Taming of the Beast (Scandalous Affairs #2) - Christi Caldwell Page 0,67

at the fire, his hard mouth moving as he read.

But it didn’t seem hard now. Now there was something firm and yet real and—

Her skin pricked, and she wrenched her focus away from the man so commanding it, and her stare collided with the young woman’s.

Even through the panel, Faye caught the whispery gasp.

Then the rapid scurrying of feet.

“Oh, bloody hell,” Faye whispered and rushed down so quickly, her heel caught the slick snow, and the box went out from under her.

She landed hard on her buttocks, a sharp pain radiating up her spine so intense that stars briefly dotted her vision.

Faye blinked slowly as a shadow fell over her.

With a dread greater than that which she’d faced yesterday in the Rookeries when Mr. Bragger had come upon her, she ever so slowly scaled her gaze upward, knowing exactly who was towering above her.

Harsh, hard, and rage-filled eyes burned her with a single look.

She smiled sheepishly. “Hullo, Mr. Wylie.”

“Miss Poplar,” he greeted coolly. “We meet again.”

Chapter 16

Tynan had thought he was done with Faye Poplar.

Following that realization yesterday morn, there’d been regret. There’d been no accounting, explaining, or understanding it, but that had been the case.

Only, he’d proven to be a fool for those thoughts.

She’d followed him.

Again.

No one had ever discovered him at this place.

Since she’d learned of his whereabouts, someone else had pointed her here.

Dread tightened his gut, twisting and blending with the rage that had come upon discovering someone—her—spying on him. The rage was safer. He fed that, fueled it, concentrating all his energies upon that powerful sentiment that had sustained him and given him power and strength through the years.

Reaching down, he caught Faye lightly by the arms and set her on her feet. “What the hell are you doing here?” he gritted out.

“Looking for you,” she said without hesitation, answering with that same damned blunt honesty he didn’t know what to do with.

“My God, you do not quit. You had no place—”

“Hullo.”

They both looked up.

Sara, hung partially out the window with a rabid curiosity that would be her downfall were she ever to venture out of this cocoon he’d built for her.

Closing his eyes, he briefly prayed to a usually invisible-to-Tynan God for patience. “Please, close the window.”

Alas, he should have known far better about both of these women.

Marching around him, Faye righted the makeshift footstool she’d set up for herself, climbed atop, and stretched her fingers out. “Hello,” she greeted. “My name is Faye Poplar.” She gave no indication that it was in any way peculiar to be conversing at a window with a woman she’d been caught spying on.

Sara accepted that palm with an ease that merely cemented the decision Tynan had made long ago to keep her removed from Society and dead to the world.

“Do you know, Tynan?” Sara asked when she released Faye’s hand.

Faye wetted her lips. “I…” Her gaze slid back to Tynan, and he glared at her. “Yes.”

“No,” he said at the same moment.

Sara’s golden eyebrows slipped.

“Somewhat,” he said.

“No,” Faye replied, again speaking at the same time.

Of course she’d be contrary even in this.

The confusion deepened in Sara’s eyes as she glanced between them.

Faye cleared her throat. “That is to say—”

“What Miss Poplar means to say is we do not know one another well.”

“But well enough for her to come by,” Sara replied without judgment. She smiled. “You must come in.”

Faye sank back on her heels. “Oh, I couldn’t.”

“She couldn’t,” he said flatly. “And she isn’t.”

Sara’s smile widened, dimpling her cheeks. “But I insist.”

“And I must insist the opposite,” he directed that warning at Faye.

Faye hovered there on her wooden-crate perch, her hesitation palpable. She cast another glance over her shoulder at him, and he warned her with his gaze to go the hell away.

Once and for all.

Sara’s always affable features formed an uncommon scowl. “Whyever are you being so rude? You’re never rude.”

“Indeed?” Faye asked, her tone rich with surprise and curiosity.

Sara, however, failed to hear the question there. “I know. It is not like him at all.”

Faye flashed a smile at Tynan. “Yes, Mr. Wylie is never surly or rude. Isn’t that right?”

“Faye,” he silently mouthed, tired of this latest game she played.

Faye, however, turned that expression of warmth and mirth back to his sister. “I would very much like to join you. Thank you for the invitation.” The minute she got down from the crate, Sara brought the window shut and gave a little, eager wave.

That Faye returned.

With that, she collected her skirts and headed down the