Page 53 of Stolen By the Rogue
A while later she came and stood closer to him.
“Anything?” she asked.
“No, the surface seems pretty even all round. But if something was actually buried here it might take time to unearth it. You have to remember there has been over one hundred odd years of weeds and ground movement in that time.”
When she didn’t reply, he glanced up at her. The expression of worry and impatience which showed on Jane’s face took him by surprise.
He had foolishly assumed he was the one with his heart and soul on the line; her look was a sharp reminder that Jane was just as much, if not more, invested in the outcome of their search as him.
Of course, she is. This was her quest long before you came along. And before that it was a fanciful idea in her father’s mind.
“Come here,” he said.
She knelt beside him, and George put an arm around her. “I know this means a lot to you, but I want you to remember that it doesn’t have to be everything. If we find the treasure, we do. If we don’t, we will be disappointed, but we shall survive. And when I say we, I mean you and me.”
You are worth more to me than all the treasures of the sultans and kings.
Jane let out a tired sigh, which stabbed like a sharp dagger straight to George’s heart.
“I can’t be with you, George, if that means living a life with a man who is a thief. I love you, but please don’t ask that of me,” she replied.
A tide of emotion so strong and resolute that only weeks ago George would have thought it impossible to experience welled up within him. Now he gladly accepted it. He had Jane’s love, and that was his everything. This woman held the key to his heart, to his future.
He shifted and turned to face her. “I love you too. And I swear that I am going to walk away from my past. I told Gus when we were on the road to Kent that it was my last job for him, and I meant it.”
If Harry could distance himself from that life, so could he. The tears that glistened in Jane’s eyes gave him hope, but he needed more.
“Tell me you believe me. And if you don’t, then what do I need to do to convince you?” he said.
She reached out and took hold of his hand. Seeming to pay no heed to its dirty and dusty state, Jane raised it to her lips. A tender kiss was placed on the cracked middle knuckle. “I do believe you want to change. But where I grew up, a man is judged by his actions, not his words. It is only through them that your truth can be fully known. Don’t offer me promises, George. Instead, show me the sort of man you want to become.”
She was going to hold him to his vow. A vow George Hawkins was determined he would keep.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The light was fading when Jane headed back into the house and washed up an hour later. While she went to a nearby shop and purchased two hot beef pies for their supper, George remained behind, tidying things up.
She ached all over. Muscles which had not seen much use since the days when she worked alongside her father at the archeological dig at Byblos Castle now painfully reminded Jane that she had lived a more sedentary life over the past few years.
If we do make a go of things and stay at this house, I will have to learn to work the garden properly.
George was tossing the last of the straw on top of the calico ground covers when she wandered back into the garden. “Did you want to wash your hands and come and eat while the pies are still hot?” Jane chuckled at her own words.I sound like a housewife calling my husband in for his evening meal.
George gave his clothes a quick dusting down then headed over. He leaned in and gifted Jane a tender kiss.
She went to step back, thinking he would follow her into the house, but he took a firm hold of her arm. “I didn’t want to finish things up, but one of the neighbors has been watching through the fence. If it looks like we are done for the day, hopefully she will get bored and go home.”
“But there is nothing to see, is there? So why are you worried? she replied.
He drew her into his arms and kissed her once more. When the kiss ended, George didn’t release Jane from his embrace. Rather, he blazed a trail of hot kisses up the side of her neck, then nibbled sweetly on her earlobe.
She shivered at the memory of his touch earlier that morning. Of his lips sucking hard on her nipple as he thrust into her one last time and came. “If you keep that up, the pies will go cold.”
He snorted. “I don’t give a damn about the pies. And I want that woman to bugger off because thereissomething to see.” His grip on her tightened. “Stay in my arms, Jane. I might be giving up the criminal life, but that doesn’t mean I can’t put my career skills to good use. The trick with deception is to be boring and predictable. We are acting the same as any young married couple. Let’s go into the house and we can watch from the window until she leaves.”
Jane’s mind was filled with a hundred questions, but she did as George asked and let him lead her back inside. They closed the door behind them.
“What is it?” she asked.
