A Loving Scoundrel by Johanna Lindsey Read Free Book Online Page A

trying.
    The nabob hadn’t said a single word, thank God. He could have spoiled the whole story if the servant realized he wasn’t foxed at all. He was either smart enough to play the part she’d set up for him or nervous enough to keep his mouth shut.
    No, she doubted he was nervous, at least not as much as she was. He’d handled that barkeep tonight too easily for him to be bothered by the mere possibility of flying bullets. Stupidly brave was probably what he was, and a high-handed blackguard for getting her into this mess.
    She grabbed his arm now and dragged it over her shoulder so it would look as if she were holding him up, then blanched to see the pistol in his hand. He’d had it trained on the man the whole while, just hidden behind her back. Bleedin’ nabob could have gotten them both killed!
    She snatched it out of his hand and stuffed it back in his pocket, only to hear him chuckle at her for doing so. God protect her from half-wits!
    She hissed at him now, “I ’ope ye know ’ow to play the drunkard, mate, and ’ang yer ’ead so ’e don’t get a good look at ye.”
    It was easy to get him upstairs. She was too nervous to take note of the closeness of their bodies, and he only rested his weight on her when the servant glanced back at them; otherwise, he was mostly getting up the stairs on his own, was in fact leading her instead of the other way around.
    “In here,” the servant said, opening a door. “We should be able to find someone to fix your coach in the morning so you can be on your way.”
    “ ’Preciate it, mate.”
    He’d followed them in, lit a lamp for them, then headed toward the door. He still hadn’t relinquished the hold on his pistol other than for a moment to light the lamp. Danny began to wonder if he’d believed her tale after all. And as soon as the door closed behind him, she threw off Malory’s arm and hurried to the door to hear if the fellow was actually leaving. What she heard instead was the soft click of the lock on the door.

Chapter 5
     
    L OCKED IN TO AWAIT … what?
    Danny lost what little color she had left in her cheeks. Had the man not believed their story, or was he simply being cautious?
    She hoped he was just being cautious. After all, they were strangers until his employer verified otherwise. But if he was going to stand out there and guard their door the rest of the night, then this mess was just going to get worse.
    She turned back to Malory to see him watching her curiously, one brow raised in question. She rushed back to him to whisper, “ ’E’s locked us in.”
    “Bloody hell,” he growled low.
    “Ye got that right, mate. So go stick yer ’ead in a pillow and start snoring, eh, and loudly. ’E needs to think we’re sleeping so ’e’ll go back to bed ’imself.”
    Having said that, she didn’t wait to see if he’d comply. She moved back to the door and lay down in front of it to look under the crack. Sure enough, there were shoes right on the other side of the door. The servant was still standing out there, probably trying to listen through the door himself.
    When she didn’t hear any snoring starting up yet, she turned around and glared at Malory. He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, his lips twisted in disgust, as if her suggestion was quite beneath him. And he didn’t move directly to the bed but went to the window instead, to see how much trouble it would be to leave that way. He must have decided that wasn’t an option because he sighed then and moved to sit on the bed, bounced on it actually, then tested out a few snoring sounds till he got one he was satisfied with and started making a lot of racket with it.
    Danny almost grinned. He looked so disgruntled to be doing something so simple as snoring. Too bad. They wouldn’t be locked in an upstairs bedroom if he hadn’t come in the house to begin with. She would have been out of there without a hitch, instead of lying on the floor hoping a suspicious servant would get tired