Free Journey's End (Gilded Promises) by Renee Ryan

ease.
    Throughout the dizzying dance, Caroline became acutely aware of the man’s broad shoulders, lean waist, corded thighs.
    And yet. And yet.
    And yet , she must remain focused on their conversation.
    “Unfortunately, we hit a bad patch of weather halfway into the voyage. The poor girl took ill and never truly recovered. I knew she would have difficulty successfully navigating the registration process at Ellis Island, so I . . . assisted her.”
    And that, Caroline decided, was all she was going to say on the matter. Let the man draw his own conclusions. The fewer details she presented at this point, the better.
    “How very kind of you.”
    Caroline bristled at the patronizing tone. Sweet, compassionate, gentle Mary hadn’t been in need of Caroline’s friendship. And despite Caroline’s attempts to ignore the girl, they’d made a connection, deeper than Caroline had been willing to admit until now.
    Careful, careful, she thought, holding herself in check.
    She smoothed her expression free of all emotion. “Mary is not a charity project. She is my . . .” Her chin rose in cool defiance. “Friend.”
    “This girl, was she—”
    “She is not a girl . Her name is Mary.”
    “I stand corrected. This . . . Mary, she was the one I saw with you on Orchard Street a few weeks back?”
    “Yes, she lives in your tenement house with her aunt and cousin.”
    “And you were with her that day . . . because . . .”
    “I couldn’t very well leave her to find her way to her aunt’s home alone. Not while she was still ill.”
    His hand flexed on her back. “No, you couldn’t.”
    The sincerity in his gaze, the hint of admiration, made Caroline nearly gasp with relief. He believed her story. She was definitely . . . practically . . . almost sure of it.
    His next words told her otherwise. “That doesn’t explain why you chose to move in with her for two weeks.”
    “I told you, she’d taken ill. Someone had to nurse her back to health.”
    “Her own family wasn’t up to the task?”
    “Don’t be obtuse, Mr. Montgomery. We both know you are smarter than that.”
    He didn’t respond. He simply held her stare, waiting for her to continue. She sighed. “You’ve been down to Orchard Street on several occasions. You of all people know the living conditions there, and the necessity for your tenants to work every day in order to survive to the next.”
    When he still didn’t respond, she reached for a calm that did not exist. How could he not know what she was talking about; how could he be so thick? Had she underestimated him? Was he as coldhearted as the rest of his kind, as her own grandfather?
    Caroline suffered a moment of total disappointment in the man, which was the biggest surprise of the night.
    But then Montgomery’s expression softened, and he spoke with a slow, steady voice. “Your friend’s family could not afford to take off from work to nurse her back to health. That is why you stayed with her.”
    His grasp of the situation confused her all over again. “Yes, that is correct.”
    “You are a rare woman, Miss Harding.”
    The compliment sent her pulse pounding in her ears and her heart lurching against her ribs. For one dangerous moment the man had made her forget why she was there. A deadly prospect. Caroline couldn’t afford to grow complacent.
    Jackson Montgomery sent her mind spinning and made her heart yearn for something more. This put her at a large disadvantage. To deal with her grandfather she would need every available weapon in her arsenal—her wits, nerves of steel, and a heart of stone. Mary had already penetrated the latter. No one else must be allowed to breach any of her defenses.
    As if sensing her moment of vulnerability, Montgomery pulled her a fraction closer. Her breath hitched, and a powerful sense of safety warmed her blood.
    Now, she decided, would be a good time to pray.

Chapter Seven
    For several long heartbeats, Jackson stared at the woman in his arms.