Read Online The Countess' Lucky Charm by A. M. Westerling - Free Book Online

the master?” She looked Temple full in the eyes. “It didn’t take me long to figure I could do much better at going after the careless ones. It ain’t , isn’t,” she corrected herself, “respectable, but at least I got me dignity.”
    Or I did have until I started sharing your cabin.
    Simone looked away to the distant horizon. Did she imagine it, or had the sky become a little darker? She sucked in a breath of air and exhaled it slowly. It served no purpose to voice her doubts. Temple had been nothing but kind to her and she must try harder if she wanted to confirm his faith in her abilities. It was just so difficult sometimes.
    “You do,” Temple nodded. Yes, he thought, she had her dignity but at what price?
    Furthermore, his reaction to the sailor accosting Simone had surprised him. Rage had overtaken him and his first thought had been to throttle the man.
    Plainly, other than Mrs Featherstone who was perhaps too nice to voice her disbelief, no one on the ship believed they were married. Petey provided ample testament to that. Feeling a dolt, Temple began to understand Simone’s delicate situation. Her virtue may be intact but who in their right mind would believe that of her? She wanted nothing more than to earn a decent living with dignity and respect, taking what the fates had handed her and making the best of it.
    He studied her profile closely. Her nose was straight but pert, the jaw delicate, and the eyelashes long and lush. Her neck where it disappeared into the ruffled collar of her dress was creamy smooth. By looks alone, if he had met her at any society function rather than on the docks one foggy evening, he would never doubt her background. Intriguing, really, for she did not fit his idea of a street urchin in the slightest. She was too, too—his mind grasped for the proper word—patrician.
    Nonetheless she was what she was and for the wager to be successful, she would have to accustom herself to being his social equal, with all the rules and restrictions of the ton. It was up to him to see it happened.
    “Simone, you must be chaperoned from now on.”
    “Why,” she asked him sarcastically. “Everyone knows we are not married.”
    “Everyone knows you share my cabin but we know it’s a matter of convenience only. Just because everyone thinks the worst doesn’t mean it’s true. A lady of quality would be chaperoned.” He shook his head. “Why didn’t I think of that before?”
    Because, he answered himself mentally, she had never looked as attractive before as she did in her new blue dress. He took another long, appraising look at her. Blood rushed to his loins and he fought the urge to take her in his arms, to taste the luscious lips beneath his own, to kiss her repeatedly until they both were senseless.
      “Lady of quality? No one believes that of me,” she scoffed.
    At her sarcastic voice, he was brought back to the conversation with a jolt. Regretfully, he tucked away the pleasant image of her in his arms.
    “I do,” he replied stoutly. “Being chaperoned is really for your own protection.”
    “I kin protect meself ,” she announced. “And I could have run away. I’m quick on my feet.”
    “Run?” He looked pointedly about them. “To where? There?” He pointed his finger to the crow’s nest on the main mast. “Or perhaps over there.” He pointed over the railing. “Assuming you can swim, that is.”
    “Oh, all right,” Simone grumped.
    She hated to admit Temple was right. She stood on the deck of a ship, with nowhere to run. Here there were no alleys or alcoves to duck into, no doorjambs to press against, no crowds to disappear into. Here was a three mast wooden ship, insignificant against the vastness surrounding them. She couldn’t run if she wanted to.
    “When do we start, then, with the chaperoning?” Voice resigned, she slumped against the railing.
    More rules, apparently. Her previous life, so restricted due to the circumstances of her birth, was nothing