Page 29 of Married to the Rake

Chapter Eleven

“You two go on without me,” Chloe suggested, shooing Joanna and Augusta toward the door. “I shall be some time longer, I am sure.”

Augusta tilted her head. “Are you certain? I really do not think—”

Joanna tapped on Augusta’s arm. “If she does not need us here, I suggest we go. We will meet you at the haberdashery.”

“Yes, please do. I shall see you there.” Chloe gave them a smile. Her friends, even though well-read, could not match her passion for books and her ability to browse for hours on end. She would rather explore the shop alone, even though she had likely looked upon every single book that was here by now.

Once her friends were gone, Chloe moved back into the depths of the shop. Here were the older titles, some looking neglected and slightly covered in dust. She had a fondness for these and had been known to purchase one or two frequently. She could not help but feel sorry for these books, outshone by the newer titles that everyone was clamoring to read.

“I should have known I would find you here.” Chloe snapped her head up at the sound of those deep timbres that made her want to release a little shiver.

“Brook.” His name came out a raspy whisper.

He smiled broadly, making her stomach do a little flip.

“Whatever are you doing here?”

“I shall confess to hoping to find you here.” He picked up a book and leafed through it nonchalantly before snapping it shut and placing it back upon an unsteady pile.

Chloe glanced around the alcove. They were out of sight of the shopkeeper and there was only one other customer near the front. Chloe edged deeper into the recesses of the shop, letting the gloom of the windowless room swallow her.

“I know you have your reputation to consider but one can hardly get into trouble for browsing books in the same shop as me.” He stalked her steps, closing the gap between them again.

“One can get in trouble if one is fraternizing with the enemy,” she pointed out.

His lips tilted. “I had rather hoped you would stop thinking of me as the enemy.”

She glanced over him. “I’m not yet certain what you are.”

“A friend, perhaps.”

She could feel her defenses weakening. It always happened around Brook. Perhaps it was his charming smile or the way he spoke to her as though she were an equal. Whatever it was, she was unable to barricade herself against him. The smile she had been fighting quirked the corners of her lips.

She lowered her voice. “I’m not certain midnight meetings count as friendship.”

“Most people would consider that an illicit liaison. I should imagine you would rather think of those as a meeting between two friends.”

She opened her mouth then closed it. An illicit liaison? Of course, she was not foolish enough to imagine that people would think there were good intentions behind their meetings. However, she would not have thought Brook would think to mention meetings with her andillicit liaisonsin one breath. After all, she was hardly the sort of person anyone hadillicitanythings with.

“If…that is…you could have sent me a message if you wanted to meet.” Chloe twisted to eye the books in front of her, anything to remove her gaze from Brook, who was looking at her with that dangerously devilish smile and that glint in his eyes.

The man was teasing her and, damn him, it was working. She was feeling all hot and prickly and her mind kept darting back to the idea of this illicit liaison. She could not help but wonder, what would it be like to meet with Brook for such a thing? How would he charm her? What would he do? It was not something a girl like her could ever have considered.

But here she was, considering such a thing. She blew out a long, slow breath she hoped he could not hear or else he might catch the shuddery quality.

He moved to her side, leaning against the pale brick pillar that supported the ceiling of the shop. She glanced at him from the periphery of her vision then forced her gaze to the titles on the spines. All the words and letters seemed to blur together as she made a show of reading each one as if they meant something to her.

“We do need to discuss trying to arrange another meeting,” he said.

“As I said, you could have sent me a message.” She tugged out a random book, flicked through it and pretended to be absorbed in the words.

Brook plucked the book from her hand and eased it shut. “I wanted to see you sooner than that.”

Her gaze snapped to his. Blast. He was winning. She could not help herself, finding her attention drawn into his eyes where all sorts of sense vanished.

“Why…why should you wish to see me sooner?” She shouldn’t have asked. It did not matter. He was likely simply keen to come up with another plan. Just because she enjoyed his company, did not mean he felt the same way.

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