Free Lord of Temptation by Lorraine Heath Page A

his way to constantly appear intimidating so he doesn’t have a mutiny on his hands.”
    “Know him that well do you?”
    Anne placed her hands on her hips. “Your brother recommended him.”
    “Yes, and I’m thinking perhaps he’s lost his mind.”
    “Don’t be silly. Everyone is polite. No one has done anything untoward.”
    A quiet knock on the door ended their conversation. Was it time already? Anne’s heart fairly jumped into her throat.
    But when Martha opened the door, it was to find the lad—Mouse—standing there holding a pail.
    “Cap’n was thinkin’ ye might want some warm water.”
    “Yes, thank you.” Martha reached for it.
    He stepped back. “I kin carry it in.”
    “Yes, well—”
    “We’d appreciate that,” Anne said, interrupting what she was certain was going to be Martha’s refusal to allow him entrance. Martha gave her a confused look, but Anne was fairly convinced it was the boy’s pride speaking up.
    He walked in with his uneven gait, and she could see now that his leg was severely bowed.
    “Have you been with the captain long?” she asked.
    “Ever since he saved me from the shark,” he said with no inflection, as though he might be saying that the captain had merely spread jam on his toast. He concentrated on pouring the water into the bowl without splashing a single drop.
    She waited until he was finished to inquire, “The shark?”
    He faced her. “I was born funny-lookin’, no one wanted me, so they used me to bait the sharks.”
    “I don’t understand.” Although she feared she did, and the thought horrified her.
    “Tossed me in the water. I didn’t know how to swim then, but the cap’n taught me later. Anyway, I’d thrash about. They’d pull me out when the shark got close enough so they could spear it.”
    She heard Martha gasp. As for herself, she thought she might be ill. “And the captain?”
    “They were sailin’ by. He jumped in, cut me free, and took me aboard his ship.” He grinned mischievously. “Then he fired a cannon, blew their boat out of the water. Sharks had a feast that day.”
    “I see.” Her stomach had tightened into a painful knot. To think she was angry because her father wanted her to begin making the social rounds again, to attend balls, soirees, and dinners. She wasn’t in danger of being eaten.
    “Will ye be needin’ anythin’ else?” he asked, as though he hadn’t just told her the most horrific story she’d ever heard.
    “No. Thank you.”
    He doffed his cap and limped from the room. Once he left, Martha sank into a chair. “You don’t suppose all that was true, do you?”
    “Why would he lie?”
    “Sympathy. Or perhaps he simply enjoys spinning a good yarn.”
    Anne crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s strange, Martha, but I can very well see Captain Crimson Jack jumping into the sea to save someone.”
    “You’re not starting to fancy the fellow are you?”
    “What? No.” She walked to the windows and gazed out on the choppy water. “I have, however, decided to wear my proper dinner gown.”
    Martha made a snort of disapproval, but Anne couldn’t have cared less. Tonight she would pay her debt. Get that matter over with, so he would leave her alone, because the more she learned of the captain, the more he intrigued her. And that path could only lead to disaster.

Chapter 6
    S he’d dressed in an exceedingly distracting sleeveless gown with a low décolletage that bared a good deal of her alabaster skin to his discerning eye. The only thing that pleased him more was the appreciation that had lit her face, tipped up the corners of her mouth, when he’d entered, because he, too, had taken the time to dress appropriately for dinner as though he were attending an affair in London.
    Jenkins had done a superb job of arranging the dinner: starched white tablecloth, two flickering candles, fine red wine, and four courses that would have done Mary proud. Not that he was particularly hungry, except for