The Other Miss Bridgerton (Rokesbys #3)(36)

She looked over at the captain, hoping that she’d stalled long enough for him to have moved on, but no, he was still staring at her with bright blue expectation, awaiting her answer.

“I suppose,” she said carefully, “it’s simply because I have no good reason not to be agreeable. I can’t go anywhere. I certainly can’t escape, and I’d have to be an idiot to think I’d fare better on my own in Portugal than with your protection. So like it or not, I’m stuck with you.”

He nodded slowly. “As I am with you.”

“Oh ,” she added with particular emphasis, “and I don’t like it.”

His chin drew back, adding to the air of puzzlement that marked his face.

“I said ‘like it or not,’” she explained. “I want to make it clear that I don’t. Like it, I mean.”

“So noted,” he remarked.

“But,” she added, coming to her feet, “you have treated me with a small measure of respect, so I am endeavoring to do the same.”

One of his brows arched. “Just a small measure?”

She met this expression with her own. “You still sleep in this room, do you not?”

“For your protection,” he reminded her.

“The door locks.”

“I’m not sleeping below.”

“As I have yet to see an inch of the ship other than this cabin and the corridor outside, I could not say if the berths below would be appropriate.”

He smiled condescendingly. “Trust me when I tell you that even if you did have free rein of the Infinity , you would not be permitted anywhere near the sailors’ quarters.

She tipped her head toward the door. “I counted three other cabins on this deck.”

“So you did. They are very small.”

“But large enough for two men, I would think. Don’t Brown and Green share?”

“Neither Brown nor Green is the captain of this ship.”

“So what you’re actually saying is that it is your pride that is too large to share a cabin.”

“I’m sharing one with you .”

“A decision I still cannot comprehend.” She snorted. “You do realize that if we were anywhere else, you’d have to marry me.”

This made him grin, and it was a lethal, devilish thing. He leaned toward her. “Why, Miss Bridgerton, are you asking for my hand?”

“No!” she practically howled. “You’re twisting my words.”

“I know,” he said, almost sympathetically. “You make it so easy.”

She scowled. “I take back everything I said about your being a gentleman.”

Still, he kept smiling. The wretched man found this amusing . Or more to the point, he found her amusing, which was considerably worse.

“As it happens,” he said, “I have decided to sleep in my navigator’s cabin tonight. There are indeed two berths there.”

“You just said—”

He held up a hand. “A wise man never argues when he’s getting his way. The same goes for women, I should think.”

He was right, damn it. Still . . . “What brought on this change of heart?” she asked suspiciously.

“Oh, let’s see . . . My sore neck, my aching back, and the fact that I nearly fell asleep at the wheel this morning.”

“Really? ”

“No, not really,” he retorted. Then he might have groaned. “But I wanted to.”

Poppy tried to appear contrite. She really did. But there was something delicious about the thought of him falling asleep while on duty, and she hadn’t been able to keep all the glee from her voice.

Schadenfreude, meet Poppy Bridgerton.

“I have taken measure of the crew’s mood,” Captain James said, “and I am confident that you will remain unbothered.”

She nodded demurely. She had won. She had won! But she knew men, and she knew she had to let him think the victory was his. So she gave him a pretty smile and said, “Thank you.”

He crossed his arms. “You will, of course, keep the door locked.”

“As you wish.”

“And you must understand that this is still my cabin, and I will be in and out during the day.”

“All of your things are here,” she murmured agreeably, although she might have ruined it when she added, “See how agreeable I am?”





Chapter 10




Agreeable, indeed. The chit was up to something. Although what, Andrew could not envisage. He’d believed her when she said she wasn’t plotting an escape. She was far too intelligent for that. He supposed she might try something when they were back on British soil, but certainly not before.

But when they were back on British soil . . . well, he wanted to be rid of her then, didn’t he?

“Is something wrong?” he heard her ask. “You look very skeptical all of a sudden.”

He looked over at her. Brown hair, green eyes, blue dress . . . everything was the same. And yet he felt different.

But it wasn’t because of her , he told himself. True, her presence had turned this voyage into one like no other, but she was not the reason for his unease. He’d been feeling not quite right for several months now.