Page 139 of The Trouble with Tigers
“Oh. Are you”—she gulped—“getting into bed like that?”
“Like what?”
“You’re naked.”
“You’d rather I slept in those filthy garments?” He jerked a thumb in the general direction of his discarded clothing.
“I suppose not. Do you want to hear the rest of my story or not? I can't tell you’re even listening.”
He slid between the cool sheets, then propped a pillow against the headboard and leaned back, his arms behind his head.
“Let me see if I’ve followed you so far. Your arrival here was a surprise to you. Hastings says he made the last minute change for your sake. James’s reaction tells you there’s another side to the story. Later Hastings went out for an afternoon stroll. Right so far?”
“Hmm,” she answered, noncommittal. “The thing is, Collin said he’d join me later for supper. But just before eight I received a note informing me he didn’t feel well, and would see me in the morning.”
Zeke felt not the least bit of sympathy. “Probably had too much festival food.”
“I suppose. Only…it’s nothing, really.”
The hair on his nape prickled. “Humor me.”
“I went out briefly, to stretch my legs, and thought I spotted that man again.”
“What man?” His eyes had adjusted so he could make out Kitty’s face.
“The man from the dining room last night. Mr Peters. To be honest, I don’t care for the look of him.”
“Are you saying Peters is in Aylesford? That you saw him?”
“I think so.”
“You think so. That’s an odd coincidence, him being here the same time as you.”
Zeke didn’t like coincidences. He crossed his arms over his chest. He had a strong sense he wouldn’t like what she said next. “Go on.”
“There I was, in the midst of the festival crowd, and I thought I recognized Collin’s chum. So I tried to catch up with him, to be sure.”
“The man you admittedly don’t like the look of. Why would you do that?”
“I found it odd him appearing here, what with Collin making the last minute detour to Aylesford. If it was him.”
“Very odd,” he said, his voice raised several octaves.
“Quiet, Zeke. You’ll wake the people in the room beside ours.”
Ours. He liked the sound of that. It mollified him sufficiently so he lowered his voice. “You’re right, of course. We don’t want to draw attention. Move a bit closer so I can hear you better.”
She hesitated a moment, as if sensing a trap. Still, she scooted to the center of the bed. “As I was saying, I tried to catch him. When he neared the tobacconist shop, I assumed he meant to go inside and make a purchase, but out of the clear blue, he turned into the alley.”
He tapped his fingers on his biceps. “Tell me you did not follow him, Kitty.”
“I didn’t. But I wish I had. Thinking he’d merely taken the alley as a short cut to the other side, I hastened through the crowd, and ’round the corner. Unfortunately by the time I got there, I’d lost him.”
Relief and fear for what might have happened co-mingled, stretching his already raw nerves to the breaking point.
“You said yourself you don’t know for certain it was the same man. Maybe he simply resembled the man you met last night. For the love of God, promise you’ll never do something like that again.”
He hadn’t realized he moved. Hadn’t realized he’d reached for her, ‘til one hand tangled in her hair, and the other encircled her low back.
