Chapter Seventeen
No, no, no,no, no! How the hell had things gotten this far?
Brand didn’t have time to wonder at the lies the barmaid had told, even though white-hot anger surged through his person. He didn’t care why the devil she’d done it, for the damage had already been done… and he hadn’t even had the chance to confess about the wager yet. “Lizzy, wait!” Regret and fear sat heavy on his chest, forcing him into shallow breathing.
It can’t end like this.
Fortunately, John Butler had waylaid her in the tavern room. He’d handed her a pristine white handkerchief, which she used to dab at her eyes. They spoke in low tones that Brand couldn’t hear, but she was quite upset, if the flush on her cheeks and the animation of her hands was any indication. George and Philip observed the drama with expressions of interest. Damn their eyes. Once things had settled and he won Elizabeth, he’d offer John the sloop. Hell, the man could have the schooner if he’d but help Lizzy stay. And then he’d give his other friends the dressing down they richly deserved.
But winning Elizabeth was his priority.
By the time Brand joined them, the tears were more evident. “Elizabeth.” Gently, he turned her about to face him. “Let me explain.”
“Can you without making things worse?” she asked in a soft voice, her eyes luminous, while John stood by, his expression pained.
Across the room, the buxom barmaid watched them with glittering eyes and a smug smile. Would that she’d pay for what she’d done. Then he dismissed the woman from his mind, but that shiner on her cheek was a veritable calling card. No doubt William was here, lurking, waiting for his moment to condemn them all or usher Elizabeth away.
That bastard probably paid her to drive a wedge between me and Elizabeth.
“I can but try, if you’ll listen to me.” He took her free hand and held onto the fingers as if she’d suddenly vanish. “I would never do anything to hurt you.” Except… he had. Guilt and shame twisted through his gut in twin hot threads. If he could win her back now, did he necessarily need to confess to the wager?
“I’ll admit, in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve never acted with malice toward me,” she said in a soft voice.
That was all to the good. It was merely a matter of coaxing and soothing her as if she were a skittish colt. “After these weeks together, don’t you feel I have your best interests at heart?” It was true, in the beginning he didn’t, but now, he only wanted to make her happy and give her everything she’d never had in her life.
“I suppose, but…” She pressed her lips together. Oh, how he wished he could kiss her, show her how much he cared for her instead of trying to puzzle it out with words. “…but if that is true, why were you tarrying with the barmaid to begin with?”
“I wasn’t. She wanted that kiss, not me. I didn’t kiss her back, and I certainly wasn’t embracing her.” Was this the hill that she would die upon? He held out a hand, hoped to God she’d take it. “Come, let’s discuss this in private.”
Elizabeth had almost put her fingers into his palm when his damned friend Philip opened his mouth.
“You should believe ’im, Miss Hayhurst. He’s been so tangled up in seducing you that he’s had no time to go chasing after another woman.”
No doubt Philip thought he was helping, but the surprise that jumped into her eyes told him that matters were about to grow even worse. “Do shut up, Philip.”
“But, you have to know we’re curious, Captain,” he said, clearly not heeding the warning look Brand sent him as Elizabeth bounced her gaze between them. “Has she fallen in love with you? I don’t see the lock of hair we requested.”
The heat of anger pushed up the back of Brand’s neck. “Enough.”
“A lock of hair?” Elizabeth frowned as she rested her gaze on Brand. “What does he mean?”
“It was to signify you’d fallen for me,” he finally admitted. In for a penny, in for a pound. Perhaps it was best to have it all out into the light.
Philip nodded. He drained his tankard. “He’s got a right proper gift of that. How many women have you seduced in Ipswich, Captain? ’Cept none of them won him a schooner.”
“What?” All the blood drained from Elizabeth’s face while George knocked Philip on the side of his head and called him an idiot. Her eyes rounded. “You won a schooner in return for seducing me, making me fall in love with you?”
Oh, God.A sick feeling rose in Brand’s throat. “I’d rather not do this with an audience.” Not giving her the choice, he grabbed her hand and quickly escorted her through the public tavern room to the private dining room he’d reserved with a completely different conversation in mind for the evening. As soon as they crossed the threshold, she wrenched from his grip.
“Answer the question, Captain Storme.” Never had he heard such a waspish tone from her before. “I demand the truth. All of it, no matter how hideous. I think I deserve at least that.”
“You do, I agree.” He closed the door and then moved back into her full eyesight. “Yes, I won a schooner, and yes, part of the wager was to seduce you.”
With a gasp, she pressed the borrowed handkerchief to her lips. “So, everything that happened between us wasn’t real?”
“No.” Brand’s chest felt flayed open. He died a thousand deaths at the look of betrayal on her face. “Yes. I mean, at first it wasn’t real, but not now.” Damn, but he was mucking this up. Why couldn’t he find the words to tell her how he felt? Nothing in life had prepared him for an event such as this.
Where someone else’s feelings mattered.