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"Even this one?"

His eyes never leaving her, he took a slow sip of wine before saying, "Especially this one"

She was incredibly tempted to ask him exactly what he’d discovered But that was only her vanity nudging her They’d formed an odd bond of inti else that she’d not expected to happen

"A bit scandalous not to have yourover you, isn’t it?" he asked

"Her clacking needles were about to get on my last nerve," she said A partial truth Dare she voice the real reason she was alone with him?

He chuckled low "Especially when they speed up in disapproval"

"Yes" She felt the heat suffuse her face Martha would hts were now taking because they led to the captain not leaving these quarters until the sun rose "I’ve--" She cleared her throat "I’ve instructed her to stay in your first ht"

"Have you now?"

She nodded, her throat threatening to knot up "I think she rather likes him Your first mate Mr Peterson"

"He’s quite smitten with her"

"Is he?" She couldn’t stop herself fro "How lovely for her I suppose It would be a rather lonely life, though, wouldn’t it? With him at sea?"

Before he could answer, a knock at the door had her nearly leaping out of her skin She didn’t knohy she was so skittish Perhaps because her not having Martha in attendance had little to do with her irritating knitting needles andgiving him far more than a kiss

She wanted to announce that she trusted him, but all she trusted hi on it, in fact It was as though she had changed on this journey, had become as liberated as his ship It had the power to carry thehts never before seen It te What would she discover of himand herself? Did she want to know? Or did she wish to renorance was bliss, but she was learning that it was littleBetter to know than to forever wonder

With the lithe ot up from the table and opened the door Mouse and Jenkins skittered in and cleared away the dishes When the door closed on their retreating for, not certain what she should do next

He was leaning against the wall, studying her, his arms crossed over his chest Had she really considered that he could pass for a gentleman? His attire ell tailored, fit him to perfection She suspected he’d paid a pretty penny for it But still, beneath it hovered an untamed element, like the tempest that rose up unexpectedly His life was coarse and harsh, had shaped hi creature that he was But just as his ship didn’t stay at port long, she suspected he wasn’t one to stay in her life for more than a short period