Rules of Attraction by Christina Dodd Read Free Book Online Page A

side of the car. He could climb up, crawl along the roof, jump between…
    Standing there, he laughed aloud. He hadn't done anything so dangerous, so impetuous, in all the years since his father's death. These types of feats should have been performed by the much younger Dougald… he laughed again. Perhaps, after all, Hannah would prove his salvation.
    The train rattled and puffed as he climbed the ladder straight up the side. The metal rungs jiggled in his palms and beneath his feet. Yet better the shaking rungs than the roof where he had no handholds… he crawled up onto the heated metal flat. The wind blew in his hair. The top of the car gave him a good view of Liverpool and the approaching countryside… and of his height about the ground.
    He laughed again. Madness. This was madness.
    Yet he couldn't let Hannah go. He had held her when she cried for her mother.
    He crawled along the roof of the car, right down the center. At the junction between that end car and the next, he stood and eyed the distance between them. Below, the connector rattled and shook. The rails whisked away behind him.
    He'd been a wild lad, and in those days he would have considered this a lark. Now he was a respectable businessman, and he understood consequences. If he missed this jump… Taking a breath, he leaped. He landed on all fours, the metal roof shuddering beneath his weight. But he made it.
    Staying low, he raced like some primal beast toward the next jump.
    Yes, now he understood consequences, even if Hannah didn't. Perils lurked out here, and how would she avoid them? Her earlier life hadn't been easy, but since he had taken her under his wing, she'd had only the best. Food. Clothing. Education. Finishing school.
    The train was going faster. The gap between the next cars seemed wider. But this time he barely allowed himself a breath before he jumped.
    Then he looked around. This was it. Hannah's car. He was on top. She was inside. The door was open, and the only way in was a simple bit of acrobatics… which he hadn't performed in years.
    This time he didn't laugh. He swore. He inched toward the side. He peered over the edge. Hannah's feet no longer dangled outside. Apparently, as the train had gained speed, she had moved back. Wise girl. Wise… well, no. Not so wise. She didn't know not to challenge Dougald Pippard.
    She might not realize it, but he had bound her to him, and with the most honorable of intentions. Now his duty— nay, his affection— demanded he protect her, even if he had to protect her from herself. He smiled. Yes, she was his. She just didn't know it yet.
    Grasping the door sill, he steadied himself, then vaulted around and down —
    Inclining his head, Dougald lifting his glass and toasted the memory of that wonderful day when youth and love and adventure had been theirs.
    Hannah seemed unimpressed with his salute. "So Charles hired the men who followed me in London… they were yours, of course?"
    His appetite faded, and he replaced his spoon. "Of course."
    "You set a trap."
    "As soon as the situation here had stabilized, I called Charles back and hired the detectives to… make you nervous. Then I offered a job which I knew would appeal to you. It was only a trap if you sprung it." Putting his foot against the table leg, he shoved it aside. The dishes rattled, the silverware shivered, but he cleared the space between them so he could see her without hindrance. See her, dressed in those plain black work clothes. Always she disguised herself… on the train in boy's garb, today in a caretaker's severity. Always her beauty shone through. Nothing could hide the translucent skin, soft as a child's, or the wealth of golden hair, or the lips which beckoned a man to kiss them. If a man looked beyond her countenance, he saw the curvaceous figure… oh, not as rounded as in earlier years, but increasingly alluring in its slender grace. She walked, she moved as she always had; as if the Almighty had created her for