Regency Christmas Pact 02 - A Gentlemen's Pact by Jerrica Knight-Catania Read Free Book Online

the door creaked loudly when he opened it, and a gust of icy wind accosted those in the back rows of the church. So much for remaining discreet.
    He closed the door behind him and wrapped his arms around himself, trying to keep warm. It was bloody cold this December.
    As he began his walk towards town, it occurred to Rowan that he had no idea how to find Olivia. The sweet shop would be closed, so he couldn’t ask there. All he knew was that she lived near town, but where? Damn. Why didn’t he think this through better before he ran out of the church?
    Oh, well. There was nothing for it now. He certainly wasn’t going back in there. He’d just have to find another way.

Olivia startled awake at the loud knocking on her door. Who in the world would be coming to call on a Sunday morning?
    “Coming!” she called, and then remembered she could barely walk, blast it all.
    Should she just invite them in, whoever they were? She was still in her nightgown, for heaven’s sake.
    They knocked again.
    There was nothing else to do. “Come in!” she yelled, and then pulled her thick wool blanket all the way up to her neck.
    The door creaked and in the next moment, Rowan Findley poked his head into the house. Good heavens! Olivia’s heart sped to a gallop.
    “Mr. Findley!” she couldn’t help but exclaim.
    “May I come in?” he asked, though he didn’t wait for her approval. She couldn’t blame him. It seemed a dreadful day outside.
    “What are you doing here?” She wasn’t trying to sound rude, but his presence was just so unexpected.
    He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he carefully removed his hat and coat, draping them both over the back of her shabby sofa, and then moved close to the fire to warm his hands.
    “I was…out for a walk, and thought I’d drop in.”
    Olivia knew this couldn’t be true. How did he know where she lived? And why on earth would anyone be “out for a walk” on a day like today.
    “Now who’s the liar?” she said, but she gave him a smile to let him know she was only teasing.
    He smiled back, that roguish, devil-may-care grin he was so good at. “All right. Well, I was at church—”
    “Church?” Olivia couldn’t quite imagine Rowan Findley in church.
    “Don’t get too excited,” he continued. “I didn’t stay for very long. As a matter of fact, I saw Marcus come in with an older woman and figured you must be here, all alone, bored to tears. And I’m nothing if not good entertainment. Just ask my cousin.”
    As much as Olivia didn’t want to succumb to his charms, she had to admit, he was rather entertaining. And hadn’t she just been thinking this morning about how very lonely she was? Was this God’s way of answering her prayers?
    “Well,” she began, “I suppose I am rather bored. My foot hasn’t healed as quickly as I had hoped. I don’t know when I’ll be able to return to the sweet shop, and poor Marcus has had to take care of me these past few days. Not exactly how I envisioned our holiday this year.”
    Rowan’s brow crinkled, as if he were thinking very hard, formulating some kind of plan, perhaps. Somehow, that made Olivia a bit nervous. But whatever he was thinking about, he didn’t voice.
    “Well, now that I’m here, perhaps you can clear up this whole father-son matter?”
    Olivia squirmed a bit as he took a seat on the sofa. She supposed she couldn’t put it off forever. He already knew the truth—but she needed to confirm it.
    She took a shaky breath. “I didn’t think you could be bothered,” she began, to which Rowan furrowed his brow and cocked his head. “That is, you didn’t even know me. And I didn’t know you. It was…an accident. Entirely my fault, and I was willing to admit that. Besides, by the time I found out, I had no idea where to find you. I could have asked around, I suppose, but then my parents…well, they turned me out on the street. That’s when I came here, to this town. I hoped to stay with an aunt, but she