A Christmas Wedding Wager by Michelle Styles Read Free Book Online Page A

shouldn't have run. She had yielded ground to Jack Stanton.
    Emma paced about her bedroom, her nightdress swishing about her ankles. Normally she'd be asleep, but every time she shut her eyes she saw Jack's face, with his quizzically lifted eyebrow. She could not be attracted to the man. Her nerves were overwrought, that was all.
    Why, when everything was going as she'd planned, did Jack Stanton have to appear?
    And what would happen tomorrow when he went to the site? Would Mudge be loyal, or would he take the opportunity to ingratiate himself?
    There had to be a way of keeping the state of her father's illness from him. Something.
    A low moan broke her thoughts. Emma went still, heard it again. Her father in the grip of one of his nightmares. His stomach must have resumed its cramps. All too often these days he seemed to experience them, and the night sweats. It reminded her so much of her mother's last days.
    She grabbed Dr Milburn's medicine and her candle, praying that Jack had not heard.

    'Sleep well, Father.' Emma tightened the shawl about her shoulders and closed her father's door with a click. Her eyes ached with tiredness.
    She was thankful she had heard her father's moans before he had woken the entire household up. She had given him a dose of his special tonic, despite his complaints about its metallic taste, and he had drifted off to sleep, leaving her free to return to her room.
    Her candlestick threw out elongated shadows as her toes sunk into the thick oriental carpet that ran along the corridor.
    'Miss Harrison, is something amiss? I heard someone cry out.'

    Emma started and gave a small gasp, sending bits of molten wax flying onto the carpet. Jack Harrison stood in the doorway of his room, his hands gripping the doorframe. His white shirt billowed over his form-fitting trousers.
    'Have I disturbed you?'
    'No, not at all.' The candle lurched more dangerously to the right. Her fingers felt numb. She tried to think, tried to look somewhere other than at the dark hollow of his throat.
    'But I did startle you. If you are not careful you will get burnt.'
    He reached forward and took the candle from her hand, his fingers lightly brushing hers. A small shiver went up her arm and she hastily looked away from his intent eyes.
    'I was not expecting to see anyone.' Emma hoped her white nightgown would be long enough to hide her feet. Why hadn't she stopped to pull on something more suitable? And why did she always appear at a disadvantage? Her hair was loosely plaited, falling over a shoulder. 'I have quite recovered now.'
    'Something is wrong.' His voice surrounded her, low and musical, nearly like a caress, holding her there, pinning her to the spot. 'Confide in me.'
    Emma shook her head to clear it. His voice was sending out silken lures, traps for the unwary.
    She gave a slight shrug. 'There is nothing to confide.'
    'There must be a reason for your night-time ramblings.' He looked at her from under hooded eyes, and she reminded herself that he was dangerous, the enemy, the pirate who plundered companies.
    'I went to see my father. He called out,' she said, as lightly as she dared.
    'Has his chill taken a turn for the worse?'
    'His breathing is fine.' Emma's hand played with the end of her plait. 'I suspect he had rather too much punch at the club. I had no wish for him to waken the entire household as he did the last time.'
    A crooked smile appeared on Jack's lips. 'Ah, yes, rather a lot of punch was drunk.'
    Emma let out a breath. Her shoulders became lighter. He believed her. She ought to go before she revealed anything. Her tongue moistened her lips as she searched her numb mind for the proper phrase. 'If you will excuse me, it is late.'
    His eyes travelled up and down her form, lit with something within. 'Very late.'
    Emma wanted to tug her shawl tighter around her. This was Jack Stanton, the man she had refused years ago, the man who wanted to destroy her life. He held no attraction for her, and yet she