Under the Moon Gate by Marilyn Baron Page A

well stocked, as he expected. Probably Sallie or Cecilia had brought over the food earlier in the week. He doubted Patience had had a decent meal since the funeral. When breakfast was prepared, he left it to keep warm while he went to her room. She was still peacefully asleep, and he enjoyed watching her for a moment. In her hand was a well-worn paperback book with a pirate and a half-clad woman on the cover. He smiled. Not so prim and proper after all, are you, Patience?
    She must have been restless and gotten up sometime in the night to get the book. Luckily, he had slipped out of her room and returned to his bed before she awakened and found him there. He traced his finger on her lips and pushed back a sunlit curl on her forehead, and she stirred and woke, still a bit disoriented.
    “What are you doing here?”
    “I’m staying with you, remember, Cousin?” he teased. She sat up instantly, ignoring her state of undress.
    “Where did you sleep last night?” He caught her examining the pillow next to her, where a definite indentation was noticeable. “You didn’t!”
    “You were having a bad dream. I simply came in to comfort you and, well, I decided to stay until—”
    “You decided to stay? You impudent rogue!”
    Nathaniel threw back his head and laughed, a deep belly laugh.
    “Now I’m a rogue. I seem to be descending in your estimation. First a pirate, then an adventurer, now a rogue. Cousin, you’re priceless.”
    “I am not your cousin, and get out of my bedroom!”
    “I’m sure we must have been related somewhere back in time.”
    “Impossible. Your line died out a long time ago…in the Stone Age. I suggest you leave, this instant. Kindly hand me my robe on your way out.” He looked around and tossed her the sheer white silk robe draped over the settee. Only then did she notice what she wore.
    “I don’t remember undressing,” Patience said, eyeing Nathaniel suspiciously. “You didn’t…”
    “I barely looked at you. You looked uncomfortable in that tight skirt, and you needed a good night’s sleep.”
    “You drugged me, didn’t you?”
    “Don’t freak out. I didn’t drug you. When I spoke to Sallie, she confided that you hadn’t been sleeping well. She was concerned about you, and she showed me where to find the sleeping pills your doctor prescribed in case you couldn’t—”
    “You did drug me, you bastard!”
    She stood on the bed, hands on her hips, and faced Nathaniel like an avenging angel.
    “In future, I’ll let you know if I’m uncomfortable! Stop undressing me, and kindly keep your hands to yourself.”
    “I’m working on that problem.” Nathaniel smiled.
    Patience turned her back to him, trying to put on the robe with some attempt at modesty.
    “You look just like the type who would take advantage. We didn’t…you know…did we?” she asked turning her head in his direction.
    “You would have known if we had,” he assured her, laughing at her naiveté. “I made breakfast.”
    “I suppose you want to be knighted for that.”
    “I simply thought, since you probably haven’t eaten in I don’t know how long, that I’d…” He shrugged.
    Patience bit her bottom lip and remembered her manners.
    “I’m sorry. That was very sweet of you.” She climbed down from the bed and followed Nathaniel into the kitchen. “I am hungry. What’s on the menu?”
    “Everything. Bacon, eggs, fresh fruit… I didn’t know what you liked.”
    “Mmm. I’ll take some of everything.” She started to get a plate.
    “Uh-uh, I’ll wait on you this morning.” Nathaniel got out plates, silverware, and napkins and sat her down with them at the kitchen table. “I even managed to make tea.”
    “Laced with drugs?”
    “Dammit, Patience, there are no drugs in your tea. It’s plain blackcurrant tea.”
    He moved the heavy silver tray he had prepared from the counter to the table, setting the teapot and the food where she could easily reach them, and watched as she poured tea