lowering the plank. Tyler figured they looked harassed and mussed enough for newlyweds. He was just glad his companion didn't rip out his hair for the ploy.
With the plank lowered, he swept her up to the boat and pulled the tickets from his pocket along with a handful of greenbacks. "They might come looking for us. Is there a stateroom vacant? You can handle the exchange with the purser in the morning and keep the change for your trouble."
"I do believe you're in luck, sir." The guard continued chuckling as he pocketed the cash. "Just follow me."
Coming down from her euphoric cloud, Evie hesitated at the sound of this, but she wasn't yet ready to create a scene. Tyler might conceivably be honorable in his intentions. And from the sounds of the brawl they had just left behind, he was undoubtedly correct in making their escape. Remembering her part in this, she grinned. She'd never done anything remotely like that before, and she had enjoyed herself thoroughly.
Tyler's exuberance matched her own as they entered the room they were shown to and the door closed behind them. With a whoop of triumph, he flung her bag to the floor and caught the heroine of the hour up in his arms, swinging her around the small space left between bed and door.
"You're a treasure and a joy to behold, Maryellen Peyton. I've been waiting for this day for years!"
And without any further warning than that, Tyler's mouth swooped down on hers, and he kissed her soundly.
The total unexpectedness of it caught Evie off guard. She had grabbed his shoulders for support when he swept her off the floor. Now she clung to them as Tyler's kiss did what no other man's ever had. She felt the heat of his lips clear to her toes.
Tyler seemed to feel something of the fire, too, because what had started out as an exuberant salute gradually became something more. His mouth softened and slid along hers and plied the corners with subtle pecks that left Evie gasping for more. He took the advantage to part her lips, and she felt a sudden rush of something totally foreign as his tongue intimately entwined with her own. She was burning in places that shouldn't be burning, and her head bent backward to more thoroughly accept his deepening kiss.
But when Tyler's hand came up to caress her breast, Evie pushed away. She knew the point where reality met fantasy, and this was it. Glaring at him, she crossed her arms protectively across her chest. "Don't you dare, Tyler Monteigne. You're not really Pecos Martin, and I'm not one of those kind of women."
Lit by the lantern, the devil danced in Tyler's eyes as his gaze swept over her. "Come now, Maryellen, don't tell me you've never been kissed. You're too beautiful for a man to resist, and you know it."
"Kissing is one thing. What you were trying to do was quite another. Nanny warned me about men like you. Now remove yourself from here at once. Sharing a room with you wasn't part of our agreement."
Tyler shrugged and tugged his coat off. "It hadn't been part of my original intention, either. You were the one who disobeyed orders and came down and got involved."
Scandalized, Evie stared as Tyler threw his coat over a chair and began to tug at his cravat. His shoulders seemed to grow wider as he stood there in shirtsleeves and satin waistcoat. Lamplight glinted off his golden hair, and the square outline of his jaw possessed a dangerous tilt. Making princes out of frogs was one thing. This was quite another.
She panicked. "If you won't leave, then I will. I'll find room in the ladies' cabin." Evie swung around to make her escape.
Before she could open the door, Tyler was in front of her. He leaned against the panel and crossed his arms over his chest in imitation of her earlier stance. "You're employing me to take care of you, Miss Peyton. I would be lax in my duties if I left you open to attack by those bullies. There are no bars on the ladies' cabin doors."
"I didn't do anything," she answered defensively, backing away from Tyler's dominating pose.
He smiled. "Let us come to an understanding now, Miss Peyton. You can lie to your brother. You can lie to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who crosses your path. But you can't lie to me."
Evie studied this problem, which entailed studying the man who blocked