Ruthless Charmer by Julia London Read Free Book Online Page B

afraid."
    She didn't like the sound of that.
    "It would seem we owe the man a little more than a franc. Claims we drank from his finest stock," he said, and motioned lamely toward the empty bottle.
    Judging by the trouble she was having getting to her feet, Claudia thought that she in particular had drunk from his finest stock. Grasping the table for support, she hauled herself up, smiled broadly at Julian, and could have sworn she heard something very much like a groan. "Claudia
. . .
it's rather a long story, but the short of it is, I'm afraid you find me without my purse." She blinked.
    He frowned. "I have no money."
    That sobered her. A thousand things tumbled through her mind, not the least of which was the distasteful notion that he had insisted on keeping her company because he had no money. And exactly how was it that one of the richest men in England could find himself in such a predicament? She did not want to know. "I see," she said, and snatched up her reticule.
    "No, you really don't."
    She raked a look across him, and with surprising dexterity given her state, managed to pull open the little bag and produce several coins that she tossed onto the table.
    "That is very kind of you," he muttered.
    "Think nothing of it," she responded tightly. The man was a rake, had always been and undoubtedly would remain so for the rest of his bloody life! She should have known his interest was insincere, his attentions self-serving!
    She stooped to fetch her portmanteau, but Julian was there before her, and easily hoisted it onto his shoulder. "Please allow me," he said, balancing himself with his small satchel in his other hand.
    Oh, but she already had. She had allowed him to make a fool of her. Again. Claudia started walking— weaving, really—out the door, her heart thumping angrily in her chest, and marched indignantly down the pedestrian walkway toward the pier.
    "Claudia, I'm as anxious to get to England as you, believe me, but I can't fly," he said somewhere behind her.
    She realized she was practically sprinting and stopped, folded her arms across her chest, and glared out across the Avant-port. Julian paused to catch his breath, adjusting the heavy bag on his shoulder. "It's not what you think," he said, reading her mind. Bloody hell if it wasn't.
    "The Captain has my purse—and my pistol—it's Renault's way of aggravating me. When we reach Newhaven, I'll repay your generosity, every last franc of it."
    "You must think my manners quite appalling if you think I would begrudge a fellow traveler some wine," she said in her best aristocratic voice. "There is the Maiden's Heart," she quickly interjected before he could speak further, and marched onward, not caring if he kept up or not.
    Fortunately, the captain was the same one who had brought her to France, and was quick to show her to his best cabin—a small, airless pocket, really. Lying on the hammock that served as a bed, Claudia battled herself, trying not to think about The Rake. That man was one of the original Rogues of Regent Street, a libertine with a nasty reputation for breaking hearts, a ruthless charmer. Her biggest mistake was sharing a bottle of wine with him in the first place.
    That was true in more ways than one, she realized as soon as the ship began to move. She'd never been terribly good at sea, particularly in the fast little clippers, and with a good amount of wine in her, she was feeling ill before the ship had hardly put to sea. She tried to brave it as best she could, but an hour into the voyage, she was in desperate need of air.
    She hurried up onto the deck, smiled thinly at two sailors who were coiling a rope as thick as a man's arm, and frantically sought a place where she might be alone. On the lee side of the ship, she found a spot that seemed about as private as one could hope, and leaned over the railing, taking deep gulps of the salt air. That helped to steady her roiling stomach, and after a few moments, she was feeling much