Once Upon a Winter's Eve: A Spindle Cove Novella by Tessa Dare Page B

shop.
    Christian froze. “Who’s there?” he whispered against her lips.
    “Dawes and Rufus,” she breathed. “Quickly, hide.”
    She prodded Christian toward the storeroom at the back of the shop. Inside the closet, they waited breathless in the dark. Listening.
    Please, Violet prayed. Please, just let them go past.
    The front door of the shop creaked open. “Hullo?”
    Blast.
    “You wait here,” she whispered sternly to Christian. “I’ll go out.”
    “I’m not letting you go out there alone.”
    “It’s only the two militiamen Lord Rycliff assigned to stand watch in the village. The others couldn’t have found us yet. These men know me. I’ll talk my way out of this, just like I did in the kitchen at Summerfield.”
    “But you were supposed to be at Summerfield. There’s no reason for you to be here.”
    “I’ll invent one.” She searched her brain for an idea. “I…I’ll tell them I needed female necessities because I’m on my courses. Believe me, that will quash all inquiry. Men never press for details.”
    He clasped her arm. “But Violet—”
    “Shh. Not a sound.” She eased the door open, calling out as she emerged, “Don’t be alarmed, sirs. There’s no intruder. It’s only me.”
    She shut the storeroom door and turned.
    “And who the devil are you ?” A man raised a lamp, momentarily blinding her.
    Even though she could barely make him out, Violet instantly knew two things.
    First, this man was neither Aaron Dawes nor Rufus Bright. He was a man she’d never met before, but she knew him well by his reputation. His very bad reputation.
    Second, she knew she must keep Christian hidden at all costs. After tonight, she understood why he’d begged for his assignment in Brittany. And she knew it would destroy him, if that mission were compromised.
    With trembling fingers, she slid the latch on the storeroom door, barring Christian inside. Using the toe of her slipper, she nudged Nellie the dress form in front of the door to obscure any movement or noise.
    And then she turned to face the intruder, Mr. Roland Bright. Sally, Finn, and Rufus’s wayward father. She’d never laid eyes on the man before, but his shock of white-blond hair marked him at once.
    “Answer me, girl.” He waved the lamp in her face. “Who are you? And what do you think you’re doing in my shop?”
    Violet swallowed hard. “I’m Miss Violet Winterbottom. And I didn’t mean any harm, sir. I woke in the night with a…” She crossed her arm over her belly. “With a female complaint. I didn’t want to disturb Sally, so I—”
    “So you came to steal from me.”
    “Not at all, sir.” She gulped.
    His upper lip curled as he dragged a cold look from her toes to her crown. “You woke in the night wearing a silk gown?”
    “I was so tired earlier, I fell asleep without undressing. Silly me.” Violet edged away from the storeroom, back toward the counter where she’d left the pistol. She didn’t want to have to use the gun, but she was very glad she knew how.
    But she had to reach it first.
    Just a few steps to the side…
    He chuckled, and she caught the odor of rum rolling off his breath. “A female complaint, you say? I’m willing to bet I know it. Your little cunny was complaining it’s hungry for cock.”
    Violet froze. No one had ever spoken to her that way. The crude words had just the effect he likely meant them to have. She felt small and nauseated. “I… I don’t know what you mean.”
    “Of course you do, you ruttish little baggage.” His boot made a heavy thunk as he stepped toward her. “You think I don’t what kind of soiled doves make their way to this village lately? Sent down here by the high and mighty families that can’t stand to look at their slatternly faces no more. That rooming house…” He turned his head and spat. “Nothin’ but a high-class whorehouse with lacy drapes.”
    “That’s not true.”
    She took another step backward. The counter’s edge bumped her