Page 9 of A Pirate of Her Own
Cocking a brow, he took a second look at the strange woman who continued to talk about this man Douglas and some sort of ongoing dare they had between them.
Serenity James was an odd one, to be sure. Never before had he known a woman who would willingly walk about drenched in such a pungent-smelling concoction. Yet this one seemed completely oblivious to it.
Her chestnut brown hair was pulled back into a sleek, severe knot at the nape of her neck, not the alluring soft ringlets preferred by most women. And rather than wear a soft color that might complement her pale features, she wore a modest gown of solid black with only a ruffled white neckerchief to break the somber tone.
If not for the ruby and diamond brooch that clasped the neckerchief just between her breasts, he might have thought her in mourning.
“Poor Douglas, no wonder he’d protested being sent to St. Simon’s Island today to interview that poor man whose house was burned down by his angry wife. I’m sure he wanted to be here to see my face when you walked in! Oh, but I’m ever so glad he wasn’t here. No doubt, he would have laughed at me from now until kingdom come.”
As his gaze wandered over the length of her, the most amazing thing happened. He began to fancy her dressed in a blue ball gown, her hair dressed down and soft.
Aye, behind those spectacles she had eyes the color of the brightest sea. Sensuous lips that begged for kisses, and pale, creamy skin that…
Morgan blinked.
Washemad?
Naw, just bloomin’ horny, Cap’n.
He tensed as Barney’s voice drifted through his mind. The thought of that old randy barnacle was enough to snap his attention back to the matter at hand.
“Miss James, I have no—”
“Please,” she said, cutting him off and linking her arm in his before leading him toward the door. “I deeply appreciate what you’re trying to do. But today really isn’t a good day for an adventure. I have piles of articles to review and my sister should be by any minute now to fetch me home where I have a party to supervise. Why don’t you thank Doug—”
She stopped dead in her tracks and stared wide-eyed at the large glass window at the front of the shop.
Following her line of vision, Morgan found himself face-to-face with two members of his crew. Barney and Kit were staring in at them.
Would today’s aggravations never cease?
They were supposed to wait for him down at the docks, not follow him about like two lapdogs with nothing better to do than yap at his heels.
The two of them stood with their legs braced far apart as if standing on deck in the middle of a typhoon, and they leaned against the glass, their hands cupped to shield their sight from the outside glare. All he needed now was for Barney to grin and wave at him like some half-wit.
He growled low in his throat. May the rains soak their rotten hides!
Well, he’d deal with them later. First he had a mystery to solve—how this woman had learned who he was and whom she had told so far.
And most important, how far would he have to go to make sure that their secret went no further.
He started to return to his interrogation when all of a sudden a brown and gold coach pulled up in front of the shop.
Barney and Kit glanced around as a footman dressed in green livery jumped off the top of the coach. He opened the coach’s door.
A huge black umbrella was shoved out into the rain and opened, then tilted upwards to reveal an elderly woman whose dress would rival Serenity’s for plain ugliness. She scowled at Barney and Kit before holding the umbrella over the coach’s open door. A young, attractive blond woman emerged from the coach an instant before the footman closed it.
With a frown on her pale, angelic face, the young woman cast furtive glances at Kit and Barney as she and her chaperone made their way into the shop.
“Goodness, Sister,” the blond woman breathed, her attention still focused on the two sea dogs behind her who had returned to peeking inside. “What strange admirers have you gathered now?”
“Good day, Honor, Mrs. O’Grady,” Serenity said in greeting. “He’s a friend of Douglas’s who just came by for a birthday surprise. But as I’ve already explained to this gentleman, I haven’t the time.”
“Ach now, lass, what were you thinking by letting him in here? You should know better than to be letting a man such as this one into the shop while you’re here alone,” Mrs. O’Grady warned in a thick Irish accent. Era O’Grady was the self-crowned matron of propriety. Her gossiping tongue had sealed the fate of many a young woman, and Serenity wasn’t happy at having been caught by her.
Still, Mrs. O’Grady was loyal to Honor, whom she planned on grooming to take her place of town gossip should anything ever happen to her. With a few heartfelt apologies, Serenity should be able to allay any of Mrs. O’Grady’s concerns.
Besides, Serenity was a plain woman who would never catch the fancy of a man such as this. Everyone in town knew that.