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since that night, and I will not start
now.”
    A gust of cool air burst over the hill
and blew tendrils of hair into her eyes. She pushed them back and
tried not to remember that it was Simon’s hands that had loosened
them from her chignon. Being around him made it so hard to remember
that she couldn’t let her guard down. Especially when his eyes
spoke of honesty and gentleness. Things she’d almost forgotten
could exist in a man.
    “ I still hate you, you
know,” she whispered as she crouched down to wipe a splatter of mud
away from Henry’s name. “But Simon is wrong. I haven’t felt guilty
for one moment since that night.” With a glare, she rose to her
feet and turned her back on her husband’s grave. “Not
once.”
    Again, her eyes trailed to the stable,
then down in the direction of the cottage. Places that now reminded
her of Simon more than Henry. His presence had erased some of the
unhappy emotions she’d once felt here.
    “ I just don’t understand
your plan, Henry.” She shook her head. “Because I know in my heart
you must have had one. Was it simply that I’d be controlled by your
family? That someone would hold the key to our son’s future as you
once held the key to mine?”
    She stared at the stone again and
barely resisted the urge to kick it. “Well, it won’t work. Even if
Simon isn’t the cold, calculating man I believed he might be, I
would never let anyone hurt my son. You learned that, didn’t
you?”
    She folded her arms as she began a
slow, meandering walk back to the house. If she didn’t want Jack to
see her upset, she needed to take her time.
    Jack.
    Her little boy had to come first.
Before her hatred for his father. Before her… whatever she felt for
Simon. No matter what it took, whatever lies she’d have to tell or
weaknesses she had to exploit, she’d keep her child from harm. But
Simon only had one weakness that she could determine.
    He wanted her.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    Simon grunted as he threw a large chunk of wood over
his shoulder and on to the growing pile outside the cottage window.
In the past two days he and Adam, along with a few men they’d hired
in the village, had nearly finished patching the roof and fixing
the walls. The place still wasn’t pretty, but at least it would be
livable.
    Doing physical labor brought Simon
comfort. He’d never had much use for the stuffy goings on in
offices and clubs. He much preferred the ache of working his
muscles to the false laughter of closing a deal. Besides, it helped
him forget Ginny.
    He’d hardly seen her since their last
sweltering kiss in the stable. When she ran away, he hadn’t
followed. The pain in her eyes had been so palpable, he was
reticent to find out the cause. After all, he already knew she was
the kind of woman he could easily care for. Pursuing her would only
cause more problems.
    Apparently, she concurred, for she’d
avoided him ever since. Food and drink appeared from the house
every morning, noon and night, as well as bathwater and other items
to make him and his first mate more comfortable. But Ginny had been
pointedly absent.
    He hated to admit it, but he missed
her. In just a short week, he’d become accustomed to her presence.
Now that it was gone, he wished he could see her face or hear her
voice.
    With a shake of his head, he put all
his might into wrenching another section of wet wall down. He was
so focused on his task that he didn’t notice someone come into the
room until the sound of a throat clearing behind him made him look
up.
    “ Simon?”
    Releasing the section, he spun on his
heel and found himself face to face with the woman he’d been
thinking about just a moment before. Ginny wore a dark green dress
with a low cut bodice. Though a soft layer of pale green gauze
covered her exposed skin, he still found himself wishing he could
pull that layer away and touch the soft pink space right above her
breasts.
    “ Bugger.”
    Her eyes widened at