Like Clockwork by Wayne Tripp

Author:Wayne Tripp [Tripp, Wayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Our Heroine’s Revelations.

“There, that should keep us secure until the tide changes and the sou’westerlies come up,” Scott said as he worked his way aft and dropped into the sloop’s cockpit beside Katie. “Plenty of time for our talk.” He cast a concerned look at his passenger as though willing her to begin and half afraid he wouldn’t like what she had to say. “Sorry today isn’t warmer. You okay, Katie?”

“I’m still a little cold, Scott,” she confessed.

“Here,” he said, settling himself back against the edge of the cockpit and the hatch of the sloop’s small cabin. “Snuggle into my arms—if you don’t think it’s being too forward of me—and we’ll keep each other warm while you spin your tale.”

“I can’t think it’s too presumptuous, can I?” she laughed in a husky voice. “I chose to come out here unchaperoned with you. I rather suspect, Mr. Wildethorne, I’m quite at your mercy.”

“Do I make you . . . uncomfortable, Katie?”

“Don’t be silly. I’m not some vaporous heroine from one of your penny dreadfuls. I’m here because I want to be, Scott.” She wriggled deeper into his embrace, loosening her stiff corset and unbuttoning the top two buttons to her high-necked blouse as she got comfortable. “I hope you don’t think I’m being too brazen, but my corset is pressing up against some rather troubling bruises. Besides, I’m feeling quite cozy and warm at the moment. Besides, it’s not a tale I’m going to tell you. It’s the bone-white truth.”

“Okay, I’ll be a good boy, and listen.”

“Good. I do have a question for you before I begin. I pray you don’t think me too presumptuous, but am I correct in interpreting your regard for me as a bit more than slight?”

For his answer, Scott took Katie’s face gently in his hands, turned it toward him and kissed her tenderly on her bruised lips. Before she lost her nerve and focus, Katie forced herself to wiggle out of his warm arms.

“Well, sir, that is by far too forward of you! But, not totally unpleasant. I must admit.” This is how I got in trouble the first time, she thought. “This is precisely the point I’m trying to make. I need to know that your attraction for me isn’t just physical . . . that you care about me enough that I might reveal something truly upsetting. Something which might drive you away again, convinced I belong in the nearest asylum.”

“Katie, you must know how I feel about you. You’re the reason I came home from sea, to try and salvage something from the mess I’d left behind. Whatever it is, tell me. I’m not going anywhere.”

Overcome with emotion, Katie wanted to throw herself into his arms, and sob her relief that he’d come back to her. For her. Aware of how vulnerable she’d make herself, she forced herself to sit upright, tidy her appearance, and launch straight into her explanations.

She chugged through her first words hesitantly, rapidly built up a full head of steam, and surged ahead until her story was virtually telling itself.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.