Storing Up Trouble, стр. 99
Norman, without anyone asking, had created a new leg for a man he didn’t know, an act of kindness that spoke to his true heart, and an act that might very well have been the moment when Beatrix’s fondness for the man had turned into something more.
“It makes perfect sense,” she finally whispered when she realized he was waiting for a response.
He smiled. “That’s a relief. I really didn’t know how I’d go about explaining it any differently.” He leaned closer to her. “And now that that’s out of the way, I feel compelled to set matters completely right between us, and even though I’d intended to do this differently, I simply can’t wait.”
If she’d been standing, Beatrix was fairly certain her knees would have turned just a touch weak.
“Or perhaps you’d like for me to wait,” he said, his gaze locking with hers. “From everything Theo and I have read, this type of moment is usually expected to be done in certain settings, and this”—he gestured to the hedge they were sitting beside—“doesn’t lend itself to, well, . . . an expected setting.”
“You’re not really a gentleman who does the expected.”
“True, probably because I’m a rather unusual man.”
“I’ve recently discovered I find unusual to be most appealing.”
A mere second later, Norman was drawing her to him, pressing his lips against hers in a kiss that was so unexpected and yet so completely perfect that Beatrix felt a shock run through her, one she was quite convinced felt exactly like what Norman’s electrical currents would feel like.
“While I hate to break up such a touching moment, we got a man that wants to talk to you, Mr. Nesbit. And to make sure you come quiet-like, do know that I ain’t got no problem with shooting one of you—and that one would be the woman, if that’s in question.”
Chapter 37
Norman leaned against Beatrix as they rattled along in a fast-moving carriage, his broad shoulder providing her with support as she swayed back and forth, her hands tied firmly behind her back.
Their captors were the same men they’d encountered in Chicago, although Beatrix hadn’t quite figured out how those men had been able to find them or who the man was who wanted to speak with Norman.
She certainly couldn’t tell where they were heading, not since she, as well as Norman, had scratchy bags over their heads, those bags giving off the distinct smell of potatoes.
“It’s a most peculiar predicament we’re in,” Norman said calmly, as if they were taking a leisurely carriage ride instead of a ride where the driver seemed to think that all haste was required, the carriage actually having tilted up on two wheels when he’d taken a sharp turn.
“An understatement to be sure,” she said.
“Indeed, although I now find myself wondering if you still find the unusual to be delightful, because this situation is certainly unusual, but I’m not sure how delightful you’re finding it.”
She felt the oddest urge to laugh. Only Norman would ponder such a matter while in the midst of an abduction, but that pondering spoke to the curious nature of his mind. Frankly, she found it charming, found him charming as well, even though he had the ability to be able to charm her one minute and leave her wanting to strangle him the next.
“Speaking of unusual, though,” Norman said, interrupting her thoughts. “I’ve yet to finish settling matters between us, what with all the loose ends we still need to tie up, the greatest one being that of where we’re going to go from here with the affection we most certainly share for each other.”
She resisted another urge to laugh. “Forgive me, Norman, but since we’re currently facing what I have to imagine is going to be a most unpleasant meeting with some man who is now desperate to obtain your research papers, this probably is not the best time to continue with the conversation we were enjoying before we were abducted.”
“Too right it isn’t,” a voice growled from the seat opposite them. “You two should be preparing yourself for the trouble that awaits you, not behaving as if you’re in the midst of a garden party.”
“I’ve never been to a garden party,” Norman returned. “Are those normally held in gardens, or are they called garden parties to lend the occasion a certain atmosphere?”
Beatrix grinned. “You’re going to get us killed with statements like that.”
“Enough of the flirting,” the man growled again. “It’s enough to make me want to lose my lunch.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a bit of flirting,” Beatrix shot back. “My parents are very flirtatious with each other, and they’ve been married for years. I imagine you’re only being so surly because you don’t have anyone to flirt with, but you have only yourself to blame for that. Ladies, I’ll have you know, don’t care for men who embrace criminal activity.”
“And here you were worried I would get us killed,” Norman muttered as the man across from them released a grunt. “I am curious, though, as to why we’ve been abducted.”
“My man wants your research—the real research. He’s losing patience, so me and Martin were sent off to snatch you. It was sheer luck to find you with the woman because we can use her to force you into giving our man what he wants.”
Beatrix frowned. “But why go through the bother of following Norman to New York? Wouldn’t it have been easier to abscond with his papers back in Chicago?”
“We was plannin’ on doing exactly that, but then he took off for New York.”
“How do you know he even has the papers on him?” Beatrix pressed.
Beatrix felt Norman stiffen beside her. “I, ah, might have let word about that get out down at my gentleman’s club. Didn’t want to take the chance of anyone tossing my rooms again while I was off to New York, not when Gemma and Oscar are known to wander through my workshop when I’m