high-quality wine and spirits.” With the fire going well, he stood and began rubbing down his horse. “Buying directly from Captain Hawk ensures quality.”
    “Practical, if not exactly legal.” She looked over Chieftain’s back to study Mackenzie’s rangy, ill-favored mount. “That’s a remarkably ugly horse.”
    “César might be jeered at in Rotten Row, but I’ve never met his equal for endurance.”