Lud, but he was relentless. She rolled her eyes. “He’s not a project, just so you know.” In fact, she’d never been as intrigued with a man as she was with Finn.
“He?” Royce’s eyes nearly bugged from his head. He exchanged a glance with Trey, who shrugged. “Who, he?”
“You sound like an arse.” Jane narrowed her eyes at her brother while calmly continuing to eat her breakfast.
“That’s because he is one.” Trey chose that moment to join the conversation. “So,” he waggled his bushy red eyebrows. “Who is the lucky man? For let’s face it, you wouldn’t continue to spend time with said man—”
“Project,” Royce interrupted.
Trey shot their brother an annoyed look. “Man, unless you had an interest that transcended the purpose of the clinic.” Returning from the war hadn’t damaged his joking attitude. To his credit, Trey had accepted the loss of his left arm with grace and humor. It was refreshing and she wished Finn could find that too.
Oh, dear.Heat sank into her cheeks. “He’s a friend, and I didn’t meet him at the clinic.” A friend who’d kissed her. Hastily to be sure, but she could still feel the flutters that had come from that kiss in her belly.
“Ah, a friend, you say.” Royce made a theatrical gesture. “Pardon me, but does a friend who is male put such color in a lady’s cheeks if that’s all he is?”
“Quite right,” Trey added with his own theatrics, fluttering his eyelids, and waving his linen serviette about as if he were a female actress on stage. “She’s got that look, wouldn’t you say?”
“What look?” With a frown, she glared at both of them. Why, oh why had she been born into a family with only brothers? “What look?”
“That look which says said friend is something more,” Royce went on with a grin. “So, what is he to you, exactly?”
“Nothing more than a friend. Just what I said.” It was hardly a lie. After all, one tiny almost-nothing-kiss didn’t count. It had been a product of the moment, undoubtedly.
“Why do I think you’re lying?” Royce’s grin would be thought of as charming to anyone else except her. She knew that grin all too well. It had been a part of her childhood when Royce had bedeviled her, chased her around with bugs in his hands. “What do you think, Trey?”
“Oh, she’s definitely lying.” Her second brother leaned across the table, and with his fork, he speared a piece of her toast, quickly taking it back to his side. “I mean, her freckles only stand out like that when she’s under high emotion, and there’s no other emotion like loooove.” The way he said it made it sound silly and demeaning.
“Well, she does have an inordinate interest in fairy stories and illicit novels. No doubt they’ve rotted her brain,” Royce said with a nod. He threw a glance her way. “So, are we right?”
Both of them nodcocks.“No!” Jane shook her head despite the heat in her cheeks. They didn’t need to know that each time she read such stories now, Finn was always the hero in her mind. Why didn’t she put powder over her freckles before coming down to breakfast? Of course, she had no idea these two jokers would try to reenact the bloody Spanish Inquisition. “We’re friends. The end.”
“Since you’re committed to that answer, I have no choice except to accept it for the moment, but I’ll be watching.” Royce held up a hand while Trey finished his stolen toast. “Does this manly friend have a name?”
Should she tell them? If she didn’t, they’d badger her until she gave up the information. Besides, she was proud of Finn, and was desperate to talk about him to someone. “He’s Major Storme.” When another wave of heat infused her face, she huffed. “Satisfied?” I am much too old to keep blushing like a girl fresh out of school. There was no reason for it. She’d been engaged twice before and wasn’t inexperienced. “As I said before, we’re friends.”
“Major Storme, huh?” Royce turned his head and looked at Trey, who widened his eyes and frowned. Then they both stared at her as if they couldn’t believe what she’d said.
The hair on her nape prickled. “What?” They knew something that she didn’t. Something big.
“Nothing. It’s not entirely relevant at the moment.” He stabbed at another piece of hamsteak. “Where did you meet the major? I was under the impression he didn’t go out into society that often.”
How did he know Finn? “We met at a rout last week. At Fanny’s home.” She couldn’t help but smile once more while pushing the food about her plate with her fork. Her appetite was no longer prevalent. How could it be when anticipation regarding her imminent drive with Finn thrummed through her veins with every heartbeat? Happiness continued to bubble up in her chest. “He’s fascinating. Despite being in a Bath chair, he’s managed to acclimate himself to that fact better than most.” To be sure, there was bitterness in his attitude, but no man could banish it altogether. “I’m hoping my support will help him accept his new reality and his abilities.”
Trey snorted. “So, he’s a project.” He sat back in his chair and shook his head. “Unsurprising.”
“No, he’s not!” Jane took refuge in draining her teacup. When the butler stepped forward, she nodded for a refill. “I truly enjoy talking with him, but the major thinks he’s too broken to be of use in today’s society. I’m trying to convince him to change his mindset.” When they’d met at the bookseller and he liked the same books she did, her interest in him increased.
But when he’d brushed his lips against hers? Something had changed between them, and she’d be a fool if she didn’t explore it.
Wouldn’t she?
Royce cleared his throat. The small sound yanked her from her musings. “Some men who returned from the war fall into that trap. They feel hopeless and worthless. Depression is often their Achilles’ heel, if you will.” His expression sobered. “At times, their thought processes are too damaged to come about. Any sort of life at that point is littered with pitfalls.”
“Yes.” Trey nodded. “The mind, once compromised, is difficult to return to normal.” Of course, he would say that, for her brother studied everything, including psychology, among his many medical interests. If there was something wrong with a brain, Trey would dig until he discovered why.
“Perhaps normal is overrated.” Indeed, Finn wasn’t like any other man she’d ever met. Jane narrowed her eyes. “However, he and I haven’t spoken about his time in the military.” She sighed. “He’s quite adept at changing the subject when I introduce it.” That didn’t mean he was flawed.
“Interesting.” Royce stroked his fingers along his chin as he stared.