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After untying the boat, Mr Grayson wedged hiathered the oars

"You don’t have a boat, they sat so close together She sat up a bit, widening the gap

"Not at theone oar, he pushed off from the dock She frowned Surely it wasn’t usual, for the ship’s owner and principal investor to row hiain, surely it wasn’t usual for the ship’s owner and principal investor to have the shoulders of an ox As he began to row in earnest, the bold, rhythmic power of his strokes entranced her The soft splash of the oars cutting through the water, the confident th rippled under his coat again, and again, and again …

Sophia shook herself This was precisely the sort of observation she ought to avoid

With reluctance, she dragged her gaze fron prospect

Burnt sienna To capture the color of his hair, she would start with a base of burnt sienna, mixed with a touch of raw uh a shaft of sunlight--the faintest trace of verlossed with pohtly square-tipped ears A controlled touch would be needed there, but the breeze-tossed waves atop his head invited loose, sinuous brushstrokes, layered hispers of ahtened with lead white

The mental exercise calmed her nerves These wild, ht never master them, but at least she could channel them into her art

"Was it a convent you escaped, Miss Turner?" He turned the boat with a deft pull on one oar

"Escaped?" Her heart knocked against her hidden purse "I’ away, from a convent or anywhere else Why would you ask that?"

He chuckled "Because you’re staring at h you’ve never seen aWorse, now she found herself powerless to turn away What with the murky shadows of the tavern and the confusion of the quay, not to ood, clear look at his eyes until this moment

They defied her ed with a thin line of blue Darker than Prussian, yet lighter than indigo Perhaps enerous allowance did not permit--ultra sea of color--green oneat blue

He laughed again, and flinty sparks of aaze to the side, she saw their rowboat nearing the scraped hull of a ship She cleared her throat and tasted brine "Forgiveto make you out I understood you to be the ship’s captain"

"Well," he said, grasping a rope thron to hiht I have the pleasure, then, of knowing the captain’s na a second rope "It’s Captain Grayson"

She heard the smirk in his voice, even before she swiveled her head to confir her? "But, you said …"

Before Sophia could phrase her question--or even decide exactly which question she meant to ask--Mr Grayson shouted to the men aboard the ship, and the rowboat lurched skyward A splinter gouged her pal ascent As they reached deck level, Mr Grayson stood With the sarasped her by the waist and swung her over the ship’s rail, setting her on deck and releasing her an instant too soon Her knees wobbled She put out a hand to grab the rail as a pair of crew she owned in the world, now resided on this creaking bowl of ti wave, and dizziness forced her eyes closed

"Miss Turner?"

She turned back to face Mr Gr … or Captain … Hi into the starched cravat of a different h she’d never seen a ro servants in their employ In fact, black footmen were quite the fashion in the ton--their presence hinted at lucrative foreign holdings, and ebony skin

But this man’s skin was not ebony Rather, the tone of his coloss of a ripe hazelnut, or strong tea lightened with a drop of ray hat And beneath the hat, his brown, tightly curled hair was cropped close to his scalp His dark-blue greatcoat was as well-tailored and elegant as any dandy’s Golden-brown eyes regarded her from a fine-featured face He was handsouely familiar way

"Miss Turner" Mr Grayson stepped forward, shrinking the triangle "Allow aze frolare "You said you were Mr Grayson"

Both men smiled Sophia set her jaw

"I am Mr Grayson And this"--he clapped a hand on the black man’s shoulder--"is Captain Grayson"

She looked froain "You share the same name?"

Their smiles broadened

"But of course," Mr Grayson said s up to mock her "Brothers usually do"

Gray watched with satisfaction as a blush bloomed across those s Miss Turner’s confusion a bit too much But damn, ever since he’d lifted Bains off her in the tavern, he’d been enjoying everything a bit too much The way the circumference of her waist so perfectly filled his crooked arainst his in the rowboat The clean, feminine scent of her--hints of powder and rose water and another scent he couldn’t quite place So at his that even he recognized as less than respectable So it was a relief now, to let her blink up at his brother for a bit

"Brothers" She looked froaze sharpened, seee to turn and look over his shoulder