Free Sinful Deeds by Samantha Holt Page B

then.”
    He
watched the boy leave and debated his ink-stained fingers. They weren’t rough
like those of the men who worked on the ships or hauled the containers around,
but they certainly had a look of hard-work to them. What would Josephine make
of that, he wondered.
    Perhaps
he should go to her. He walked past her house on the odd occasion. Really, he
had thought he might run into her as he took his lunch near the docks. But no,
she had remained hidden away. Perhaps she was spending time with that bloody
Robert Allen.
    Was
that why she had run away from him at the ball? He’d been stricken with too
many emotions that night. Lust, jealousy...desperation. In green silk, she’d
stolen his breath. He wanted to pull it from her, to draw her close, and
breathe in her scent. To uncoil her golden hair and see it about her shoulders.
Perversely, he wanted to sit and watch her paint. As their dance had come to an
end, he’d been struck by the idea of seeing her all covered in paint while her
brow furrowed in concentration.
    He wanted
her for so much more than bedding, and yet she had denied him again.
Josephine’s body had always come so easily to him, but it was her mind that was
the problem. Or was it his?
    He
could solve this by offering to marry her, but he loved her too much for that.
    “Blast.”
    Yes, he
loved that woman to distraction. It was the only explanation as to why he’d
obsessed over winning her back. He supposed he’d always loved her in his way.
But his love certainly hadn’t been enough. He’d been a real ass.
    However,
marriage wasn’t an option. It simply wasn’t. He’d seen what it did to his
mother and father—hell, what it had done to him and his brothers. There was no
way he’d do that to Josephine.
    Dante
retrieved his jacket from the back of the chair and slipped it on before
snatching his hat from the hat stand. The streets were bright enough at this
time of year but the early evening fog had begun to roll in and it would not do
to get caught in it. Pockets were too easily picked in that thick soupy stuff.
    He
locked up the office and nodded in the direction of the few workers who
remained. Soon his work here would be done, and he’d be at a loose end again.
What would he do with his time then? It was hard to recall how he had managed
to stay so busy before working. He would have to take a trip up to Lockwood
Manor and pester Julian to find him some more work.
    The
murky scent of the Thames washed over him, mingling with the odour of oil and
metal as he strolled along the dockside. He edged around the thick metal chains
and ropes that tethered the ships and barges. Somewhere along the river, he heard
the chug of a barge.
    When he
turned into the street, he paused. If he walked a little farther and took two
more turns, he could be outside of Josephine’s house. But what would he say?
What would he do? He had no words or actions left.
    “Cyn!”
    Dante
lifted his head and peered through the oncoming gloom. “Foxley.” He strode over
and shook his friend’s hand firmly. “How the devil are you?”
    “Good,
good. What are you doing around here? I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
    “Julian
has some business here. I’ve been helping with negotiations.”
    His
redheaded friend peered at him as though he might have grown two heads. “You’ve
been working?”
    He
lifted a shoulder. “A man has to put in an hour or two of work occasionally.”
    Foxley
laughed and shook his head. “I suppose you needed to keep your mind off that
mistress of yours. Damn shame about things ending between you. She was quite
the woman. Still, you know you could have come to the club and forgotten about
things just as well there. No need to go about doing something as God-awful as
work you know?”
    Dante
merely grinned. Foxley wasn’t a bad chap, just a little irresponsible. They’d
had some good times together, but he doubted his friend would understand what
he felt for Josephine. Foxley went through