The Pirate and the Puritan by Cheryl Howe

slightly shaken
by Drew’s curt dismissal. Lord, but he was good. He could turn the charm off
and on as he pleased, could become demanding and powerful in the blink of an
eye. Despite knowing better, she had actually started to believe his
flirtatious glances over dinner.
    In the cool marble foyer, the
threesome exchanged a hasty farewell with Philip and Samantha Linley. Felicity
couldn’t help but notice Samantha’s desperate attempt to pull Drew away from
the group with whispered pleas. Her irritated scowl at his rebuke left Felicity
with unjustified satisfaction. But it was short-lived as Mistress Linley swung
around to stare at her.
    After a head-to-toe perusal, the
older woman dismissed her with a smirk. Apparently, Mistress Linley found no
threat to her relationship with Drew. Not that Felicity could blame her. Even
the gout-ridden merchant who had sat next to her during dinner had stared past
Felicity to marvel at Samantha Linley’s classic beauty.
    After her fall from grace had
ensured her she’d never be any man’s wife, Felicity assumed she’d accepted the
fact that the male population only gazed upon her in a sisterly fashion. It was
what she’d told herself she wanted. But bluff or not, Drew’s decidedly heated
attention proved how wrong she’d been.
    Without conscious thought,
Felicity slipped her arm through his. He only gave her a brief curious glance
before he guided her out the door. A quick glimpse over her shoulder rewarded
Felicity with the droop of Mistress Linley’s smile.
    Felicity allowed herself to be
meekly led to the waiting carriage, then climbed in, grateful that Drew let her
action go without comment. Tactfully, she’d decided to wait for her father’s
seclusion from Drew before she convinced him to take them in the direction of
the Hare and the Hound. Drew’s change from fop to bully might subdue her
father, but it wouldn’t stop her. Not until she found out what upset him enough
to crack his gentlemanly guise.
    ***
     
    “Just a moment, Felicity. I’d
like a word with Lord Christian.” Ben closed the carriage’s heavy door on his
daughter before she could voice her obvious objections. With her out of the
way, Ben began again the conversation she had interrupted. “Are you sure
leaving Barbados is the right thing to do, Drew?”
    He glanced across the brick drive
to assure himself the nickname had not been overheard. Torches guarded the
polished stone steps to Linley Hall with silent uniformity, casting ominous
shadows but revealing no curious ears.
    Motioning to Ben, Drew receded
into a nook shaded by an overgrown bougainvillea whose blood-red petals fell in
a dark pool at the driveway’s edge. Secluding himself with his remaining
business partner might appear suspicious, but better that than to have Felicity
or anyone overhear their conversation.
    “You saw the sketch. First the
rumors that El Diablo killed Marley and Beatrice, and now this. I need
to leave Barbados. Maybe if I’d left earlier Marley and Beatrice would still be
alive.”
    Ben reached out and squeezed his
shoulder. “I don’t blame you. You know that, so stop blaming yourself. Marley
and I both knew the risk of selling pirated goods. We’re in this together,
Drew.”
    Drew folded his arms over his
chest and casually disengaged Ben’s grip. “I don’t think Marley would have
agreed.”
    “Lord Christian kept Marley out
of debtors’ prison. And purchased him his house on the hill and the love of a
woman who wouldn’t have looked twice at him before. And Lord Christian can
protect you now. Don’t leave.”
    Drew shook his head. “We always
knew our charade would come to an end. It was only a matter of time before
someone discovered ‘Lord Christian’ wasn’t whom he claimed. We should have quit
the moment King George started his crusade against piracy.”
    Ben straightened and narrowed his
gaze. “That was my decision as well as yours. And Marley’s. I don’t remember Richard
complaining