Unnatural by Joanna Chambers

Author:Joanna Chambers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: honour;family;guilt;mask;disguise;truth;forgiveness;19th century;1800s
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2015-11-24T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Mr. Lamb rode up front on the way back to Wylde Manor, then James and Mrs. Lamb, leaving Iain and Miss Kirk to bring up the rear. Iain had made sure it happened that way—he wasn’t about to let Miss Kirk get her claws into James again, not after what had just happened. God knew what James might let inadvertently slip—he didn’t seem to have any instinct for self-preservation.

Jesus, his expression when he’d first clapped eyes on Lamb—guilty as sin and twice as shocked. Just remembering made a horrible gnawing anxiety eat at Iain’s stomach.

“Have you and Mr. Hart been friends for very long?” Miss Kirk asked politely.

Iain glanced at her. She had a good seat, and her hands were light and easy on the reins of her grey mare. He noticed that she patted the animal’s neck frequently and with real affection. It made him feel a little less hostile towards her, though he still didn’t trust her an inch.

“Since we were children,” he replied.

“You are close,” she observed, and her gaze was calculating. He felt instinctively that she was implying something. She was not, he decided, an ignorant young lady.

“We are,” he agreed. This time he deliberately smiled, letting his gaze drift over her a little, as though he had just noticed how pretty she was. He had made no attempt to charm this young woman so far, but when he made the effort to charm ladies, he was generally successful. He’d been credited with numerous female conquests over the years, though in truth none of them had ever amounted to more than innocent flirtation.

It may be no bad thing to curry a little favour with Agatha Kirk. And to lure her away from James.

Miss Kirk did not return his smile. Her gaze was steady. “Do gentlemen generally swim naked together?” she asked coolly.

From another young lady, the question might have seemed fast, or maybe even silly. From this one, it was a challenge. Perhaps even a threat.

I see you.

Iain put his smile away. “Yes,” he said crisply. “When young ladies whose sensibilities have to be considered are not present, they do.”

After that, they said no more to one another. They rode all the way back to the manor house in silence, the last of their small group to trot into the stables.

James was chatting to one of the grooms when they arrived. He looked up as they clattered in, his grey gaze going straight to Iain, his smile wide and happy. It was as though Miss Kirk wasn’t even there. He just…didn’t see her.

Iain glanced at the girl and saw that her lips were pressed together in an unhappy line. Her obvious annoyance troubled him. He’d realised a long time ago that when you preferred men, it was best not to have enemies if you could possibly help it, and he made it his business to avoid incurring anyone’s resentment. When people looked at Iain, they saw a man who was charming and feckless, but the

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