Page 68 of The Hellion and the Captain
Emmaline laughed as Rhys crossed his arms over his chest and stared Tommy down.
“I do, actually.”
“So, the two of you have… an understanding?”
“Something like that,” Emmaline said, wondering why Rhys had made it so obvious when they had agreed to keep itquiet. “But Tommy, we would prefer that this doesn’t get out right now. Can you manage that?”
“Of course,” Tommy said indignantly, sitting back in his chair. “I can handle most anything.”
Colin chuckled as he watched the exchange, his arm around Lily, tugging her in close and kissing her on the top of her head, as though they were there to watch the show in front of them.
“Well, I’m happy for the two of you,” Tommy said. “But Emmaline, I expect to see you around more, you hear?”
“I hear you, Tommy.”
“Say, are you friends with Miss Draper? The one that came out with Williams that one night?”
“I am,” she said, lifting her brows as she felt Rhys stiffen beside her.
“If you see her, and,” he risked a glance over at Rhys, “if she isn’t with Williams, put in a good word for me, you hear?”
Rhys lifted a brow.
“But only if there’s nothing between them,” Tommy repeated hurriedly before slapping his hands on the table, clearly sensing Rhys’s irritation. “Well, I best be going. Good win tonight, lads, and it was as lovely as ever to see the pair of you ladies.”
With a whistle, he took off, meandering through the tables to the bar’s exit.
“Why did you let Tommy know about us?” Emmaline asked, looking at Rhys in surprise.
“Because,” he said, his voice emerging as a growl, “I didn’t like how he was looking at you.”
“I told you,” Emmaline said, rolling her eyes. “Tommy and I tried to see if there was anything between us, and there wasn’t. This has to end any suspicion there, Rhys – please?”
He nodded, but he wasn’t very convincing.
“I should head home as well,” Emmaline said, and the restof them agreed, the four of them making their way to Lily and Colin’s carriage. They had become accustomed to a routine where they would travel together, disembark at Colin and Lily’s house, and then Rhys would walk her home. Emmaline’s heart rate picked up as she knew what was to come – time with Rhys in the gardener’s cottage, time that she looked forward to more than she would like to admit.
Lily gave her a knowing smile as they parted ways. “Enjoy the rest of your night,” she said with a wink, and Emmaline did – very much indeed.
Emmaline entered the breakfast room the next morning with a smile, buoyed by the memory of beating Liverpool, followed by a night with her friends, one in which she had the opportunity to be herself, as Emmaline, and then of course, nothing could top her time spent with Rhys afterward.
Rhys. She sighed. Who would have known that such a gruff exterior could hide the most loving, protective man beneath?
Even the threats from Victor Reeves couldn’t dampen her spirits. What was he going to do? He couldn’t prove anything, and they were being so careful that he wasn’t going to find any evidence of wrongdoing.
She hummed to herself as she dreamily said good morning to her parents and her brother. Freddie had returned home for the weekend, as he had begun to court a woman from Manchester. Emmaline didn’t know her well, but then again, she had been rather too preoccupied to participate in any family gatherings or social events.
She filled her breakfast plate from the sideboard, took the offered coffee – never tea for her – from the footmanand sat at the table.
It wasn’t until she took her first bite of eggs that she realized everyone else was silent. When she lifted her head, it was only to meet curious gazes from the rest of them.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking from one to the other.
Her mother looked disappointed, her brother angry, and even her father, a dreamy, ponderous fellow, seemed concerned.
“Where have you been, Emmaline?” her father asked.
Emmaline placed her utensils down, realizing that this was going to be a serious sort of conversation.
