A Tempting Life by C.J. Archer

Author:C.J. Archer [Archer, C.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: C.J. Archer

Chapter 15

Alice crossed the river over the bridge to save the expense of a wherry and made her way to Dowgate Street where she tapped on the servant's door near the kitchen and asked the maid if Lord Warhurst was home. He was not.

She thanked her and left but only got as far as the nearby lane. Safely hidden in the shadows, she could see everyone coming and going from Blakewell House. But after a few minutes she began to feel like a coward for spying and was about to return to the house and tell the maid she would wait after all when Warhurst rode past.

"My lord!" she called out.

He turned in the saddle, his beautiful green eyes wide. "Mistress Croft!" He dismounted faster than a blink and was at her side. "Are you unwell? Your arm..."

"My arm is unchanged."

He rubbed the horse's nose and turned his face away from her. "Then what are you doing here?"

She bristled at his bluntness. So it was to be like that between them now. He couldn't even muster a polite tone let alone look at her. The man really was the heartless creature she'd pegged him to be on their first meeting.

"Two things," she said crisply. "First, I wish to know when our business arrangement will be finalized."

The sudden turn of his head made his horse take a jittery step. Warhurst held it steady, all the while looking at Alice. Glaring more like it, with his top lip curled. She'd never seen him look so...cruel. She swallowed then tossed her head.

"Well?" she prompted. She would not be intimidated nor would she apologize for their lovemaking. It had been wonderful. But that was in the past and with a different man, a man who liked her for herself and didn't see her as a base-born seamstress hardly better than a whore from the Bankside stews.

"You will get your shop in due course. All is not yet in readiness."

"And the fabrics."

"I haven't forgotten our agreement. The second thing?"

"How did you fare with Charles Grayshaw?"

He went back to patting his horse's neck. "This is no longer your affair, Mistress Croft. Thank you for your—."

"No!"

He lifted an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

She thrust her hands on her hips and took a step towards him so she could speak low and not be overheard by passersby. What she had to say was not fit for strangers' ears. "I said no. I will not be shut out from this, not like you've shut me out of the rest of your life so very thoroughly. I may be only a seamstress, Lord Warhurst, but I have as much pride as you. You will not treat me like a whore and use me then discard me. Not in this."

"I didn't—."

"You did."

His Adam's apple jerked with his hard swallow. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't think..." He shook his head and huffed out a breath. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to allow me to continue to help your sister. I like her and I can see how much she's hurting.

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