Stormy Persuasion (13 page)

“To fire on us?” someone asked.

“No, she’s not close enough. I’m guessing it’s merely a maneuver to deter us from
attempting to bring their man back for questioning. Artie, call our boat back. I’m
not going to risk their lives if they don’t have a chance of overtaking the other
boat.” Then James swore again as the light faded. “Bloody mysteries, I deplore them.”

The comment hadn’t been directed at any one of them in particular, but members of
the crew tried to figure out what had just happened.

“Not piracy or they would have fired on us.”

“Only one rowboat, so it wasn’t a sneak raid,” someone else said.

“For that rowboat to be halfway to
The Maiden George
when the man jumped means that a rendezvous had to be arranged for sometime tonight,”
Nathan speculated.

“Since I am doubtful of coincidences, I agree,” James said. “But we have been at sea
only two days. What could he have expected to accomplish in so little time?”

“Sabotage,” Artie offered.

“To sink us?” James shook his head. “Too drastic and forfeits innocent lives.”

“Perhaps they don’t care,” Artie said, “But I’ll have the ship searched from top to
bottom.”

“If he was here for revenge, he might have been prepared to do the killing tonight
and then jump ship.”

“But you caught him first? I suppose that is possible, but my enemies tend to be impatient.
The man would have tried to kill me by now if he wanted me dead. I suppose the crew
can be questioned to find out if anyone else has a relentless enemy.”

Nathan did, but Grigg wouldn’t send a man on a suicide mission to kill him even if
he had discovered Nathan was on this ship, so he didn’t mention it. He suggested something
not quite as nefarious instead.

“It could be that the stowaway was retrieving something that ended up on the ship
by accident. He might have thought he could find it in a couple of days and maybe
he did. He could have been waiting for me to leave the hold where he was hiding, but
I found him instead.”

“That possibility isn’t wholly implausible, but it doesn’t explain his immediately
attacking you instead of trying to talk his way out of the hold. He could have claimed
to be a crewman or a servant. No one but the first mates knows everyone aboard my
ship.”

Which was how the man could have gotten around on the ship without much notice, to
eat and do whatever else he was there to do, Nathan thought. But he was done guessing
when that’s all they could do. It accomplished nothing.

“Do we turn about then, Cap’n?” one of the men asked.

“No, we’re not giving chase, not with my family aboard,” James said. “But I want constant
surveillance of that ship that’s trailing us. If it approaches, I want to know about
it. And set up shifts of armed crewmen to patrol the
The Maiden George
tonight.”

“I’m beginning to hate mysteries m’self,” Nathan mumbled.

James nodded and turned to his first mate. “I suspect this will go unsolved for the
time being, but gather the rest of the crew and search the supplies for anything out
of the ordinary. And every nook and cranny, for that matter, to make sure this wasn’t
a joint undertaking. Give me the results as soon as you’re finished. I’m going back
to my cabin.” Then James paused to turn to Nathan again. “Did you finish my ring,
Mr. Tremayne?”

“I’ll have it done within the hour, Captain.”

“It can wait until morning. You’ve done enough for one day.”

Nathan nodded. “You said ‘unsolved for the time being.’ Do you think they’ll continue
to follow us if they didn’t get what they were after?”

“Oh, I’m quite depending on it.”

Chapter Twenty

J
udith couldn’t believe she was going to do this. Again. It was so against her nature
to sneak about like this. There had to be another way to talk to Nathan without stirring
up any curiosity about it. But she couldn’t think of anything.

She hurried down to the lower level, aware that she had so little time she might as
well not even bother. It was midmorning already. She hadn’t meant to sleep this late
and Jack would be looking for her soon if she didn’t oversleep again, too. She might,
though, after coming to Judith’s cabin last night before she retired. Jack had had
to share with her everything that she’d learned from her father about the stowaway,
and Judith couldn’t even admit she already knew half of it. Darned secrets . . .

She found Nathan putting his tools away. The exercise ring was finished. And he’d
already repaired the animal pen. A few more minutes and she would have missed him.

He confirmed that, saying, “I was just leaving. Didn’t think you were going to pay
me a visit—and what the devil are you wearing?”

“Clothes that are easy to put on. My maid let me oversleep and I was too impatient
to wait for her to come back. As it is, I don’t have much time to spare.”

The way he was staring at her britches brought on a blush. She’d tucked them into
midcalf-high riding boots, but the britches weren’t thick. Jack liked her clothes
comfortable, which usually meant soft. So Judith didn’t tuck in the long, white shirt,
allowing it to fully cover her derriere instead, but she did belt it. She had no doubt
she looked ridiculous, but that’s not what his green eyes were saying.

“You’re actually allowed to dress like that?”

“On board ship, yes. I wore breeches the last time I sailed years ago. My mother agreed.
Better than a skirt flapping in the wind.”

“For a child, maybe, but you’re a woman now with curves that—”

“Stop looking!” she snapped.

He laughed. “There are some things a man just can’t do, darlin’.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Are you deliberately wasting what little time I have before Jack
starts wondering where I am?”

His eyes came back to hers. “Doesn’t work out well, you having me at your beck and
call, does it? Not if you have to arrange it around your cousin.”

She’d already figured that out but did he have to sound so amused about it? “If you
have somewhere else to be, by all means—”

She didn’t get to finish. He actually put his hands on her waist and set her on the
crate next to him. It was a bit high for her to have chosen as a seat, leaving her
feet dangling a few inches off the floor. But then he sat down on it next to her!
It wasn’t wide enough for two. Well, it was, but not without their thighs touching.

She might not even have noticed it if she were wearing a skirt and petticoats, but
in the thin, black britches, she could feel every bit of his leg against hers and
the warmth coming from it. She could feel the warmth of his upper arm, too, as it
pressed against hers, since he wasn’t wearing a jacket. The position was far too intimate,
reminding her of how it had felt being pressed to his half-naked body yesterday when
he’d kissed her. . . .

That pleasant fluttering she’d experienced yesterday showed up to fluster her further.
She started to get down until she realized that sitting side by side, she wouldn’t
have to look at him and get snared by his handsome face and sensual eyes. If she could
just ignore that they were touching. If she could not wonder if he had put them in
proximity because he wanted to kiss her again. She groaned to herself. She was
never
going to get any answers from him if this attraction kept getting in the way.

“Where did you grow up?” she blurted out. There, one simple question he couldn’t possibly
evade.

He did. “Does it matter?”

Staring intently at the exercise ring in front of them, which was well lit with two
lanterns hanging on its posts, she demanded, “Is this really how you’re going to adhere
to the Bargain?”

“Well, if I say where I was raised, you’re just going to take it wrong.”

“Oh, good grief, you grew up in Cornwall?” she guessed. “Yes, of course. The one place
in England well-known for smugglers. Why did I bother to ask?”

“I warned you’d take it wrong. But Cornwall has everything every other shire has,
including nabobs, so don’t paint everyone who resides there with your suspicions.”

“Point taken.”

“Really?” he said in surprise. “You can actually be reasonable about something?”

“I favor logic, and that was a logical statement about a region.”

He snorted. “I’ve given you lots of logic—”

“No, you haven’t, not on matters that pertain to you personally. So did you learn
carpentry before or after you took to the seas?”

“It’s my turn.”

“What? Oh, very well, ask away. I have no secrets to hide other than
you
.”

“I rather like being your secret.”

Why did that bring on a blush? Just because his tone dropped to a sensual level didn’t
mean he intended it to. Or it could mean he did. The man
could
be trying to deliberately discompose her. Or was he getting as caught up in this
attraction as she was? The thought made her feel almost giddy. If he wasn’t a criminal—but
he was, and she had to keep that firmly in mind.

“Was that a question?” she asked.

He chuckled. “How big is your family?”

“Immediate? Both parents are hale and hearty. My sister, Jaime, is two years younger
than I and doesn’t take well to sailing, so she stayed home with my mother. My half
sister, Katey, is much older and is aboard with her husband, Boyd.”

“I meant the lot of you.”

She suspected he didn’t, but she answered anyway. “Don’t think I’ve ever counted the
number. My father is the youngest of four brothers. They’ve all got wives and children,
even a few grandchildren, so if I had to guess offhand, there’s more’n thirty of us.”

It sounded as if he choked back a laugh. She was
not
going to glance his way to be sure. Keeping her eyes off him was working—somewhat.
At least she’d stopped wondering if he was going to kiss her—oh, God, now she couldn’t
think of anything else. It had been thrilling, if a little overwhelming, but the feelings
it had stirred in her had been too nice not to want to experience them again.

“—most of my life,” he was saying.

“What?”

“Your previous question.”

“But what did you just say?”

“Where
did
your mind wander off to?”

The humor in his tone made her wonder if he already knew, which made her blush even
more. “Would you just start over, please?”

“When you ask so nicely, of course. I said that I was a sailor first, that I sailed
with my father most of my life.”

“Except for the three years you worked as a carpenter. You mentioned that to my uncle.
Where and why did you learn that trade if you already had a job with your father?”

“No cheating, darlin’. That’s three questions in a row you’re asking.”

She huffed, “I wouldn’t have to if you would elaborate, instead of giving me terse
answers that only lead to a dozen more questions.”

He chuckled. “So you adhere to logic and exaggeration, oh, and let’s not forget stubbornness.
I’m starting a list.”

“And you adhere to evasion. D’you really think that isn’t obvious?”

“You know, I’m having a hard time keeping my hands off you.”

She sucked in her breath, her eyes flying to his. His expression said that he wasn’t
just trying to distract her. Blatant desire, poignant and sensual. It struck a chord,
lit a flame. . . .

“Just thought you should know,” he added, then looking away, asked, “Where did you
grow up?”

Judith needed a moment to come back to earth. Actually, longer. As if he
had
touched her, her nipples still tingled from hardening, her pulse was still racing.
She would like to think she would have stopped him from kissing her just then, but
she knew she wouldn’t have. Why didn’t he!?

Oh, God, the man was more dangerous than she’d thought—to her senses. She jumped off
the crate to put some distance between them. She was going to have to be more cautious
of his tactics.

“London,” she said, and said no more. Still watching him, she noticed when his mouth
tightened just a little, but enough to guess he didn’t like short answers either.
“Annoying, isn’t it, lack of elaboration?”

“I’ll survive.”

She snorted at his glib answer. “Well, since I’m usually more thorough, I’ll add,
I was born and raised in London, as well as tutored there. In fact, I rarely left
the city except to visit family in other parts of England, such as Hampshire, where
I first met you.”

“And at least twice to America.”

She smiled. “Before I comment on that, I require another answer from you. Why did
you learn carpentry if you already were working with your father?”

He glanced at her again and laughed heartily. She liked the way humor disarmed him
so thoroughly, his face, his mouth, his eyes, all revealed it. It said that he was
getting used to her and wasn’t the least bit afraid that she might land him in jail.
Confidence that he could change her mind about him, or actual innocence? There was
the rub. If she had that answer by now, then she wouldn’t be here—or she would, just
for a different reason.

He addressed her last question. “I had a row with my father that led to my leaving
Cornwall for good when I was twenty. I ended up settling in Southampton, which is
where I took up carpentry.”

She repaid him in kind. “My first trip to America was with Jack, too, to visit her
mother’s hometown of Bridgeport. This trip is for her come-out there before we have
another in London. It’s unusual to have two, of course, but her American uncles insisted.
If you don’t know what a come-out entails—”

“I do. It’s what you nabobs do to get yourselves a husband. So you’re going on the
marriage mart, are you? Somehow, I didn’t expect you’d need to.”

Had he just given her a compliment, but in a derogatory tone? “I don’t
need
to. I’ve lost count of how many men have already petitioned my father for permission
to court me this summer.”

“So you’ve got a host of eager suitors waiting for you to return to England?”

“No, as it happens, my father threw all those hopeful gentlemen out of the house.
He didn’t appreciate the reminder that I was approaching a marriageable age.”

“Good for him.”

She raised a brow. “Really? Why would you side with him about that?”

“Because women don’t need to get married as soon as they can.”

“You’re talking about someone you know personally, aren’t you?” she guessed.

He nodded. “My sister. She should have waited for a better man who could have made
her happy instead of accepting the first offer to come her way. It didn’t turn out
well.”

Judith waited a moment for him to continue, but she heard the sound of approaching
voices. She gasped. “That’s my father and uncle.”

“Bleedin’ hell, hide.”