Page 13 of Good Duke Gone Far

“Stop calling me that.”

“You told me to call you Jack, Jack.” She shrugged off his grumbling. “I asked you how you slept.”

“Just great.”

After a few crunches worth of footsteps, Kat extended her arm out to him. He dodged her reach, then felt like an idiot to realize she wasn’t trying to touch him. Hopefully she hadn’t noticed.

“Now would be the time you ask me how I slept.” She brushed her hair from her cheek. Thankfully she hadn’t noticed. “Not the time to jump back from me like I’ve got the plague.”

He had so many reasons to groan around this woman. He couldn’t choose just one.

“We have a long walk, Jack. Let’s at least talk.”

“How did you sleep?” He mimicked her earlier tone.

“Just great.” She laughed. “Thanks for asking. I see you’re not one for small talk. Tell me about your family then.”

“I don’t have one.”

“Don’t be silly. Everyone has one.”

“I don’t.”

“Jack–”

“Kat–”

She stopped walking, hands akimbo. “What are you not saying?”

“Read between the lines. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why don’t you want to tell me about your family?”

“I would have hoped that my initial response served as enough of a deterrence.”

“It’s a simple question,” Kat said.

“Not really.”

“Why are you so contrary?”

“I’m only this way with you.”

“Then I count myself lucky.”

Quinn picked up his walking in hopes that she would drop the conversation; instead, she trailed behind repeating her first question.

“Tell me about them.”

“They’re dead.”

“Oh.”

That sure shut her up. Maybe he should have just led with that.

“I’m sorry,” she said. But to Quinn’s relief there was no pity in her voice. There was no end to her voice either, though. “What happened?”

It was pointless to evade her deluge of questions. “Carriage accident.”

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