The Widow Wager Read Online Free PDF Page A

disturb, Mr. and Mrs. Flynn,” he said. Gemma turned away, her hand gripped at her side. “But Mrs. Flynn’s servant has arrived with her things. Where shall I send her?”
    “Kate?” Gemma burst out, taking a step toward Fletcher. “Kate is here?”
    Crispin was rendered speechless for a moment. For the first time, the woman who was now—if only temporarily—his wife smiled, and it changed her beautiful face entirely. She was lit up by the expression, her pale cheeks pinkening and her gray eyes brighter. If he had thought her beautiful before, that impression was now magnified tenfold.
    “Yes,” Fletcher said, and even the stern servant seemed to be enthralled by Gemma’s light. He was…smiling. Crispin had never seen the old goat smile before. “She is just as anxious to see you, madam. Shall I send her to this chamber?”
    Crispin looked down at himself. His clothing was wrinkled and smelled faintly of spirits. He felt sticky and unpleasant all around, and looking at Gemma with her tangled hair and equally wrinkled gown, he couldn’t imagine she didn’t feel the same.
    “Send the girl here,” he answered.
    Fletcher nodded. “And I will have the staff begin to lay out breakfast. Will an hour suffice for timing?”
    “That should be fine.”
    The servant tossed Gemma another brief nod and then left the room. The moment he was gone, she rushed toward Crispin.
    “I’ve no intention of staying in your chamber, Mr. Flynn—” she began, her words running together as proof of how upset she obviously was.
    Crispin raised a hand to stop her. “I will surrender my chamber to you, my lady, as it is the finest in the home. But I do not intend to force my presence upon you, I assure you. I will take another room until we can resolve this…” He sighed. “This utter mess I have created.”
    She stared at him, silent. Judging, he was fairly certain, though her expression was unreadable.
    “Neither of us is at our best at present. It is a confusing and upsetting position for us both,” he continued. “I will have a servant draw a bath for you here in the adjoining dressing room while you and your maid reunite. I will do the same in another room. Let us dress and meet for breakfast in the aforementioned hour my butler provided. I’m certain we will both be in a better mind frame then. Is that agreeable?”
    Gemma opened and shut her mouth a few times, but finally she nodded. “As agreeable as any of this can be, yes.”
    “Good.”
    He moved toward the door and then hesitated. He turned back and found she was still staring at him, watching his every move just as she had been almost the entire time they had been together this morning. Her look of mistrust was quite the same as it had ever been.
    “You asked me before if I was truly sorry,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “And I want you to know I am. This is an untenable situation, but know that I will do everything in my power to rectify it. You may not put much stake in my promises at present, but I think you will come to see that I keep them.”
    Her lips parted and her tongue darted out to wet them, making his mind reach for very inappropriate images of her tongue licking other things. He pushed them away with violence.
    “Thank you, Mr. Flynn. I hope you prove that to be true.”
    He nodded and slipped from the room, shutting the door behind himself. He leaned against the barrier for a moment, the events of the morning sinking in.
    “What did you do?” he moaned softly. “What the hell did you do?”
     

     
    Gemma took a long breath. When Crispin Flynn was in the room, awake or not, he seemed to take all the space, all the air, all the attention away from everything else. She wasn’t certain if that was because she didn’t trust him or if it was because he was so very, very handsome. Even more so when sober than when he had been drunk and silent the night before.
    There was a light knock on the door, and she pushed those thoughts aside