One Penny Surprise (Saved By Desire 1) by Rebecca King Page A

though her very life depended on it. He tried to decide whether it was worth pursuing; to find out what was in the bag, but then wondered if he was involving himself a bit too much. He had enough problems to contend with already. The last thing he needed was to get involved in some foolish woman’s idiosyncratic issues.
    “Should we say a prayer or something?” Poppy asked suddenly. She had never found a dead body before and wasn’t sure what the correct thing to do was. Should she cross him, or say a prayer, or just run for the magistrate?
    “Look, if it makes you feel better then yes, say a prayer. I don’t really care right now,” Luke groused.
    Before he lost his temper with her completely and did something he would regret later, he turned his attention back to the contents of the man’s pockets. He tried to open the sodden mess that had once been a piece of parchment, but it was too wet to be of any use. Anything that had been written on it had long since been washed away by the river water. The coins were just loose change Luke himself usually carried in his pocket and, apart from a fob watch and chain there was nothing else on the man that gave any hint as to where he came from.
    “He is aristocracy,” she said quietly. The fine quality of the shirt he wore, together with the small, gold cravat pin was an indication that this man had once been a gentleman of leisure. “Who lives around here?”
    Luke snorted. “This is London. At this time of year it is packed to the rafters with the wealthy. He could be from anywhere. Just because he has been found here doesn’t mean he came from here.”
    “He is a big man for anyone to move far,” she reasoned.
    Luke sighed and pierced her with a glare.
    “What? I am just saying,” she countered with sniff before he could say something as condescending as the look he was giving her.
    “I know, but he is an adult; a fully grown male who can go where he pleases, when he pleases, and doesn’t have to account to anybody. There is nothing to say that he hasn’t walked himself here and been in an altercation of some kind.” His thoughts immediately turned to the much older and considerably more ruthless gang who roamed the area. Was this a mugging gone wrong?
    “How do you go about finding out who he is then?”
    “I don’t,” Luke countered. “This is something the magistrate can deal with.” The last thing Luke wanted was to get involved with solving a murder mystery. Unfortunately, from the keen interest in Poppy’s eyes, she was too curious for her own good and likely to get herself involved in something she ought to leave well alone. He had to find a way to warn her off somehow. With that in mind he rounded on her.
    “We could do with those pick-pockets coming back,” she muttered glancing around at the empty pathways, oblivious to his somewhat threatening stance.
    “Really? Why? Do you want to give them your bag this time?” He lifted a querulous brow and wondered if she was having a dig at him.
    She glanced around them. “Did you catch any of them?”
    Luke shook his head and threw her a rueful look. “You started to scream again before I could. I decided to come back to see what else had happened to you given the racket you were making.”
    Poppy’s lips twitched as she fought a smile. She nodded sagely but didn’t bait him. He was clearly put out that she had dared to question his masculine fitness. When he looked at her suspiciously she merely stared back, her expression as bland as she could make it. She could do nothing to hide the mirth in her eyes however and seeing it seemed to make him grumpy. Desperate to change the subject before she laughed and incurred his wrath even more, she looked in the direction the pick-pockets had vanished.
    “I could go and find someone to go for the magistrate,” she offered hopefully.
    Luke snorted and shook his head. He wondered if she thought he was as daft as he looked. “I think it is safest if we