A Love All Her Own by Janet Lee Barton Read Free Book Online Page A

touch of his fingertips against hers. “I—thank you for dinner. It was delicious.”
    “You are welcome. Thank you for putting up with my company.” He grinned at her, and that dimple at the corner of his mouth seemed to deepen as he looked down at her.
    She couldn’t help but smile back. “It was nice to have company. What time should I be ready in the morning?”
    “I’ll be here to pick you up at nine o’clock.”
    “I’ll be ready.” I did it today; surely I can do it tomorrow.
    Marcus gave a little salute and turned to leave. “It looks as if your pot of tea is arriving.”
    Sure enough, a bellboy was bringing her tea tray. Marcus waited until he set it down on the table in Abigail’s sitting room and left. Then he turned to Abigail again. “You sleep well. I’ll see you in the morning.”
    She nodded and stepped inside the room. “I’ll see you then.”
    “Lock the door. I won’t leave until you do.”
    “All right.” Abigail stepped inside and shut the door. Then she turned the key in the lock and wondered if he was waiting to hear the click it made.
    “Good girl. Good night, Abigail.”
    “Good night, Marcus.”
    It was only when she crossed the room and took out her earrings while looking in the mirror that she realized she was smiling. She moved to the side of the window and pulled the drapes aside just a bit to look down at the street, wondering if Marcus was still in the hotel talking to the agent who was in the lobby that night or if he’d already left.
    She watched for a moment longer until a man who looked to be about Marcus’s size walked out. From the gaslight below, she was pretty sure it was he, and when he turned and looked up, her heart did a flip. Was he looking up at her room? She quickly dropped the drape and moved away from the window. Even though she didn’t think he could see her looking out, she wanted to be sure.
    She poured her tea and sipped, thinking back over the evening. If she had to be protected, she supposed it could be worse. Marcus was actually very easy to be around—not to mention how entertaining it was to watch for that dimple . All in all, maybe it won’t be so bad having someone to watch over me. Especially since Marcus had decided he would be the one to escort her around town.
    ❧
    Marcus walked outside the hotel and didn’t try to stop himself from looking up at the windows of Abigail’s room. Watching over her was his job, after all. The light still glowed, and he imagined her sipping her tea. Was she thinking back over the evening?
    He hoped she enjoyed herself as much as he did. It had been a treat to have such a lovely woman sitting across from him for dinner. Most of the time, he ate alone, and he’d found Abigail to be quite captivating as a dinner companion.
    She seemed to want to come across as tough and independent, but he had a feeling she was anything but. Something in the expression in her eyes made him want to know more about her—something that reached out to him in a way he’d never experienced before.
    He felt protective of her, and this feeling had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that her father had hired him to do just that. He wanted to know what it was that made her look so vulnerable and why her wedding had been called off. Perhaps it was time to find out more than what Jacob had told him. Marcus felt an urgent need to know all he could about Abigail Connors because she was quickly becoming more than just a client to him.
    He headed home, determined to find out all he could about her and looking more than a little forward to the next day. While he walked, he prayed that the Lord would help Abigail with whatever it was that made her look so sad when she thought no one was watching her.

Five
    Abigail was proud of herself the next morning. She managed to put her hair up the way Bea had explained to her, and she was dressed in her favorite Sunday dress when Marcus picked her up for the ride to church.
    His parents were