A Make-Believe Match by Renee Ryan

Author:Renee Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Later that afternoon, Molly paced outside Mrs. Singletary’s private office, her mind a riot of thoughts and emotions. She was happy Garrett was working with the widow—truly she was—but, really, how long could they hole up in there and discuss business?

They’d been at it two hours already. Molly knew this because of the wretched chiming of her employer’s clocks. They went off every quarter hour, singing their happy, tinny tunes throughout the house.

Mrs. Singletary owned too many clocks.

Giving the door a hard glare, Molly continued her vigil in the poorly lit hallway. She strode along the corridor at a steady pace. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Back. And. Forth.

Her feet were starting to ache.

And she’d been pacing for only thirty minutes. She’d spent the first hour and a half of this incessant waiting more productively, by working on one of Mrs. Singletary’s new bonnets. The original design had been singularly uninventive. Molly had seen no other choice than to remove all the adornments and start from scratch. Not that she minded deconstructing the milliner’s handiwork. Molly liked nothing better than working with a clean slate.

Swinging her latest creation by the ribbons, she pivoted on her toes and took another pass in front of the door. Having been evicted from the room not long ago, Lady Macbeth looked up at Molly with slanted, broody eyes. “No sympathy here. I’ve been banished, too.”

The cat meowed.

Picking up the overweight bundle of fur, Molly hugged the cat close. “They’ll finish soon.”

She hoped.

After a kiss to the animal’s head, she set Lady Macbeth back on the floor and then pressed her ear to the door. She could hear nothing through the thick wooden barrier. Not even footsteps, which probably explained why she didn’t move quickly enough when the doorknob rattled.

One moment she was pressed up against the door, palms and cheek flat against the wood. The next she was tumbling forward.

Straight into Garrett’s arms.

“Oh.”

“Molly.” She could feel the rumble of a laugh moving through him as he steadied her in his strong arms. Then, with a wry smile on his lips, he set her away from him. “If you’d wanted to join us you simply had to ask.”

“I...” She fought for composure, fussing with her hair, her collar, then her sleeves. “I was just about to knock when you opened the door.”

He spared her a look that clearly said he knew exactly what she’d been doing in the hallway. “Ah, so it was a case of rotten timing.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Or perfect timing? You did end up in my arms.”

He was certainly taking this pretend courtship seriously.

“Molly?” Mrs. Singletary joined them on the threshold. “Did you need something, dear?”

“I...” Think. “You’ve been in there awhile. I thought you might like me to get you some...” Think, think, think. “Tea. Or coffee,” she added for Garrett’s benefit.

He’d never been a tea drinker.

“I’m afraid I must decline,” he said with the utmost politeness and a roughish twinkle in his gaze.

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