Page 126 of The Trouble with Tigers
He rolled lazily onto his side, propping his head in his hand to study her.
She tried to ignore him as she tugged at the ribbons of her bodice and re-tied the ends into a less than picturesque bow. “Be serious, Zeke. You can’t possibly join us.”
Zeke sat up, all trace of humor vanishing from his face. “I’m deadly serious.”
Her hands fell to her sides. “Do you doubt me? Zeke, I would send word if—”
He cut her off with a slash of his hand. “Kitty, you’re one of the most loyal, steadfast people I know. It isn’t you I distrust. It’s that brother and cousin of yours.
"You might very well be dragged to the altar in the time it took me to learn of a baby. No, I’m not taking any chances with my babe’s, or your safety.” His voice softened and a corner of his mouth crooked upward. “As the mother of my child, you’ll be under my protection for the rest of your days and nights. Included in the service is protection against any unintended marriages.”
Her traitorous heart swelled in her chest. She spun around, making a show of neatening the items on her vanity—her brush, her comb, her hair sash—lest he see how profoundly his words affected her.
No one besides her grandfather had ever cared for her enough to stand by her and see no harm came to her. Not her parents. Not her brother. Definitely not her cousin.
For Zeke, caring for her seemed to come natural. A natural born hero. If she were pregnant with his baby, what a father he’d make. A horrible, aching hope took up residence in her chest. She dropped onto the stool before her vanity.
She needed to get a hold of herself. Of course she wasn’t with child. She couldn’t be. She should tell Zeke how she’d long suspected her inability to conceive.
“Kitty, quit fussing with your accoutrements and tell me what you’re thinking.”
She raised her gaze to the mirror and met his eyes.
She opened her mouth to tell him the truth, and heard herself saying something else entirely. “You can’t join our traveling party. Collin would never permit it, and Garrick—he’d probably insist on marrying me yesterday.”
“I’ll stay out of sight.”
She meant to argue, but her curiosity got the better of her. “While we’re traveling, you could trail a bit behind us. But inns tend to be smallish, like this one. How would you keep from being seen? Like tonight for instance?”
“Tonight?” He shrugged. “I’ll stay with you.”
She sprang to her feet, rounding on him. “You can’t.”
He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You have a better idea?”
She glanced around the small space. “Where will you sleep?”
His lips twisted in a sardonic grin. “I suppose, as we’re trying to rule out the possibility of a baby so you can marry your brother out of his current jamb, your bed is out of the question?”
She glared at him.
“I’ll take the chair.”
They both eyed the spindly legged armchair in the corner.
“On second thought, I’ll take the floor.” He sighed. “I’ve fared worse.”
***
“I’ll be back as soon as I’m able,” she said, repeating the sentiment for the third time since accepting the fact he wasn’t going anywhere, any time soon. She gazed up at him, hand on the door lever, that luscious lower lip caught between her teeth.
He forced his eyes from her mouth. “As we’re evidently repeating ourselves, I’ll remind you, again, not to act out of the ordinary. Stay as late as you normally would. Later, even. Keep your ears open. I want to know if I have to thwart an attempted wedding ceremony.”Before I talk you out of this nonsense, he silently added.
She nodded. “Right. Well, then…”
He pulled the door open and pushed her into the corridor. “Bon appétit.’ He shut the door in her face.
He thought he heard her indignant hmph, and smiled. He listened at the door for her footsteps to recede, then started a slow count to three hundred, pulling on his coat and gloves.
