Page 74 of A Remarkable Rogue

This was not the plan he’d had for his life just a few weeks ago when Clayton Elliott first approached him to take on this mission. Then, he’d only wanted to earn the reward money, settle down in the countryside, and perhaps become one of those gentlemen farmers who turned up in London once every five or so years whenever they managed to break away from the ongoing demands of their wheat and their wool. After a long decade of war and army life, he’d wanted only calm and peace, relaxation, and retirement.

Nothing about Sydney Rowland was calm or peaceful and certainly not relaxing. Especially not with a six-year-old son in tow.

Yet he couldn’t imagine his life without her now. To give Sydney up and return to how he’d lived before he met her, to that darkness and those long stretches of loneliness, to that shadow of a life without emotion or hope—

No. He could never live like that again. It would end him. Unconsciously, his arms tightened around her, as if he might lose her right then.

But dear God, was he ready for this?

Twenty-One

Famished, Sydney put seconds onto her breakfast plate. Well, she supposed, a substantial appetitewaswhat came of a night of amazing sex.

No, it wasn’t just the sex, she considered as she placed one last strawberry from the sideboard onto her plate and turned toward the table to rejoin Robbie and Miss Jenner. Being with Nate was incredible; she couldn’t deny that. It was as if their two bodies were made for each other.

Yet being with him was so much more than just physical attraction. He made her happy even when he wasn’t touching her. It was…well, very special.Thatshe knew for certain even if she couldn’t put words to it, and she suspected so did Nate, although he left her room at dawn. This time, though, his leaving was so he would be out of her room before an unsuspecting maid entered and found a naked man in her bed. A very impressive naked man who—

“Are you all right?” Robbie frowned at her.

She choked as her gaze flew across the table to him. “Pardon?”

“Are you ill?” The boy tilted his head as he studied her curiously. “You look feverish.”

She turned her heated face away before his innocent scrutiny could make her flush grow even deeper. “I’m fine.”

“You’ve been distracted.”

“What?” she sputtered, gaping at the boy.

Robbie shrugged and stirred at his eggs with his fork. “You haven’t been paying attention all during breakfast.”

“Oh. That.” She forced a smile, but her stomach twisted until she wasn’t hungry anymore.Good heavens, if she couldn’t fool a six-year-old about her true feelings for Nate Reed, how on earth would she ever be able to keep fooling the man himself? “It’s nothing. It’s…just a little warm in here, that’s all.”

From the suspicious knitting of his young brow, he clearly didn’t believe her. Yet he was old enough to know to let adult matters drop and turned his full attention to the egg moat he’d built around an unwanted piece of sausage.

Beside him, Miss Jenner didn’t seem to notice the exchange at all. She stared down at her untouched food and idly pushed a kipper around her plate with her fork. The governess had invited Sydney to join them for breakfast instead of taking a tray in her room, and Sydney had eagerly accepted. The small meal was another opportunity to spend time with Robbie, as if it were any other normal morning.

But Miss Jenner had also been distracted. Her pale complexion contrasted sharply against the dark circles beneath her eyes as if she hadn’t slept well last night. Or at all.

Yet she’d had the thoughtful foresight that morning to bring Sydney one of her dresses. A very pretty light-blue muslin day dress so Sydney would have fresh clothes to wear until more things could be purchased for her from the dressmaker in the village.

Rather, things that wouldnotbe purchased. Fresh guilt pricked her. She and Nate let everyone at Oakwood believe they would be staying on for several more days when they’d actually planned to flee north with Robbie as soon as tomorrow morning.

Would he cry at being swept away by strangers, his life once more in turmoil? But she had today at least to spend time with him like a normal boy, happy and safe, before they sped him away from his home. She planned on making the most of it.

Sydney leaned across the table to offer him her strawberry. She smiled as he took it from her fingers and popped it into his mouth. His cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk’s.

“What shall we do today, hmm?” she asked.

“The captain promised to ride with me,” he mumbled around the large berry between chews. “I can’t wait to show him Agamemnon!”

She blinked. “Agamemnon?”

“My pony. Aggie’s a fine one and very spirited. Beasley’s promised to teach me to jump.” He shot a quick glance at Miss Jenner, expecting to be corrected, but when no correction came from the preoccupied governess, he beamed and began to swing his legs beneath the chair. Obviously, in addition to running, swinging one’s legs was something else gentlemen did not do in the house. “When I get old enough, Beasley said he’d teach me to drive a team!”

“My, isn’t that something?” Then she asked hopefully, “Would you like it if I joined you and the captain for your ride?”

He scowled. “Ladies don’t ride!”