Authors: Beth Trissel
Will
stood only a fraction shorter
th
an the
arrogant jerk.
W
hat he lacked in
bulk h
e made up for in speed
and force
, b
ut
he
dug his nails into his palm
s
to stay his fist
s
.
“
Before you waltz off
to beddy
-
bye,
McChesney,
let me assure you
I can
hire another brick mason.
”
“
In time to complete work on that wall by
Midsummer’s
Eve?
And how
about a
Laertes who can handle a sword well enough
not to cut your bloody head
off
,
”
Lyle
shot back.
“What makes you think I won’t lob
off
your
s?
”
Lyle shrugged
his linebacker shoulders with
irritating
nonchalance
. “The ol
d lady
likes my work and
wants me
in her precious play, e
ven offered me a bonus.
”
“
S
c
rew with me again and you’re out
.
N
o matter what
.
D
on’t even think about recommendations
, let alone a bonus
.”
“I can always coax
them from Mrs.
Wentworth
.
”
A red pal
l of anger clouded Will’s mind
.
“Like hell.”
Julia shriek
ed as he
seized
Lyle
by the upper arms and
hurled
him
back against the
sprigged
wall
paper
.
A pot
ted fern crashed to the floor.
Lyle’s
teeth clacked together and he gaped
at Will
in surprise.
“Will
! Don’t!” Julia cried, scrambling
onto the
couch
.
He hated
to upset
her and
thrust his jaw
close
to Lyle’s
bristly
chin
.
Man, he wanted to pound him
, but was forced to let him go with a warning
.
“My grandmother is
too old to be troubled by the likes of you.
Try it and I’
ll come down on you like a wall
.
Got that?
”
T
he chill in that blue
stare
was
glacial, but
Lyle gave the barest nod.
“
No one’s debating your skill
, McChesney
,” Will hissed.
“
Do your job, act your part, and you’ll get what she promised
.
Now
, it’s
N
ighty
,
night
.
”
Wil
l released him and stood back.
Lyle had the audacity not to look rattled,
but
Julia’s eyes were enormous as
she crouched on the
sofa
.
“I’ll fetch your jacket,” sh
e said haltingly, then leapt
to the floor and fled the room.
Ly
le gave Will a disgusted look.
“You’ve frightened the life from
her, mate
.
”
“Leave Miss Morrow out of this.”
“She’s the reason for this.”
“I figured you weren’t sticking
around just to finish that brickwork
or play with swords.
Keep away from her.”
Lyle ran a hand over the reddish shadow of unshaven whiskers
on his chin
.
“Tearing i
nto me won’t solve your main trouble
.
And you know it.”
“It’ll save me another.
And I really wouldn’t
mind.
”
“You’re just itching for a fight
, aren’t you?
Maybe
I’ll give you the satisfaction,
”
Lyle growled, j
erking his head in invitation.
“Outside?
Away from the girl?
”
“Fine by me.”
Will didn’t wait that long
.
He dove
at the
brash
Aussie
and cracked him in the mouth.
His knuckl
es stung, but he reveled in the
satisfaction of finally getting a crack in.
“S
top
!”
Julia
flew
back
into the room
and
shakily
pas
sed the sodden jacket to Lyle.
“
I’m sorry
it’s come to this
.
P
lease.
J
ust go
now
.”
Lyle
surveyed her
entreating face
.
He wiped at the trickle of blo
od oozing from his bottom lip. “No worries, Ophelia.
Hamlet’s a scary SOB, ain
’
t he?
”
Will let
that last jibe pass.
At least
he’d shaken loose some
of L
yle’s maddening complacency.
He
waited
like a
panther ready to spring as his bulk
passed
through the door.
The
instant the latch clicked
,
he
turned to
Julia.
“You have
nothing to apologize to him for.”
She gestured
tremulously
at the room
and the
impromptu picnic
she’d
laid out
on the floor
.
“
But i
t’s my fault
he was here
.
I
t was storming so hard
I
invited him
in
.”
Will clenched his jaw.
“I assumed you must have
.
Isn’t it
to
me you owe that apology?
”
Julia
stared at him
with the same bewilderment she’d had
before
as Ophelia
.
“
I never me
ant for Lyle
to stay more than a little, j
ust until the storm eased.
”
“He can fend for himself.
Besides,
the house wasn’t locked.”
“Even so,
d
on’t you think
you overreacted
a bit
?”
“
Unbelievable.
N
ow y
ou’re saying I owe you
an apology
?”
Determination flooded her liquid gaze
.
She lifted her chin
like a wounded duchess
.
“Yes.”
Her
electrifying presence further charged the
fiery haze billowing through Will
. “Let me get this straight.
You invited Lyle McChesney, are you hearing me
––
Lyle McChesney
––
into your apartment for a c
andlelit
picnic, when
he wants nothing mor
e than to get you into bed?”
Eyes wide, s
he
took a step
back
.
“But he wouldn’t
––
didn’t
––
”
Will closed the distance between them
.
“Because I
threw him out before he
took advantage of your ignorance
.
And
now
you want me
to say I’m sorry
?”
She
retreated
back onto the couch
.
“You could have been more diplomatic.”
“Reall
y?”
Will sat down beside her.
“W
hat
do you suppose
Cole
would
have
do
ne
if he’d happened on you
?
”
She darted
a tearful glance
at him
.
“I don’t know.”
“
Well,
I do.
He
would
have
challenge
d
that lout
to a duel.
Swords
,
t
hough he
was
equally
skilled with pistols.
”
Will
readily
pictured
himself with either weapon in hand
and the white smoke of gunpowder curling from the
pistol
barrel
.
Julia
fixed glistening eyes on him
.
“How do you know
that
?”
Will
stopped.
It was incredibly difficult
to think
w
ith her
so
provocatively
near
.
I just do.”
“
Don’t you ever wonder why?”
“Cole is the ancestor
I most closely identify with
.
Maybe I just know things.
”
“Maybe.” She sounded
unconvinced.
Will explored the
question in her upturned gaze.
“L
ately
,
I’ve been wondering
something
,” he admitted.
“
Exac
tly how
Cole
fell.
Have you reli
ved that in any of your dreams,
or whatever these visions are?”
She hesitated
as though ha
ting to speak the words.
“Perhaps
that’s s
omething I don’t want to know.
Besides, I thought he was run throug
h?”
“The story that’s come down to us is
that
h
e had a
deep
wound to his chest
,
bu
t I don’t think it was a duel
al
one that killed him.”
T
he force of her
gaze
heightened.
“What else
, then
?”
“
Maybe someone snuck up on him.
Think
about it.
H
e fell in his chamber
, hardly th
e place for a legitimate duel.
I wish I could re
member
.”
She arched her brows at him.
“Remember?”
“Figure it out,” he said shortly
, an
noyed with how she caught him in
these odd little slips
.
Julia laid a trembling
hand on his
shoulder
sending all those tiny sparks
through his
shirt
.
“Does it really matter how that ghastly deed happened?”
“It feels important somehow.”
“Then it probably is.
”
Thunder resoun
ded in menacing agreement.
The storm wasn’t finished yet. Neither, it seemed, was Cole’s
tragic tale
.