Summer's Distant Heart - Laura Landon Page 0,21
secret lair.”
Hunter chuckled, enjoying Halloway’s easy humor.
“Yes. We’ll leave for Rainwood as soon as we’re ready. If we can be on our way before noon, we should arrive before nightfall.”
“And you are sure your father doesn’t know about this place?”
“As sure as I can be about anything where my father is involved.”
“And if he discovers its existence?”
“He has not done so in the past six years. If he does so now, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Hunter turned his direct gaze on Lia’s brother. “Make no mistake, Halloway. We don’t know that my father has any idea that the babe exists. We don’t know that there is any kind of plan to harm the child. But,” he paused to make sure his next words were heard, “we don’t know that there is not.”
Halloway nodded, his eyes communicating that he clearly understood. He continued to eat his breakfast as he brooded over the malevolent possibilities. Neither of them spoke again until Lady Atherton entered the room.
Everything about her showed careful attention to propriety, and she carried it off with a grace that quite charmed Hunter. Her bearing showed that she was still on guard around him, and yet her face revealed a serenity that seemed impossible for a woman in her situation. Either she had come to terms with his need to keep her child safe, or she was a marvelous actress.
As he watched her, he was stricken by an uncomfortable clench of his stomach. She was a most entrancing woman—alluring in a way he’d not noticed until this very moment. Even as his mind assessed her in these calculating terms, his body responded in a much more human fashion.
The men stood.
“Good morning, Lady Atherton,” Hunter said with a bow.
“Good morning, Jannie,” her brother said.
“Good morning, gentlemen.”
She walked to the sideboard and placed a sparse amount of food on her plate, then sat beside her brother.
“I’d ask how you slept last night,” her brother said, “but it’s obvious by the darkness beneath your eyes that you didn’t get enough sleep.”
The lady blessed her brother with a smile. “Thank you for your compliment, Miles. I’ve always been partial to blues and grays. I wear them with pride.”
Her brother raised a glass in toast and winked at her rebuttal.
“I have had a thought, my lord,” she said, turning her attention to the Earl of Atherton.
“And that is?” her brother prodded.
“I tire of using titles. I find them bothersome. From now on, please call me Jannie. It is what I am accustomed to being called.”
Hunter eyed her. It was a bit soon for such familiarity. What was she playing at? He swallowed his suspicions and decided to play along. “And please, call me Hunter. Or Hunt, if you prefer.”
“There, now that we have that settled, we should be more at ease with one another.”
Hunter watched as Lady Atherton ate a few more bites, then rose to take her leave. “I must go to the nursery and make sure Frannie has everything ready for the trip.”
“Yes,” Hunter said, then rose, too. “I’ll go with you if you don’t mind. In case there’s something that needs tending to.”
“Of course,” she answered.
“After I finish breakfast,” Miles added, “I’ll check on the horses and get them saddled. Unless you arrived by carriage?”
“Mine is the gray gelding,” Hunter answered.
He walked from the room at Lady Atherton’s side. When they reached the stairs, he held out his hand for her to take.
He noted the merest breath of hesitation before she placed her hand on his arm and he waited, positive that this time when she touched him he would feel no attraction to her. But his certainty merely proved just how wrong one poor fool could be. When her hand touched his, Hunter’s flesh warmed as if on fire. The feel of her flesh against his was almost more than he could bear.
She felt it, too. Her eyes lifted to lock with his and her cheeks darkened. The startled expression on her face was nearly his undoing.
“Excuse me,” she whispered. “I…I…” She lifted her hand from his arm and dropped it her side, then stumbled and he was forced to wrap his arm around her waist and assist her to the top of the stairs. She separated herself from him the second they reached the landing.
She shook her head. “I don’t know what came over me,” she said as an apology. “I believe the lack of sleep is catching up with me.”
“And lack of food, I daresay.