To Catch A Thief (Saved By Desire 2) by Rebecca King Read Free Book Online

weeks now?” Jeb continued once he had fortified himself with another sip of wine, and could collect his thoughts enough to enter the conversation.
    “That’s right. I am due to leave soon, though. I am just waiting for my father,” she continued for want of anything else to say.
    “I do hope we get to meet again before you go back home to – where was it?” Algernon leaned forward in his seat.
    He couldn’t remember having heard much gossip about her and had to wonder why. Her aunt certainly seemed to always have a lot to say about – well – about everything. Why had she not mentioned her delightful niece? Was she jealous perhaps?
    Algernon threw Delilah an annoyed frown when the woman opened her mouth to intercept her niece’s response.
    “Oh, I am sure we shall meet again at the Harvell’s tea next Thursday. I am due to return to Brentley in Buckinghamshire as soon as my father arrives to collect me.”
    She threw Jeb a winning smile that made him drop his glass back onto the table with more force than was necessary. In doing so he spilled wine on the table cloth and had to have it refilled. Mentally cursing himself for being so clumsy in her presence, Jeb attempted to turn her attention away from his mishap and onto more mundane matters. However, when he looked up, there was a glint of mischief in her eyes that made him wonder if she was going to tease him. Thankfully she didn’t.
    “Brentley,” Jeb murmured. “I have heard of it.”
    He made a mental note to ask Barnaby if he knew anybody in the area but then hauled that thought to an abrupt halt. He had absolutely no reason to enquire about Sophia’s life in Brentley because Algernon had already said that the thefts had been happening over the course of the last several weeks. Sophia Carney couldn’t possibly be guilty and for that, he could only be grateful.
    “It is a small village outside Tippersnell,” Sophia expanded.
    Although she would never admit it to another human soul, she quite liked the man seated opposite. At first, Sophia had found him to be dark and somewhat sinister. Now that she had spent the past hour or so seated opposite him she had noted his hand tremble, heard his bored sigh, and seen that he was more clumsy than she was. It endeared him to her, mainly because it made him more human and less of a threat. There was something mysterious lurking in that dark gaze that made her shiver, partly in awareness, but partly because she sensed he had secrets. She had to wonder what they were. He was undoubtedly a worldly man, confident in his life and the world about him, so what could he be hiding?
    Intrigued, she turned her attention to the food on her plate while she thought about that.
    Usually, when she conversed with a man, she felt nothing but a mild engagement that quickly turned into a need to be somewhere else. With Jebediah Hutchinson, she wanted to listen to the husky tones of his voice for considerably longer than she ought. Indeed, she was hooked on his every word and found it incredibly difficult to tear her gaze away from his when he looked at her with those smouldering eyes.
    “I haven’t been there before,” Jeb replied huskily. “But I think I have passed through it.”
    Sophia smiled. “Most people pass through it. Only those who live there stay for a while.”
    Algernon fought a delighted grin as he watched the young people stare avidly at each other over the width of the table. Aware of his son’s reluctance to even mention the word ‘matrimony,' he was careful to keep his joy to himself though and turned his attention back to his food.
    As a result, an awkward silence settled over the table for a few moments while several meaningful looks were exchanged. When nobody could think of anything to say, and neither Jeb nor Sophia spoke, the Harvells came to the rescue.
    “Well, I have heard the most delightful news,” Mabel declared softly in a voice that was full of effusive excitement. She tittered, leaned over