Noble Scoundrel - Amy Sandas Page 0,59
heat—a tingling rush through her chest, a lovely weight in her low belly, and a quickening of her pulse. She was tempted to look away. To break the intensity of his stare. But she was no coward, so she met the challenge and the question honestly.
“You’re unabashedly coarse and bold in your manner.” He gave a snort and she arched a brow. “Characteristics I suspect you intentionally emphasize on occasion, which suggests you’ve a proud nature and you’re undaunted by others’ opinions of you. The ferocity of your response to threats against anyone under your care reveals a deep sense of loyalty and an innate need to protect.” She couldn’t stop from sending a swift gaze over the breadth of his shoulders and the solid strength obvious in his arms, even beneath the coat. “That you could use your exceptional strength and physical power much more liberally than you do tells me you use it as a last resort. You are never brutal without proper cause.”
She’d noticed as she was speaking that his expression had seemed to grow more and more closed with each of her revelations. Until the last, when he gave a caustic laugh and leaned back in his seat.
“Proper cause? Is the gold claimed by the winner of an illegal fight cause enough?”
“Survival is.”
His gaze sparked while his mouth tipped into a rueful smile. “I didn’t fight to survive. I was doing just fine as flash man to the bawds.” His tone lowered suggestively. “And got plenty of perks with the job.”
“Then why did you take up boxing?” she asked, genuinely curious.
“Glory? Gold? Because I’m bloody good at it?” He shrugged dismissively.
It was a non-answer, but she didn’t argue further. He didn’t even realize he’d just proven most of her previous points.
“What do you hope to do once all this is over?” she asked.
The way he narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow suggested he was reluctant to answer. She hoped he’d be as up-front about his future as he’d been about everything else. For some reason, it mattered a great deal to her that he would move on to something meaningful after his job with them was finished.
“Will you go back to offering loans to men who bet on the fights?”
He started shaking his head before she even finished the question. “No.”
She tilted her head. “Then what?”
There was a brief flicker in his gaze before he replied casually, “I plan to open a training center. For men hoping to make a living by their skill and might. Flash men and bouncers.”
“Bodyguards,” she added with a smile, recalling his request for a reference.
A twitch softened his lips. “Aye.
“I suspect you’ll quickly have more clients than you know what to do with.”
Rather than reply to her declaration of confidence, he simply stared back at her, his mouth curling subtly at the corners. Then he gave a short nod and turned to extend his gaze beyond their carriage.
She tried not to note how the shift of his attention felt like a loss. She’d enjoyed speaking with him. Learning about him. Mason Hale had been steadily proving to be far more multifaceted than she’d first imagined.
They’d gotten well into the park by now, and no matter where she looked, she saw the same thing. Casual people doing casual things. No one looked familiar. No one seemed inordinately threatening or suspicious.
Except...maybe there?
A gentleman riding toward them on a large grey gelding couldn’t seem to glance away from their carriage. He even paused to tip his hat. Katherine narrowed her gaze at the stranger until he’d passed.
When the same thing happened as they rode past a couple of young bucks standing near the Italian fountains, anxiety tripped through her. But then one of the gentlemen staring back at her stiffened and sent a sharp elbow jab into the ribs of the man beside him. Both young men turned and walked swiftly in the opposite direction.
Turning to Hale, she noted the heavy scowl darkening his brow and realized it was his menacing countenance that had startled the gentlemen. It was odd to have someone so ready to battle on her behalf and a strange warmth filled her.
When he turned to look at her, the glowering expression immediately cleared. “You’re drawing some attention, dove.”
“I noticed that,” she replied thoughtfully. “Do you think those men could be involved in the plot against Frederick?”
He laughed. “Not a chance. Those two had nothing more sinister in mind than bedding you. Thoroughly.”
Katherine didn’t understand why the man felt