Page 78 of The Number of Love
“I have no idea who and what that is.”
She explained briefly as they walked—the new face, the game they’d played the day Holmes and Dot were reacquainted, how sincethen he’d been playing her via notes, the board left out waiting for her. She’d been meaning to come by the park earlier in the day to try to catchhimand not just his note, but time and short hours of daylight hadn’t cooperated.
Drake frowned at the entrance of the park. “And that doesn’t strike you as odd? Someone playing a game like that? Why not just sit there and wait for you?”
“Well, the weather’s gotten colder, and he doesn’t seem quite healthy. Given that I’m rarely there in the warmest part of the day, I suppose he simply sets it up then and comes back to check my move the next day.”
“Isn’t that a bit careless? Who’s to say someone won’t just pinch the board?”
“I certainly thought of that.” But she could only shrug. “He lives nearby. Perhaps he keeps an eye on it.”
They turned in, and his eyes began to scan everything in sight in a way that wasn’t exactly casual. “This Williams bloke—what do you know of him?”
She tugged him down the correct path. “What Holmes discovered for me. He was part of the diplomatic retinue to Japan until war broke out. Returned home, joined the navy. Was on a minesweeper that sank in August. Discharged.” She decided to leave off the bit about him not being quite mentally stable. Drake looked dubious enough as it was.
She stopped at the wrought-iron table, smiling to see the board there again. No white note fluttered this time, but that was all right. She stepped up and studied the stones’ arrangement, withdrawing her hand from Drake’s arm so she could fold her arms over her middle while she considered.
Drake only glanced for a second at the game before moving a step away. He stared at a tree a few dozen paces off, his fingers twitching.
And why was she consideringhiminstead of her next move? “Is everything all right?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right. How do you know this chap can be trusted?”
“Drake. It’s just a game, in a public park. What harm could there possibly be?”
He still stared at the tree, as if expecting something other than a squirrel to jump out from behind it. “That’s the question, isn’t it? And I don’t have the answer.” He pivoted back to face her, his smile a bit forced but no less warm for it. “Perhaps you could teachmehow to play. If you’d rather actually finish a game this century.”
She made a show of thinking about it, tapping a finger on her arm. “I don’t know. It’s a complicated game. You might not have the capacity.”
As she’d expected, he laughed in outrage—and made a playful lunge for her, which shehadn’tforeseen. “Are you insulting my intelligence?”
She dodged him, her pulse picking up. Just like it always had when Lukas would chase her. But not. Not at all like that. Biting back a smile, she put the chair between them. “Well, I have no proof of your mental prowess, have I?”
He grinned and sidestepped the chair, trapping her between him and the table. He didn’t draw too close, but even so. Even so. “Of course you have. I like you, don’t I? What could be a more accurate proof that I’m smart?”
She felt as though she’d just sprinted up a flight of stairs. And had absolutely no idea how to parry that. So she turned to the game board. “I don’t have the game. This is the first set I’ve actually seen in England.”
“So teach me on this one. It’s out here, isn’t it? One doesn’t leave a board in public if one minds it being played. I’m sure you could return everything to its current position when we were through.”
She could. And the idea of sitting across from him for hours, strategizing and counter-strategizing, was an appealing one. She’d learn much about him through a game of Go. The way he thought, whether he would sacrifice one stone for another.
She touched a finger to a white stone and slid it into her chosen play inthisgame. “All right. I don’t imagine we have time for the lesson today. Dot won’t want to wait dinner that long. But perhaps the next time it’s set up.”
“It’s a date.”
No, that wasn’t what she meant. She opened her mouth to say so, then jumped when his hand brushed against the small of her back. There was no good reason to do so—it was a move that her brother made all the time, as did Hall and Barclay. Completely innocent. Gentlemanly. So why did it feel so new?
He was smiling. Probably because he knew well why she jumped. “Ready, then?”
No. Not nearly. But he was only talking about dinner with his sister. Not dates or romance or anything else. Careful not to meet his gaze lest he see in her eyes what a muddle he’d made of her, she turned back toward the walking path and drew in a long breath. In two beats, out two beats. Count the bricks. Measure the steps. Focus on the mathematics of the walk, not on the man beside her.
Das Gespenst muttered a curse under his breath and kept his back against the tree for a full minute after their voices faded into the sounds of the city. Only then did he dare to peek around the massive trunk.
That had been close. Too close. Curse that man for his instincts—he’d quite obviously been searching the park the moment he stepped foot in it, and Das Gespenst had barely had time to move from his casual lounge on a bench to the cover of the tree.
The man was too observant. And had kept staring right at the tree where he’d hid—obvious from the way his voice traveled.
Good thing he’d been more set on flirting with the girl than with findinghim, or he’d have had to run. Which would have been disastrous, as it would have brought even more attention.
