Page 29 of The Secret of the Dashing Detective
“But…”
And then his lips were on hers once more and Juliana sank into it, opening her mouth to him, remembering all from last time, as she was once again overwhelmed by the sensations that flooded over her. The taste of him, like after-dinner cake mixed with a uniquely masculine appeal; the scent of him, like wood shavings and musk; the feel of his strong chest muscles beneath her hands and under his shirt and jacket.
She was so wrapped up in him that she forgot where they were until the whistle of a passerby interrupted them and they finally separated. Only it was no jumping away in regret. It was a separation with a smile on their faces at what they had just shared together.
And this time, she had a feeling that it was going to be happening again.
* * *
Matthew had always enjoyedhis job.
But the next two weeks with Juliana were some of the most pleasurable he could ever remember.
He accompanied her wherever she wished to go. Some of the events were, of course, rather boring, but most of what she did was quite admirable. There were meetings at Mrs. Stone’s house, as well as work on her pamphlet. Juliana and Matthew actually spent a fair amount of time in one of the small parlors of Warwick House, Juliana amalgamating all of the information the other members of her society provided her while she instructed Matthew on the drawings she would need to accompany the words.
It had been some time since he had done any sketching or illustrating, and he quite enjoyed doing so again – especially when Juliana seemed so enthusiastic about his work. Even Prudence had spent some time with them, curious about what was keeping them occupied. Matthew had an inkling that her approval was hard to come by, so he was appreciative when she praised his skill.
He couldn’t remember ever completing a task like this before, and he wasn’t sure if he enjoyed the work, or if it was the time with Juliana – or both.
He didn’t forget the threat to her family. How could he, when all he wanted to do during his every waking moment was keep her safe? But with most of his attention focused on Juliana, Matthew found that he had to – for now – trust his men to continue doing the work of following up on the case itself. Owen was looking into a few leads, but so far they had determined that both Hemingway and Lewis were fairly innocuous. They were still keeping an eye on them, but in the meantime had turned to the previous duke and any enemies he might have had.
Which proved to be a mountainous task.
The current Duke of Warwick had nearly been unable to stop laughing when Matthew had asked if his father had any enemies. The duke told him the better question was who had his fathernotinsulted in some form during his lifetime.
Which amounted in a fair number of additional suspects. Matthew had his men running through them, not missing their barbs about how he was living the good life while they did all of the hard work.
Which was partially true.
“Would you come with me tomorrow to Cheapside?” Juliana asked, looking up at him from her writing desk across the room.
“Cheapside?” he said with a frown. “What is in Cheapside?”
“We are going to be walking through the area, feeding stray dogs as well as seeing to their welfare. If any of them need any help that cannot be provided in the street, we will try to take them with us to give them the care they need to survive.”
“I see,” Matthew said, even though he didn’t at all. “Just what will you do with those who do need help?”
“The vicar and his wife have agreed to start a small sanctuary of sorts for animals in the yard beyond their church. It won’t be much, but it will be a start. The vicar has built a small building for the dogs already! And if there are too many, well, I suppose a few of us can take additional dogs home.”
The corner of Matthew’s lips twitched as he wondered just what the duke would have to say about that.
“What does your brother think?”
“I would never tell him this is what I have planned,” Juliana said in horror.
“Do you not think he will notice if you showed up with a stray dog in tow?”
“Matthew,” Juliana said without blinking. “Sometimes, when you know that someone is not going to give you the answer that you need or want to hear, it is better to go ahead and do what you need to do and then request forgiveness later.”
“I see,” he said, thinking back to her appearance at the pub to meet with Lewis. “I shall have to remember that.”
She nodded briskly and then returned to the paper before her.
Matthew could only shake his head as he returned to his own work – while wondering if he would ever tire of this woman.
CHAPTER11
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Prudence asked, eyeing Juliana and her attire as she stood in the foyer and waited for Matthew to arrive. “I know that you want to help and all, and I do appreciate that about you, but this seems somewhat… extreme.”
