Page 10 of The Lord's Compass
“I see,” he said, the only sound in the room now the tapping of his boot against the floor. “Do you have a lock on your door?”
“I assume so,” she said, taken aback at the question. “Why do you ask?”
He looked at her incredulously. “Lady Faith, you are many things, but stupid you are not.”
“I hardly think that any of the other passengers and, most especially the crew, would risk the repercussions of taking advantage of a lady.”
He was already shaking his head, and she couldn’t help but note how their roles had reversed. Usually, he was the one thinking the best of people, but it seemed that in this, he had seen the worst.
“When men are at sea without the opportunity for female companionship, they often become desperate – especially when they are in their cups. We shall have to create a story on who you are to me. At least it appears you have brought some Spanish attire.”
“I have and I have also thought of my role,” she said swiftly. “I will proclaim myself to be your widowed sister.”
He snorted. “That will never work.”
“Whyever not?” she asked. Surely she was good enough to be considered a familial relation.
“It just won’t,” he said stiffly, looking away from her.
“Your cousin, then?”
“No.”
“You must give me a reason why you do not think that will suffice.”
“Because…” he scratched his chin. “Because I cannot help the way that I look at you, and the sailors will likely notice.”
“The way that you look at me?”
“Yes,” he said, punching a hand out in the air, as though he wasn’t pleased about having to tell her this. “Like… a woman. A woman who I… appreciate.”
“Oh,” she said, taken aback by his words. He had always teasingly chased after her, but she thought that it was more so because she was the one woman who no longer readily gave into his charms. Not because he had any particular appreciation for her.
“Are you sure you mean me?” she asked mockingly. “Most men are too captivated by Hope to see past her toward me.”
“Yes,” he said, turning the full bore of his gaze upon her now. “I most certainly mean you, Faith.”
Her lips parted as she seemed to lose all of her breath, caught in the intensity of his eyes, the hazel irises rimmed in such thick black.
“I-I had no idea that you thought such a thing.” Not anymore, at least. He had made it clear she was nothing special to him.
“I am sure I made that abundantly clear,” he said. “I am not a man who hides his emotions. I showed you that night how much you meant to me.”
“I am not the only woman that you kiss,” she scoffed.
“Did I not show you afterward, when I gave you so much of my attention?”
“I always assumed you were toying with me. You are a man of many jests, after all.”
“That may be true,” he acknowledged. “But when it comes to you, Faith, I never jest.”
They paused, the air tense between them, before he asked the questions she wished he hadn’t. “Why did you come? Why risk everything?”
Faith tried to hide the guilt on her face, but she knew the moment he realized exactly why. “You do not trust me,” he said, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open. “You do not think I can do this.”
“It’s not that,” she said hastily. “It is just that I think anyone could use help with this task and?—”
“I am not as incompetent as you think, Faith,” he said, his jaw tightening, showing a rare moment of displeasure, causing a twinge in her belly.
