The Allure of Attraction by Julia Kelly

Author:Julia Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pocket Star

Andrew knew every square inch of the long strip of space that ran the length of his office directly in front of his desk, because he’d paced it at least a thousand times in the past three hours. It was well past two in the morning and there hadn’t been any sign of Lavinia. Gillie, who’d offered to wait up with him until she checked in as he’d instructed her to, was the picture of calm, cool, and collected—so much so that she was snoozing in a chair in the corner, wrapped up in a particularly loud magenta shawl.

He glared at the young woman, jealous of the fact that she could sleep at a time like this.

“I haven’t done anything wrong, so you can stop making sour faces at me,” Gillie mumbled, making him start.

He stooped down to check that her eyes were, as he’d thought, closed. “How do you know I’m staring at you?”

“Because I can feel the resentment radiating off you.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he said.

“And yet I was right, wasn’t I?” she asked.

He huffed and went back to pacing.

“They say it takes rivers thousands of years to carve their way through rock, but you’ve walked over that spot on the floor so many times you might wear a hole in it by the end of the evening,” said Gillie, eyes still closed.

“Lavinia should be back by now.” He’d stopped trying to pretend he wasn’t worried hours ago. Hell, he’d been worried since the moment she had told him her plan to attend a dinner at Wark’s house. It was dangerous and—he could admit now—the best bet they had to find out information about Wark’s associates.

But that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“She’ll be fine,” said Gillie with a yawn. “She’s an intelligent lady.”

Lavinia’s intelligence had never been in question. It was her safety he was worried about.

“What are you doing while we wait?” he asked.

Gillie sighed, opened her eyes, and pointed to a stack of papers she’d set aside ten minutes before. “I asked several of my contacts for more information about this Mr. Douglas, who’s been spending time around Wark’s mother.”

“Anything?”

“Not the sort of thing we’re looking for. Even Mrs. Sullivan doesn’t know a great deal about him except that he was widowed about five years ago, and he seems to have gone on a spree snatching up metalworks factories in the last two years. Most of his businesses are in Glasgow. He’s also a crack shot with grouse and can drive four-in-hand.”

“While fascinating, I’m not sure that’s helpful,” he said.

“I’m simply being thorough.” Gillie shifted in her chair to find a more comfortable position and closed her eyes again. “Now, why don’t you make us a cup?”

He grunted. Tea was a good idea. It gave him something to do with his hands. He pulled the heavy cast-iron kettle off its shelf and poured water from a jug into it before lugging it to the iron hook that was mounted above the wood fire. He’d been happy to see that in his office rather than a coal burner.

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