“I convinced Nash to return the money he stole from you and he gave me all he had.”
She relaxed. “Oh.”
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. Thank you.”
“Did you think I was trying to buy your services?”
She told the truth. “Yes.”
“You’re not a whore, Eddy.”
“I know that but I wasn’t sure you did.”
He sat back. “Damn woman.”
She shrugged. “Like you said: hard nut to crack. I’ve no experience with a man like you, Rhine, or truthfully, any man.” She looked away. She was a novice at this and he needed to know that.
“Will you at least give me a chance to prove myself?”
“To what end? A few days ago you were engaged to marry, and now you want me to believe you’re genuinely interested in me as something other than a dalliance.”
A smile played around his lips. “You don’t plan to make this easy, do you?”
“Why should I?”
“As long as you don’t take a bottle to my head, I think I can handle the challenge.”
It was her turn to smile. “My mother said I get my temper from my grandmother. She was sold twelve times during slavery because she never met a slave owner she could abide. She was whipped a lot because of that.” It suddenly occurred to Eddy that she was talking to a man who may or may not have been a slave owner. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t be discussing such a subject with you.”
“No. It’s okay. Your grandmother sounds like quite a woman. What else do you know about her?”
Eddy smoothed more icing over the cake with her wide-bladed knife. “She was supposedly an African queen.”
He stiffened.
“You think that’s absurd, don’t you?”
“Not really,” he said, eyeing her keenly. “Anything is possible I suppose. Does that mean I should bow to you each time we meet.”
“Yes.”
They shared a smile.
On a more serious note, she asked, “Do you think I’ll be arrested if Nash presses charges?”
“No.”
“I hit a man not of my race over the head with a bottle. That’s grounds for jail.”
“You were defending yourself.”
“In many places that doesn’t matter.”
“I was a witness, Eddy, and so was Lady Ruby. He deserved it. You won’t be arrested. I promise.”
“You have that much influence?”