Free If You Give a Rake a Ruby by Shana Galen Page A

know how you’re going to explain this to him—or to the ton when word leaks that you’ve been injured and I was tending you.”
    Fallon opened her mouth to argue then shut it again. He was right. The speculation about an affair between them would run rampant. She didn’t mind speculation about her liaisons, but only if it served her purposes. A connection with Fitzhugh was counter to her purposes. He was not a social sort of man and would gain her little, if any, press other than the rumors about their liaison. Added to that, there was that niggling little fact that he had men chasing him and shooting at him last night. She really did not want her name linked with his publicly.
    â€œAm I fetching the doctor or are you taking off your nightshift?”
    â€œI am not taking off my nightshift!”
    â€œYou really needn’t be so modest. I haven’t seen you naked, but some of your gowns leave little to the imagination. I’ve no doubt you have a lovely body.”
    She did not know why this statement should both infuriate her and send a shot of arousal through her.
    â€œOf course, I won’t be looking at it. This is purely a medical examination.”
    She rolled her eyes. “No, I’m sure you won’t look. And this is quite the medical examination, considering you are not a doctor.”
    He shrugged. “I have hidden talents and skills, including some medical training. Unless you need me to deliver a child, I can probably tend you as well as, if not better than, any surgeon.”
    â€œFine.” Argument seemed futile. “But I am not removing my shift.” She climbed back under the covers, then wriggled—a painful motion but necessary to raise her hem—and then lifted the material so he could see the inflamed area. Throughout it all, he wore a bemused look, but once he bent to examine her, his face grew grave and serious. He touched her very lightly, so lightly, her skin rose with gooseflesh at the stroke of his fingers. He bent close, and she felt his warm breath on her skin. He touched her hand where she held the material.
    â€œLay your arm down flat.” His hand grasped the material of her shift, giving her no ability to protest. She lowered her arm, feeling incredibly vulnerable. She tried to stare at the ceiling, but her gaze was repeatedly drawn to his face. In that moment, it was completely unguarded, and there was a softness about his mouth, despite the intensity of his expression.
    â€œDoes this hurt?” He touched her ribs lightly.
    â€œNo,” she said, feeling only the warmth of his hand on her bare skin.
    He frowned slightly, and a small crease formed between his eyes. She studied the crease and her gaze followed the slope of his nose down and over the bump indicating it had been broken. “How did you break your nose?” she asked.
    â€œI jumped from a carriage.”
    She wanted to believe he was hoaxing her, but his expression remained serious.
    â€œWhat about when I touch here?” he asked. She jumped, and he nodded. “That’s where it is. Hmm. I already see some bruising.” He leaned closer, moving his arm and sliding the hand holding her hem upward slightly so that his knuckles caressed the curve of her breast. Fallon almost leaped again, but this time it was not from pain. The jolt of arousal from his touch on the tender skin of her breast was enough to force her to bite her cheek to keep from moaning.
    He poked her rib again, and pain flared. “Ouch.”
    â€œMy apologies. Breathe again.”
    She did so, and the movement caused the hand on her breast to slide farther up the curve. His gaze flicked to hers, and she could see in the way his eyes darkened that he’d realized where he was touching her. She expected him to draw his hand back quickly, to act ashamed or repentant.
    He did neither. Instead, he slid her hem down slowly, dragging his fingers with the material until he’d