to the fruit, looking back at the old cook. “May I have one, please?”
“Aye. Eat one of those every day and ye’ll not come down wit’ the scurvy.”
“Thank you. Though I’m not sure what the malady you mentioned is, I will be sure to eat one of these every morning.”
“That’s a good lassie,” the cook replied in an almost a fatherly tone.
She nodded to him and returned his smile, then left the galley to go back to her room. Her first friend. As her brother always said, it can be very beneficial to have an ally when in unfamiliar territory. And this sailor, because he was responsible for the food they ate, would make a very beneficial ally, she told herself as she walked throughthe men breaking their fast on deck. Because this was going to be a long voyage, and she needed more than just the one friend, she nodded a greeting to them, introducing herself as Lucky’s sister-by-marriage, who truly did land aboard their vessel by accident.
She didn’t run into Ian while walking back to the cabin and was glad for it. He’d made it clear the day before that he didn’t want her roaming about unless she was with him. If he knew she’d already ventured into the galley he might become angry, though really it was just a matter of time before he learned of it.
By the time she’d finished her breakfast, she still hadn’t seen him, though she’d heard his voice booming orders above deck. Nearly two hours passed before she deduced he was avoiding her. And as she knelt on the bench before the open port hole, watching the monotonous watery horizon pass by, she thought about this attraction she felt for him. More importantly, she considered what she would do about it.
Sarah sensed her captain felt something as well. It wasn’t until after he’d left the room last night that she realized she never should have opened the door for him without first pulling her trousers on. But in the excitement of the moment with the mouse running about in the cabin, she hadn’t given a thought to what she was wearing. All she’d wanted was to get that disgusting rodent out of the room she was supposed to sleep in.
But she noticed he looked at her in a…different way. Unlike the many beau she’d met during her three years out, Captain Ross-Mackeever’s gaze had raked over her body in an almost carnal manner, which warmed her even now, twelve hours later.
And she’d bet her last shilling that was why he avoided her this morning. After spending three years on the marriage mart where she’d met no one who attracted her as this man did, Sarah had an odd sensation that Mr. Ian Alexander Ross-Mackeever might be someone with whom she could be happy. First, he was handsome above all reason, and the attraction was undeniable on her part, and almost certainly on his. Also, he was a proud, determined, entrepreneur, much like every man in her family, likely a reason why he got along so well with her brother and brothers-in-law. It also helps that he was the grandson and heir to an earldom. That alone would make him worthy in her brother’s eyes, whether he had wealth or not. If they married, he would gain wealth upon their marriage.
If he said he cared for her even a little, she’d ask her brother to consider Ian as a possible husband for her. After all, this captain set her senses on edge and made her feel like both a giddy, silly school girl and a primal, sensual woman.
Sarah shivered in the cabin, and not from the comfortable temperatures. Let him avoid her for now. Eventually he would have to confront his emotion, if he had any for her at all.
Sarah decided she could continue to ponder the strange sensation she felt whenever he was near while working on those drawers beneath the bed. She pulled the first of the two out and spread the contents on the bed covers so as to rearrange them in a neat and orderly fashion.
As she sat on the floor, she organized the books into stacks by subject. There were financial ledgers, which she
“Aye. Eat one of those every day and ye’ll not come down wit’ the scurvy.”
“Thank you. Though I’m not sure what the malady you mentioned is, I will be sure to eat one of these every morning.”
“That’s a good lassie,” the cook replied in an almost a fatherly tone.
She nodded to him and returned his smile, then left the galley to go back to her room. Her first friend. As her brother always said, it can be very beneficial to have an ally when in unfamiliar territory. And this sailor, because he was responsible for the food they ate, would make a very beneficial ally, she told herself as she walked throughthe men breaking their fast on deck. Because this was going to be a long voyage, and she needed more than just the one friend, she nodded a greeting to them, introducing herself as Lucky’s sister-by-marriage, who truly did land aboard their vessel by accident.
She didn’t run into Ian while walking back to the cabin and was glad for it. He’d made it clear the day before that he didn’t want her roaming about unless she was with him. If he knew she’d already ventured into the galley he might become angry, though really it was just a matter of time before he learned of it.
By the time she’d finished her breakfast, she still hadn’t seen him, though she’d heard his voice booming orders above deck. Nearly two hours passed before she deduced he was avoiding her. And as she knelt on the bench before the open port hole, watching the monotonous watery horizon pass by, she thought about this attraction she felt for him. More importantly, she considered what she would do about it.
Sarah sensed her captain felt something as well. It wasn’t until after he’d left the room last night that she realized she never should have opened the door for him without first pulling her trousers on. But in the excitement of the moment with the mouse running about in the cabin, she hadn’t given a thought to what she was wearing. All she’d wanted was to get that disgusting rodent out of the room she was supposed to sleep in.
But she noticed he looked at her in a…different way. Unlike the many beau she’d met during her three years out, Captain Ross-Mackeever’s gaze had raked over her body in an almost carnal manner, which warmed her even now, twelve hours later.
And she’d bet her last shilling that was why he avoided her this morning. After spending three years on the marriage mart where she’d met no one who attracted her as this man did, Sarah had an odd sensation that Mr. Ian Alexander Ross-Mackeever might be someone with whom she could be happy. First, he was handsome above all reason, and the attraction was undeniable on her part, and almost certainly on his. Also, he was a proud, determined, entrepreneur, much like every man in her family, likely a reason why he got along so well with her brother and brothers-in-law. It also helps that he was the grandson and heir to an earldom. That alone would make him worthy in her brother’s eyes, whether he had wealth or not. If they married, he would gain wealth upon their marriage.
If he said he cared for her even a little, she’d ask her brother to consider Ian as a possible husband for her. After all, this captain set her senses on edge and made her feel like both a giddy, silly school girl and a primal, sensual woman.
Sarah shivered in the cabin, and not from the comfortable temperatures. Let him avoid her for now. Eventually he would have to confront his emotion, if he had any for her at all.
Sarah decided she could continue to ponder the strange sensation she felt whenever he was near while working on those drawers beneath the bed. She pulled the first of the two out and spread the contents on the bed covers so as to rearrange them in a neat and orderly fashion.
As she sat on the floor, she organized the books into stacks by subject. There were financial ledgers, which she
Similar Books
