Free A Proper Scandal (Ravensdale Family Book 2) by Rebecca Paula

there’s a thief stowing away in her attic.”
    “Isn’t there?”
    He laughed to himself, standing to stretch. He was thankful for the lack of mirror. Alex wasn’t of the mind to come face to face with an eejit this early. He heard her get up and adjust her dress, then issue a soft hiss as she stepped forward. “We’ll figure out the rest tonight, but for now, I want you off that ankle.”
    “I’m fine,” Anne protested. She pushed back curls from her face, trying to tame her hair, which had come to life in the London drizzle last evening. She threw her shoulders back, daring him on.
    Alex didn’t back down as he walked to the door. “You wouldn’t be here if that were true.”
    *
    As they ventured downstairs, Minnie was surprised to find others filing out of hallway doors; shadows of people, drawn in dark lines and quiet souls. Laundry hung tented over ropes slung from wall to corner, filtering the little light that poured through the thick bubbled glass of the windows. Beyond one door, a fussing baby woke.
    Each steep step was more a challenge than the last with her ankle. She bit back her pain, keeping her focus on Alex and those sturdy shoulders of his. She fought back the flush biting at her cheeks from waking up in his arms. How perfectly right the world seemed then, there in the arms of her Irish pickpocket.
    Golden light flooded at the bottom of the stairs, the smell of soot and fish strong in the air. It was a house of dark: dark wood, soot-covered plastered walls, stone. A house cloaked in a damp that sank into Minnie, spurring a shiver down her spine as Alex stopped and turned to face her.
    “You’ll be wanting to keep the name Mrs. Marwick unless you want to find yourself marched down to the church today.”
    “I’d rather not.”
    Alex bit at his lip, his face swollen, one eye sporting a dark purple bruise. “I guess I won’t take offense.”
    She tilted her head, fighting back a smile. He was charming, even with that black eye.
    “Right, then.” Alex turned, surprising her as he scooped her up in his arms. He raced down the few remaining steps, then made a grand entrance with her into a kitchen. “Smile if you please, and we might secure the attic longer than a night,” he whispered against her ear.
    She did, but not because he asked. It had a lot to do with his arms wrapping around her again, of the steady rise and fall of his chest against her body. It had to do with the secret that she’d kept to herself these past hours, of how he walked through the night to her, a welcome sight. She’d wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him.
    To kiss Alex. What a grand idea, as he’d say.
    “Och, what’s the fuss about, Alex?” A robust woman, with hair the color of wheat cut and left under the sun too long, turned, her hands on her hips. “I see you stayed the night again. Invite yourself in, bring a guest. Your Ma would be disappointed in your manners.” The woman removed a kettle from an open fire, setting it down on the stone hearth.
    “Now, Mrs. Bowen, that’s no way to meet my new bride.”
    The woman waved him off, shuffling over to a well-worn box for a loaf of crusty bread and some salt cod.
    Minnie’s stomach soured.
    Alex set Minnie down, wrapping his arm around her middle once again. He looked down at her, his eyes full of appreciation and something resembling a lustful curiosity. Did he think of kissing her as well? The girls at Miss Martin’s teased Minnie, calling her a prude, taunting her for never harboring a flame for a boy. While the others had been brought up on the proper social calendar and were well acquainted with other families of the ton, Minnie had been traveling the world with her adopted family. That is, until the twins were born in a Persian palace, nearly killing Clara. With little Cecily so ill, they returned from adventures in the East to settle in London where doctors could oversee her care. And to settle Minnie in finishing school. She never