Free The Lady Is Innocent (The Star Elite Series) by Rebecca King Page B

to happen. If she went to meet the man full of blind panic, she could do something or say something that would reveal the presence of the Star Elite, and that would ruin all of their careful planning, as well as put all of their lives at risk.
    “ Florrie? Listen to me,” Pie murmured, tipping his head down until she met steady gaze. “Remain calm, there is nothing to fear. You are giving him money, nothing else.” His voice dipped to a whisper. He bit back the curse of frustration at the panic that lingered in her depths of her dark eyes. He glanced down and sighed at the sight of her small hands clutching the folds of his shirt.
    “I am being silly, aren’t I?”
    “You aren’t. Your nerves are perfectly understandable, but this man isn’t going to hurt you. As far as he is concerned, you owe him money. It will go against his own purposes if he hurts you because then you won’t be able to pay him back what he is owed.”
    The logic was there in Pie’s voice , but it still didn’t quell the nerves in Florrie’s stomach. She wondered for a moment if the light breakfast she had choked down was going to come back up again.
    “God, I hate Tabatha for doing this to me,” she whispered, her voice quivering with nerves and anger.
    “Then use that to straighten your shoulders, my lady. You have done nothing wrong. Drop the money off and move away.”
    “Do I wait?”
    “ No, turn around and walk away if nobody turns up. We are nearly at noon now.”
    Melvedere wasn’t very big. It was a relief to see that the small village was almost deserted: it would make keeping an eye on Florrie considerably easier if they weren’t interrupted by passing villagers.
    “Relax, everything will be alright.” Pie wished he could go in her place .
    She turned to look at him. He was tall and solid, but the gentle reassurance in his eyes began to calm her scattered nerves.
    “How much longer?” she whispered when silence settled between them and an unknown tension began to rise.
    “A few minutes,” Pie replied gently. He lifted a finger and trailed it down her cheek. Thanks to the winds, she had more colour in them today , in spite of her nerves. She really was beautiful.
    Florrie knew that she should back away. Pie had already told her that the men from the Star Elite would be on watch, and ready to follow the creditor. Hugo was prepared to have a word with the man and set the record straight as to who owed the money and they had all given her reassurances that nothing would go wrong if she did as they told her to. She glanced down at her fingers clutching his shirt, but couldn’t bring herself to let go. Luckily, Pie made no attempt to move away.
    Instead he edged ever closer.
    She watched his head lower to hers until their noses were only inches apart. He stopped and looked at her. His gaze studied and assessed her before he finally made a decision about something. She sighed as his head dipped.
    Her eyes closed at the first brush of his lips against hers. Her fingers tightened on the fine wool of his cloak and she drew herself up on to her tiptoes to meet his kiss. She felt strangely wanton in accepting his kisses as readily as she did, but she couldn’t stop him. She had no idea what she was doing but made no protest as he angled his head slightly and pressed his lips more firmly against hers.
    She gasped as the hot sweep of his tongue touched her bottom lip. The slight opening of her mouth was all Pie needed to deepen the kiss. He placed one hand on the back of her head. He struggled with the urge to slide his fingers into her hair and scatter pins everywhere. They didn’t have the time. He felt rather than heard her soft sigh of supplication, and was somewhat triumphant when she melted against him. Sweeping her into his arms, he pulled her flush against his hardness and took a moment to wrap her in his arms while his lips captured and commanded hers.
    Florrie had no idea how long they stood locked in the intimate