Just This Once by Jill Gregory Page B

was quickly
extinguished, replaced by cool appraisal.
    “You don’t resort much to feminine airs, do
you, Miss—”
    “It’s Mrs.” Her blue eyes flashed into his.
“Mrs. Ethan Savage. Or did you forget.”
    “I wish the hell I could.”
    Misery descended on her. “This was all your
idea, not mine.” She sprang up from the chair, her hands clenched
into fists. “And I know you’re regretting marrying me, and I’m not
so pleased with it myself, but if you think I’m just going to sit
here and let you insult me and yell at me and try to bully me,
well, you can think again.” She spun around and started desperately
up the aisle, but before she’d taken two steps, Ethan gripped her
by the arm and whirled her back.
    “Not so fast.”
    “Let me go!”
    “I wasn’t trying to insult you. Don’t be so
damned prickly. Though I must admit I wasn’t exactly thinking
clearly when I married a thief.”
    “I’m not a—” She broke off, and bit her lip.
“All right, I admit I took your money.” Because she was ashamed,
the words came out in a muffled choke, and she covered it by
glaring at him.
    He glowered back, his eyes looking darker
now, almost black.
    “Not only my money.”
    “Fine, so I stole your pocket watch.”
    “You’d have taken my pants if I’d have
blinked.”
    She opened her mouth to protest, and he went
on roughly, cutting her off. “Don’t waste your breath. Just fork
over what’s mine.”
    Her blue gaze clashed with his ominously
dark one. “I would,” she murmured tightly, “if you’d let go of my
arm.”
    He glanced down and realized how fiercely he
was holding her. Quickly he dropped his hand.
    Josie was aware of his gaze on her as she
retrieved her valise with all the dignity she could muster and
began rummaging through it. She felt the heat of that dark gaze
through all the layers of her clothes. Digging beneath a clean
chemise, the worn pouch containing her treasures, some other
clothes, and a hairbrush, she at last came up with the handkerchief
in which she’d wrapped Savage’s heavy gold pocket watch and wallet.
She handed them over in silence.
    All the while Ethan’s eyes nailed her. She
sensed the tension rippling through him, sensed he wasn’t anywhere
near finished with her yet.
    “Anything else you have to say to me?” she
asked at last, hoping the tartness of her voice hid how ashamed she
was. She couldn’t blame the man for considering her a thief—that’s
what she was, wasn’t it?
    He folded the greenbacks away and slipped
the pocket watch inside his vest pocket. His face was grim. This
little hussy showed no remorse. There was something hidden beneath
that edge in her voice, but he doubted it was shame—probably
regret, regret that she’d been caught and forced to face her
victim.
    Victim? Right now she seemed more like his
victim than the other way around. Clearly ill at ease, tense, and
fatigued, his dainty little bride looked a bit the worse for wear.
There were lavender shadows beneath her lovely uptilted eyes, and
her skin was white as a lily. He guessed she probably hadn’t slept
more than an hour or two, or eaten anything since sometime
yesterday.
    But that’s not my problem, he told
himself. She’s nothing to me, nothing but someone to use for a
while and then get rid of. She’ll be well rewarded, and that’s all
that a woman like her cares about.
    “I’ve got plenty to say to you, lady,” he
answered her evenly, noting the way she lifted her chin as he
spoke. “But let’s start with two things. First off, Latherby says
you nursed this cut of mine last night, that you stanched the
blood. He tells me you showed quick thinking.” His voice was flat.
“For that, I owe you thanks.”
    Astonished, Josie could do no more than nod.
An embarrassed flush crept once more into her cheeks. She felt the
warmth of it, and cursed herself for never having learned to
control her blushes. “I didn’t do anything special. Just what
anyone with half a