Read Online Kissing Comfort by Jo Goodman - Free Book Online Page A

“He was annoying me. Do you think anyone noticed?”
    â€œOther than Bode? I doubt it. You moved as smoothly as Chin Fong clearing opium eaters from the back room at the Snow Palace.” Tuck shook his head. “That was an observation, not high praise.”
    Her mouth twitched.
    â€œOh, very well. It was an observation and high praise. Bode’s not likely to forget what you did. How did you know he’d go down so easily?”
    â€œI knew his back was bothering him,” she said honestly. “And I took shameless advantage.”
    Tucker didn’t care about that. “How was he annoying you? Was he improper?”
    Comfort was trying to decide how to answer that when Bram appeared at her elbow. “Oh, I was looking for you. Do you mind, Uncle Tuck? I wanted to take some fresh air with Bram.”
    Tucker waved them off, but not before he made Bram shift uncomfortably under his most implacable stare.
    â€œWhy did he look at me like that?” asked Bram as he escorted Comfort off the portico and into the garden. “Did you already tell him?”
    â€œI’m not going to do that here,” she said. “So, no, I haven’t said anything. He looked at you like that so you aren’t tempted to annoy me.”
    â€œOh. Do I? Annoy you, that is.”
    â€œFrequently.”
    â€œWell, I’m less likely to do it now that I know your uncle can turn me into a pillar of salt.”
    Comfort flashed him a grin. “Did you see Bode? Is your brother all right?”
    Bram shrugged. “I couldn’t get close. I think Mother intends the servants to bear him upstairs on a chair like he’s the Pharaoh Ramses. I wanted to make certain that you suffered no injury.”
    â€œMe? No, I’m fine. It was sudden, and I suppose he could have pulled me to the floor if I hadn’t been quick or strong enough to support him, but I was, so that’s that.”
    Bode looked her over, gauging that what she said was true. “He asked you about the engagement, didn’t he?”
    â€œYes. He’s curious about the suddenness of it. I told him we hadn’t discussed it before this evening.”
    â€œTrue enough. I’ll remember that.”
    â€œI think he means well,” she said, surprising herself. “He’s accustomed to looking out for you.”
    â€œCleaning up after me, you mean.”
    Comfort could have told him that if he didn’t take his position as society’s—and his mother’s—fair-haired bad boy quite so seriously, Bode wouldn’t have to carry a broom and dustpan. She held her tongue. “I didn’t say that.”
    â€œYou don’t have to. I did.” He sighed heavily. “What can he possibly find objectionable about me asking for your hand? You are educated and even-tempered, possess sound judgment, and exert a reasoned influence.”
    â€œMaybe he thinks I will bore you,” she said dryly. She was all the things Bram said she was, and more than a little bored herself by so much in the way of good sense and moderation.
    â€œMaybe you would, but I believe he’d be glad of it.” The words were out before he properly heard them. “I’m sorry. I meant no offense. That came out in a ridiculous fashion.”
    â€œIt’s all right,” she said.
    But there had been a hitch in her step, and Bram knew that he’d bungled it. “You don’t bore me,” he said. “You couldn’t.”
    â€œI could,” she insisted. “If we were married.” She stopped in a pool of torchlight and waited for him to turn to face her. “Eight weeks, Bram. You’ll wish at the end of it that I’d won the negotiation. We’re friends, certainly we are, but we’ve never—what’s the old expression?—oh, yes, we’ve never lived in each other’s pockets.”
    â€œIt’s true that we haven’t, but you’ll see