“I’m working on getting more information,” Meredith finished. “But—”
Before she could finish, there was a commotion at the top of the stairs and her basement door flew open. Both women spun on the intruder. Ana gasped.
Lucas. And he did not look happy.
Chapter 10
L ucas knew who the woman with Ana was. Lady Carmichael, Meredith Archer, another of the Lady Spies. She’d married nearly a year before, but was still active with the group. She arched a fine brow at him as he came down the stairs, relaxing from her ready-to-fight stance.
Ana didn’t. She remained rigid, staring at him like she was ready to give him a good punch and run like the devil was at her heels. Not a stellar beginning to their “engagement.”
He tossed a dismissive glance at Lady Carmichael. “I am sorry to intrude, but this is between us. I would appreciate a moment with Ana.”
His brow furrowed. When the hell had he started thinking of them as an “us,” rather than him and the leg shackle he was forced to endure? Probably the same moment he first tasted her lips.
Lady Carmichael’s eyes went wide with surprise at his forward demand. Then her mouth twitched into a small, knowing smile. “Very well.” She turned to her friend. “I shall say farewell to Emily before I go. And I’ll be back with more information for you as soon as I have any.”
Ana spared a brief nod to her friend, then returned her pointed, furious glare back at him. Fire burned in her eyes. The same kind that boiled there when he kissed her. And that put his traitorous body immediately at the ready, despite how irritated he was.
The door above them closed and she stepped up at once, surprising him by closing the space between them and poking one slender finger against his chest.
“You have no right to barge into my home and be rude to my friend and partner!”
His eyes narrowed. “Rude? Ha! You want to tell me about being rude? Rude is ignoring notes and invitations and making a general muck out of a perfect opening in this case.”
Her expression reflected how that comment stung. Now that she was so close, he looked down into her face. Her pretty hair was pulled into a clumsy bun and little tendrils of soft locks twisted around her cheeks and neck. She had a smudge on her left cheek and a blotch of ink on her thumb and the finger that still hung, hesitating in the air mid-poke.
Emotion welled up in him. The desire he wasn’t surprised by. He had come to expect that he would want Anastasia. That the mere sight of her would call to his blood. But the other emotion shocked him—tenderness.
Seeing her like this, in her private room, with her papers and inventions and work scattered all around, brought up a soft feeling he wasn’t sure he’d ever experienced before.
He couldn’t stop himself from reaching out. She watched with widening eyes as his hand came closer, but she didn’t flinch when he wiped the smudge of dust from her cheek.
“I was worried about you, my little fool.” He chuckled. And that was true. When she ignored his notes, he had become concerned.
“You needn’t be. I’m fine.”
She pulled back. It was just as well. Tenderness was the last thing he needed or wanted. Clearing his throat, he forced a more businesslike manner.
“Go upstairs and put on a gown,” he ordered. “With color, Ana, and come with me. There is a meeting this afternoon in Hyde Park I want to watch. We’ve arranged it in the hopes it will draw out an attacker.”
Ana tilted her head. “Why must I wear color?” She looked down at her gown. “I could—”
“If you were really falling in love with me,” he said, stepping a little closer, “you would no longer be in mourning. If you wear black, it will arouse suspicion that this engagement is not real. Please, no arguments. Put on a gown with color.”
Ana’s entire face scrunched up with displeasure, but she grunted out either “fine” or something far less lady like and stomped up the stairs to do as she had been told.
Once she was gone, Lucas shook his head. The woman was a trial, but there was something undeniably attractive about her. Something that went beyond her obvious physical beauty. She was…open. Honest. Loyal. And beneath her nervous exterior, there was a strength of spirit and will that appealed to him.
There was also no denying her intelligence. He looked around the large, open room she had turned from some kind of cellar into a work area. Snippets of code were tacked to the walls. Many were complicated enough that he would need assistance in deciphering them, and he had always thought he did passably well in encoded work. There were glass beakers filled with mysterious, pungent liquid and everyday items in the process of being transformed into tools of the trade for a spy.
He made his way up the stairway to the main house, then down the hallway to the parlor where he had waited for her every other time he’d visited. He entered the room and sat down by the fire with a sigh.
“I was hoping to see you before I departed.”
Lucas started. He’d been so caught up in his thoughts about Ana, he hadn’t noticed Lady Carmichael standing beside the window that faced the gardens outside. Her arms were folded, and her dark blue eyes held his own. Appraising him.
He leaned back in his chair and gave her his most dashing grin. “Hello again, Lady Carmichael.”
It was clear she was less than impressed by his charm when she snorted out a bark of laughter. “Much more polite now, aren’t we?”
He tilted his head in acknowledgment. “I do apologize, of course. I needed to speak to Anastasia on a matter of great importance.”
“Yes.” Lady Carmichael came closer. “Your engagement. I would congratulate you, but I wager you realize I know the truth about that ruse.”
He nodded. “I doubt you ladies keep many secrets from each other.”
A shadow of concern fluttered briefly over her face. “Not many.”
He wrinkled his brow. From her expression, he would almost guess she feared Ana did hold some part of herself back, even from her closest friends. An idea that intrigued him. What made her hide behind the veil of grief and rules? What made her deny the parts of her that wanted him? Wanted more than a staid existence of a widow who only played at being a spy rather than embraced that life. She was really rather good at it. Yet she feared it, still.
Feared him. Or at least, he thought she did when she trembled in his arms.
“I want you to know that if you ever hurt Ana, Emily and I will find a way to destroy you.” Meredith Archer gave him the sweetest smile in the world. “I would cut your heart out before I saw you harm her in any way.”
Lucas drew back at the unexpected statement from the pretty, proper woman before him. But then his shock faded. If her friends needed to resort to threats, that most definitely meant Ana harbored some feelings for him. And that gave him a powerful thrill of triumph.
It also made him realize just how fully he wanted to pursue those desires. He’d been trying to deny them because she clung to the idea of staying true to her late husband.
But deep in his soul, in the hot blood in his veins, he wanted to act on the need that sparked so powerfully between them. He wanted to feel her pulse quicken. To push past her reflexive denials and make her face the heated wants he tasted in her kiss.
He felt his smile widen. They were engaged now. Perhaps it was time to make the act a very realistic one. She would never give him her heart. There was no risk of that. No risk of anything deeper than an affair to last the duration of the case. She was a widow, so she could not be ruined. And he had wanted her from the first moment she rushed up on him, her eyes ablaze with fire as she accused him of causing Emily’s attack.
He wanted to make those same eyes blaze with surrender.
Lady Carmichael was staring at him, gaze focused and irritated. Deadly serious.
Tilting his head in acknowledgment, he said, “I understand your desire to protect Ana. But I think you underestimate her ability to protect and make decisions for herself.”
/> The lady began to laugh. “Trust me, Mr. Tyler. I don’t underestimate Anastasia in any way. Nor should you.”
Before Lucas could retort, the door behind him opened. Lady Carmichael looked past him to the entryway, and her eyes widened. Then she smothered a giggle in her hand. Heart sinking, Lucas got up and turned to face Ana.
He almost stumbled back at the sight. She was wearing a hideous green gown that was at least six seasons out of fashion. Clearly it had last been worn before her husband’s passing, and she had pulled it from the depths of her armoire and had it hurriedly pressed. The collar was high, with ruffles along the neck that covered the delectable slope of her throat. The waist was far too high, as well. And to make matters worse, Ana had clearly lost a little bit of weight since her husband’s death, so the entire contraption hung around her curves like a sack.
It was, in a word, horrific. Even to him, who rarely noticed a lady’s clothing unless he was determining the best way of removing it. There didn’t seem to be a best way to remove the fluffy, ill-fitted gown she was wearing at all.
If this was how she had dressed during her marriage, no wonder she feared her desires. If she had been his six years ago, he would have wanted her wearing daring, bold gowns. Ones that brought out the sparkle in her eyes and the golden highlights hidden in the rich length of her chestnut hair.
Ana glared at Meredith. “Oh, hush! It’s the only gown with color”—she glared at him—“that I have. It will have to do.”
Meredith smiled. “I did not say a word.”
Muttering something under her breath, Ana spun on him with narrowed eyes. “And you had best keep your comments to yourself, as well.”
Lucas lifted his hands in surrender. “I wouldn’t say a thing.” He forced a smile and offered her an arm. “Shall we be off, then?”
Ana nodded her good-bye to her friend, and he led her from the room and off to the waiting carriage and whatever their afternoon in the park would bring.
Ana shifted. Wasn’t there a way to hold a man’s arm without actually touching him? Smelling the faint hint of his shaving soap? Being wrapped in his heat?
If there was, she had not yet determined it. Even if she barely clung to Lucas’s arm, electricity still zinged up her fingertips. Normally when they were this close, he was kissing her.
She pursed her lips. Those were exactly the wrong kinds of thoughts to be having. They were performing an important part of their duty. Guarding over a spy as he took a meeting in the crowded park.
The afternoon promenade was in full swing. Hyde Park was crowded with ladies and gentlemen on horseback, in carriages, and on foot. All were jockeying to see and be seen.
She craned her neck to peer over the crowd. Along the edge of the lake, she saw the man they were following. He wasn’t someone she knew, but a rich merchant. He was waiting for another spy while he fed the ducks that flocked around him. He blended in perfectly. No one would have suspected his true purpose in the Park.
“Mr. Tyler, Lady Whittig!”
Ana jolted from her concentration as a large woman wearing a feathered bonnet came rushing across the grass toward them.
“Smile,” Lucas ordered through clenched teeth, then did the same.
“Lady Hickman.” Ana forced a smile.
“I heard of your engagement.” The boisterous woman reached out a hand. “Many felicitations to you!”
Lucas and Ana each shook her hand in turn, though Ana’s heart sank. Dear Lord, word really had spread.
“I am so very pleased for you,” the lady continued. “After all, my dear daughter lost her husband a year ago, herself. I hope she can find some happiness again just as you have, my lady. Well, I must be back to my party, I only wanted to wish you joy!”
With that, the woman gave a quick nod and headed back through the crowd. But no sooner had she gone than another couple strolled by and called out their congratulations. People were waving, stopping to say hello.
Ana’s cheeks were starting to hurt from all the smiling and a horrible thought was forming in her mind. If everyone in Society seemed so aware of how she had supposedly fallen in love and agreed to marry Lucas Tyler in just a few days, that meant her late husband’s family had likely heard the same. Though she had not visited them in the past few months, she still felt a closeness, especially with her mother-in-law. And she could only imagine how pained the news would make her.
“If you continue to hold yourself so far away from me,” Lucas growled, his face suddenly pinched as he moved her toward the perimeter of the lake so they could get a better view of their mark, “then no one will believe our engagement. Anyone paying any kind of close attention at this moment would peg us for false.”
Ana stole a glance out of the corner of her eye at him. He looked as irritated as she, herself, felt. It was as if he delighted in vexing her, knowing she was resistant to this engagement, yet forcing her to act like it was true. Forcing her to lean in closer and feel the desire she was trying to fight.
Her thoughts strayed to Emily’s comment. That Lucas might use her emotions…even the need she felt for him, against her if he felt it would get him what he wanted. Was that what he was doing now?
“Here comes the other man,” Lucas said, low and close to her ear.
Emily welcomed the interruption and watched as a second man approached. This man she did recognize. A country gentleman who rarely came to town. Dandified to the hilt. She was shocked that he would be in the King’s ser vice.
“But that is Sir George Thornton!” she gasped.
Lucas nodded. “Yes. And a fine spy.”
“But he—he is a fool.” She stared as Sir George sat down on the bench next to the other spy. They never spoke, never even acknowledged each other. For a moment, Sir George mopped his forehead as the other man continued to feed the ducks. Then he got up and started away. Ana’s eyes widened as she caught a quick glimpse of the other spy sweeping up a small packet and thrusting it into his pocket. No one would have noticed such a thing if they weren’t sharp eyed.
“Sir George is a fool,” Lucas said with a smile as the first spy got up and started out of the park at a slow gait. “But you are a shy widow. And you and I are hopelessly in love.”
She started at that statement, and her gaze flashed up to him.
“Things are not always what they seem, Ana.” Lucas tugged her to move. “Remember that.”
She bit her lip to keep from retorting. “Is that all, then? Are we finished?”
“Yes. If someone was going to attack, they likely would have done it before Sir George left his evidence. Now it’s too late, our man is lost in the crowd.” He pursed his lips. “Damn. I really hoped to apprehend one of these bastards today. If we could only catch one person in this plot, we could out the rest.”
She stared off into the crowd of watching eyes and smiling, laughing faces. As they walked along the path, her mind drifted to what he had said a moment before.
“You and I are not hopelessly in love.”
Lucas sighed. “As I said, things are not always what they seem.”
A glimmer of hope brightened inside her. “But why do we have to seem like we’re hopelessly in love? Why couldn’t we let everyone believe this is a marriage of convenience instead?”
That would solve everything. No more close encounters. No more stolen kisses. No more of the graze of Lucas’s hand on her waist as they walked.
His fingers tightened on her arm and his pace quickened as he lead her out of sight of the main promenade of the park and into a more densely wooded…and less-populated area. Once there, he grasped her shoulders and turned her to face him.
“No one would ever believe this was a marriage of convenience, Anastasia,” he said, and his fingers burned even through the heavy, frilly fabric of her gown.
“Why?” she asked as she pulled away, but he wouldn’t let her go. His gaze held her in place as much as his hands. It was dark as stormy skies.
“I have no title,
so I am not in immediate need of heirs. I do not require money, so I would not marry for the settlement I would obtain.” His eyes narrowed. “And even if I did, your ‘beloved’ husband provided very poorly for you on that score.”
Ana jolted. “What right do you have to delve into my finances?”
He shrugged. “Isn’t that why you live with Emily?”
Her heart stung, but she couldn’t deny it. Gilbert had never been very good with money. He had died so young, he’d never thought to prepare a decent settlement for her when he was gone. She had never resented that, but she couldn’t deny it.
When she didn’t answer, his mouth set with cocky triumph. “And there is one more reason.”
She folded her arms and glared up at him. “And what is that?”
He cupped her chin with one big hand and tilted her face up. “Anyone who knows me knows I would not marry unless I felt passion, desire for the woman.”
Her lips parted as his mouth came down, but any weak protest she would have attempted was silenced by his kiss. He smiled when she shamelessly allowed him entry.
And he took it, tasting, teasing, even as he guided her back into the little grove of trees and out of the prying view of any passersby. Her backside hit the trunk of a tree, but she hardly noticed. All she could feel was him. His arms coming around her, his hard, solid chest pressed against her own. His mouth doing such wicked things, things she had forgotten. Things she’d never known, yet she craved like an oasis in the desert.
The kiss deepened as they both reached for…something. Something primitive and wanton. It was as if the very air around them shifted, grew heated and heavy. Ana forgot that they were in the park, in the open, she even forgot all her protests and fears and memories. All that mattered was that she wanted Lucas to keep kissing her.
She wanted more. Her back arched and her hips brushed his. She felt the hard thrust of something against her thigh and she realized, with a jolt of shock, that it was his erection. He wanted her. Really wanted her. Now.
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