Page 99 of A Pirate of Her Own

“Well then, fair Stanley, I dub thee Captain Fair-hope of theSea Princessbound for Charleston.”

“Excuse me?”

“Tonight, you’ll be a colonial captain who is instantly attracted to our Miss James,” Kristen said, sweeping her arm toward Serenity in a theatrical move. “A captain who will try and get her to join him on his way home.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“Because our good Morgan Drake is in love with her, but he refuses to admit it.”

Stanley gave a most undignified snort. “You’re not about to drag me into the middle of this. I’ll not do anything to hurt Captain Drake.”

Kristen sidled up to Stanley and folded her hands into a steeple up under her chin. She looked up at Stanley from under her lashes, and Serenity watched in awe as Kristen wound the man around her finger.

Indeed, the mesmerized Stanley watched every move Kristen made like a starving man eyeing a feast.

“I’m not asking you to hurt him,” Kristen purred as she traced one finger down the length of his bulging biceps. She flicked her finger off his forearm. “I’m asking you totrickhim.”

Blinking as if he just woke up, Stanley gave her a doubting glare. “Only a woman would see that as a difference.”

Kristen made a grand showing of folding her arms over her chest and narrowing her gaze on him. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t someone whose name I won’t mention try to tell George that I swore I’d never marry a sailor?”

Stanley stiffened. His jaw turned to steel. “You did say that.”

“Be that as it may, you did try to trick him into leaving me, did you not?”

“That was different.”

“Why?”

“All’s fair when it comes to love,” he said.

“And this is love. For Morgan and Serenity.”

He looked askance at Kristen. “Are you sure?”

“Never been more positive.”

“All right,” he said with a sigh. “For you, chick-pea. I’ll do it. But you owe me.”

Kristen’s smile grew wider. “I’ll have your suit delivered to you. I believe my maid knows where to borrow one.”

Kristen looped her arm through Serenity’s. “Come, fair maiden, we must now add more spice to the pot.”

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