Courting Trouble by Jenny Schwartz

believing his story.”
    This time it was she who cast a chiding glance at the back of the coachman’s head. Jed cursed under his breath. Her own anger had solidified to something strangely cold. Jed didn’t trust her. By his own admission, he trusted her less than he did a recently met thief.
    “Very well.” She settled back against the thin cushions and held his gaze in level challenge. “When we reach home, I want to see those plans.”

Chapter Six
    “You don’t trust me,” Jed said in a low, deadly voice.
    “Sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose,” she misquoted. “ You don’t trust me. ”
    She could probably have gotten the stolen papers from him if she’d employed a bit of patience and exercised some charm, but she didn’t want to use tact. She wanted the blind fool to acknowledge her independence and equality.
    Breathe. She had to stay calm, reason logically, convince the bullheaded man that there were two sides to every story—and she wasn’t simply talking about Lajli and Nazim. She and Jed had to understand one another better if their courtship wasn’t to founder on the rocks of their equally strong characters.
    But that was okay. She had seen the problem. She could be calm enough for the two of them. They would have a meaningful dialogue, resolve their argument in a sane and orderly fashion and be the better for it.
    “Nazim is handsome,” Jed said.
    Whoosh. She almost heard the reignition of her temper, it was that violent.
    So much for good intentions.
    “Are you implying I’ve been bowled over by a handsome face?” She closed the library door. If they were going to have an argument, then to heck with the proprieties. She intended to have privacy. Maud, her housekeeper, was escorting Lajli to a guest room. Gupta had opted to accompany them. Wise man. He’d foreseen that the library would be a battleground.
    “Oh, he’s more than a pretty face. I heard his introduction. He’s a gentleman and a socialist. ”
    “A man can claim to be many things.” She paused to add emphasis to the next sentence. “So can a woman.”
    Jed took her up instantly. “If you don’t trust Lajli, why in heaven’s name bring her into your home?”
    “Because I have an open mind. I haven’t made a decision either way, with only half the facts.”
    “I’m a scientist, sweetheart. I don’t need a lecture on evidence.”
    “And I don’t need lectures on behaving reasonably. ”
    “Oh, you need those lectures all right. You just don’t listen. Yet you listened to Nazim’s plausible little story. A device to help the poor deaf kiddies.”
    “Be accurate. He didn’t mention children.”
    “Because I didn’t give him time to do so. He was feeding you a line, sweetheart, and you were eating it up.”
    Outrage swelled in her breast. “And what has Lajli been feeding you?”
    “Nothing. For heaven’s sake, Esme. You know I wouldn’t look at another woman.”
    “Do I? You don’t seem to know I wouldn’t look at another man.”
    His anger dropped from him and he strode forward. “Sweetheart, you have me coming and going. But I know your honesty, your loyalty. I’m just jealous.” He ran his palms up her arms to her shoulders, then around to cup her shoulder blades. “I want to know your love.”
    Her heartbeat accelerated frantically. He was bending toward her. She was rising on her toes. Her hands slid of their own volition to his shoulders as she tilted her face.
    Desire smoldered in his dark eyes, promising, inviting, demanding.
    Her spirit leaped to answer the challenge. Her body tingled with anticipation. Her lips parted to draw a breath.
    Someone knocked.
    She tore herself out of his arms, pressing a hand to her throat and the fast-pounding pulse at its base.
    “Come in,” Jed said, his eyes blazing with thwarted passion.
    Gupta opened the door cautiously, looking embarrassed.
    Lajli showed no such hesitation as she bounced into the library. “My room is beautiful. Gupta must