Page 142 of The Trouble with Tigers
Oh, he wasn’t excusing the selfish, destructive tendencies of the man which had festered beneath the surface long before he lost Zeke’s mother, and which eventually killed him. He simply understood for the first time in his life what it was to value someone as much as—no, more than himself.
He clenched his jaw, tamping down the unexpected well-spring of emotion that had the backs of his eyes stinging, for Christ’s sake.
Get a hold of yourself, man. Focus.
He dragged himself to his feet. Minutes later, the sun barely reaching the horizon, he stooped beside the bed. “Kitty, I’m leaving.”
She opened heavy-lidded eyes. “Oh, hello.”
His gut flipped like someone had spun him around several times, blindfolded. He smoothed her hair from her face with trembling fingers. “I’ll see you later tonight. Wherever you are, I’ll find you.”
“I know,” she said, her green cat’s eyes glowing—with love, for him. How had he earned such a rare and precious gift?
His throat tightened. “Try not to get into any trouble while I’m gone, hmm?”
***
Kitty awoke and sat bolt upright, a monumental epiphany clamoring to the forefront of her mind. Zeke cared for her.
He hadn’t spoken the words. Yet, she saw it in his smoky blue eyes when he looked at her. She heard it in the way he spoke to her with that maddening combination of exasperation and teasing. When they were together, everything in him focused entirely on her—what she said, what she did, her life experiences. All of it mattered to him.
She touched her fingertips to her lips, and closed her eyes.
It was also there in his kisses, be they tender or devouring. In the reverent way he touched her, and the passionate, mind-emptying way he made love to her.
Last night, she had been desperate for him, completely unable to get close enough to him. She’d have crawled inside him, if she could. But then, Zeke seemed every bit as consumed with her.
Surely it all meant something.
Her body aching in places she hadn’t known existed before experiencing Zeke’s lovemaking, she eased off the bed and made for the basin.
She splashed herself, lathered, rinsed and dried, then picked up her brush to work out the worst of the tangles caused by Zeke’s fingers as they’d sifted through her hair.I like it when you wear your hair down, he said in that husky voice, laden with desire.
Maybe desire alone comprised his feelings for her. Maybe she saw what she wanted to see, grasped at straws, and all for naught. Her promise to her brother still bound her as surely as if she’d already married Garrick.
The truth was, regardless of what Zeke professed last night about his ability to see Collin’s title restored, Collin was a bird-in-hand kind of fellow. Unless Zeke could pull off a miracle and accomplish what he promised immediately, Collin would never agree to void his agreement with Garrick.
But what if Zeke could convince Collin to trust him, and allow her to marry him instead? Would half of Zeke’s heart be enough for her? She would have said no a week ago. But now…
Perhaps she should allow Zeke to speak with Collin on the matter.
A short while later, she stood outside Collin’s door hoping he wouldn’t take one look at her beard-scraped cheeks and know how she’d spent the evening.
She rapped her knuckles on the door and a young chambermaid ducked her head out from an open chamber. “Excuse me, milady. Are you looking for the man who’s letting the room?”
Kitty smiled and nodded. “He’s my brother.”
The maid stepped into the hall and cleared her throat.
Kitty glanced uncertainly from the still closed door to the somber looking maid. “He was ill last night, and now he doesn’t answer. Would you kindly open the door for me?”
The chambermaid glanced toward the stairs. Kitty could practically read her thoughts. Go ask the owner of the establishment before opening the door and lose precious time from her many tasks, or trust the lady.
“Please,” Kitty said in an urgent voice. That old feeling of dread was stirring the hair at her nape.
“The thing is, milady, his lordship isn’t in.”
“He’s gone down to breakfast, you mean?” She asked, her pulse spiking.
