“There’s no one out in this storm, Kate.”
“That’s why I’m allowing you to accompany me.”
“And may I ask where we’re going?”
“I am going to speak to an importer. You may walk with me, but I can’t have you there when I negotiate.”
“Why?”
She stopped abruptly and tilted her head up to meet his eyes. “That’s a ridiculous question.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Aidan. Don’t be dense. If you’re there he’ll speak to you because you’re a man.”
She started walking again, leaving Aidan to follow, slightly dizzy with confusion. Here was another new Kate. This was obviously a woman who had started a shop, despite that ten years before she’d been a pampered girl of the ton and had never worked a day in her life. He would’ve admired this new side of her if she looked at all open to kisses and flirtation, but she looked as if she’d box his ears if he got close. Still, he dared to reach for her hand and place it on his arm to slow her pace.
Though she shot him an annoyed look, she left her hand where it was. He felt her side press against his forearm as she took a deep breath. “I cannot afford the appearance of impropriety. Surely you can understand.”
“Of course. The appearance.”
She turned enough that he could see her eyes slide over his chest. “Yes.”
Aidan’s heart jumped into a crazed rhythm at that one simple word. This was real, this possibility that she could be his again. It wasn’t his mind weaving phantoms into feelings. She felt it too. And even if they were both imagining this pull . . . didn’t that make it real?
He felt light-headed, so dizzy he wanted to laugh. Yet they walked on, as if the world weren’t swaying beneath his feet. As if his heart wasn’t thundering in overjoyed panic.
He tried to remind himself that she was married, but what did that matter to him? He knew well what little hold those bonds placed on women’s bodies.
Kate’s hand left his arm and she said, “Wait here,” before disappearing around a corner. By the time he caught up, the only sign of her was a weathered door swinging closed. The rough, splintered wood of the building rose up at least two stories. A warehouse.
Aidan was left waiting like a lost child. The snow pelted his hat, then dripped off the brim in watery clumps. But the cold no longer cut through him, because all he could feel was the premonition of Kate’s touch.
Kate carried her happy anxiety into the warehouse and turned it into boldness. She glared down at the open bag of roasted beans and snarled at the man who offered it. “You are a fool.”
He snorted in arrogant contempt. “I assure you, Mrs. Hamilton, that this is the finest quality of Coorg coffee on the market.”
“And I assure you, Mr. Fost, that it is not.”
“Madam, if your husband were here to offer you guidance, he would—”
“If my husband were here, you would not try to pass off this rubbish as Coorg.”
He seemed uncowed. “If you will only note the beautiful darkness of—”
“Exactly how many years did you spend living in the East?”
“Pardon?”
“I spent the last ten years of my life on a coffee plantation, Mr. Fost.”
“I’m aware of that, but I doubt Mr. Hamilton allowed you to stroll the fields.”
Frustration flashed to rage, and Kate’s muscles ached with the need to hurt this man. She pointed her finger in his face and bared her teeth. “You listen, sir, and listen very closely. A quarter of these beans were picked green and another half are not much better than that. If you have a functioning brain in that head of yours, you will not send me another crate of less-than-questionable quality and try to pass it off as something better. Do you think my husband would’ve sent me here on my own if he did not trust me with his livelihood? You insult us both.”
He held up both hands, his eyes finally brightening with alarm. “Mrs. Hamilton, please. I swear to you, my London roaster promised me this was an excellent lot.” The man’s placating tone had finally risen to desperation.
“There is really no point in my continuing a business relationship with a man who’s either dishonest or too ignorant to realize his supplier is cheating him.”