Mistaken Identity (Saved By Desire 3) (8 page)

She eyed the beef curiously. Her brother seemed to sense she was going to ask where it had come from again. He suddenly pushed away from the door and turned toward his room.

“Goodnight,” he called and promptly shut the door.

Jess opened her mouth to call him back but suspected he would just ignore her. She turned toward the meat and glared at it accusingly before she turned away. If she had the will, she would throw the wretched thing into the fire, but she just couldn’t bring herself to let good food go to waste. It was something she could never afford to purchase.

Once it was cooked and eaten, who was to say where it had been found?

“You could also put the pheasant into a stew,” she whispered.

If she spun out the finances a little more this week and bought a pheasant from the market on Thursday, then she could feed everyone one or two meals, get rid of the other pheasants in the process, and nobody needs ever know anything untoward had happened.

“If only life is ever that simple,” she whispered.

Quickly closing up the kitchen, she ignored her aching head and blew out the candle. Once the bolt on the front door was across, she closed the shutters and made her way to the back of the house.

She got half way up the stairs when a rapid series of knocks rapped loudly on the door. Jess turned to study the wood. She knew who it was. There was only one person in the village – well, two – who had no regard for respect or decency, and would think nothing of calling by at this ungodly hour.

As if to reiterate her point, the clock on the mantle in the study chimed eleven times.

“Well, you can go to Hell,” she whispered with a sniff and ignored the second series of thumps as she climbed the stairs to her new bedroom.

Downstairs, a man dressed entirely in black watched her disappear out of sight at the top of the stairs. The sight of her rounded curves sashaying this way and that as she moseyed on up to bed was mesmerising, and had a predictable impact on his libido. Still, there was no time for that now. Peering through a crack in the shutter, he watched the magistrate step backwards to look up at the front façade of the house. Whatever he wanted, the scowl on his face warned of dire consequences for someone inside. It was clear that he wasn’t going to gain access to this house tonight, and that clearly didn’t sit well with the magistrate.

The man’s smile was mirthless.

The landlady’s hatred of what farcically constituted as the authorities around these parts worked in his favour as well, but she would never know it. As long as she continued to thwart Lloyd’s rather determined efforts to pry into the lives of the guests, then he would remain a paying guest. Should the magistrate step inside, and proceed to pester anybody for details about why they were there then he would have to take matters into his hands.

If someone ended up dead then so be it.

For now, he watched Carruthers disappear around the side of the house. He knew the landlady was a stickler for locking up the house at night. The magistrate wouldn’t get inside, no matter how hard he tried.

To the sounds of murmured conversation outside, the man quietly left the study and made his way up to his room. He had no intention of going to bed because he had work to do. He just needed to wait for the landlady to go to sleep, and the magistrate to leave the area.

Still fully dressed, Jess lay on the bed and listened to the low rumble of conversation below her window. The dull rap of someone knocking on what she suspected was the back door could now be heard. Thankfully, none of the guests made any attempt to answer it. Neither did Ben, but she wasn’t surprised about that. He had rather a lot to keep a secret right now. Not least of which was the rather juicy piece of beef now resting on the fireplace.

Quickly undressing, she slid beneath the covers and wriggled around on the unfamiliar bed until she found a comfortable spot. When she did, she found that sleep still eluded her. She was so tired that she could barely see straight but, now that she was lying down, and the house was quiet, her mind began to churn over all of the worries, doubts, fears, and problems, that faced her.

First and foremost of all was what on earth she was going to do about this strange attraction she had for the new lodger.

Two weeks later

“It’s a bit early for you to be taking a stroll, isn’t it?” the magistrate murmured.

Marcus mentally swore and watched the man saunter out of the shadows. Lloyd ambled toward him with the air of someone who had all the time in the world on his hands. His patrician features etched in a sneer.

“I didn’t realise you had this village on lock-down overnight,” Marcus drawled unconcernedly. “Don’t you have anything better to do than skulk around in bushes?”

“Why are you not in bed asleep like decent people?”

“I am decent people, but suffer from insomnia,” Marcus lied. “I find my thoughts flow better in the quiet of the night. Why are you up and about at this time in the night? It is an odd time for a magistrate to be patrolling the streets, isn’t it? Maybe you should try it in the daytime. You are likely to catch more criminals that way.”

“This is my patch,” Lloyd declared pompously.

There was something so territorial in his eyes that Marcus wondered if he was going to mark his scent around the streets as dogs did.

“Well, I will leave you to your patch,” Marcus drawled.

He got no further than two steps away before the questions began.

“What’s your name?”

“Why? I have done nothing,” Marcus challenged.

“I make it my personal business to find out about all of the strangers in this village.”

“Oh, so that is why you keep popping up wherever I go. I thought you were the village stalker or something.”

Even through the darkness, Marcus knew the man’s face turned florid. He wanted to rile the man, just to see how honest a magistrate he was. 

“I am the magistrate. I go wherever I want to go,” Lloyd bit out. “Who the hell are you? What are you doing here at this time of night? Don’t think for a second that I believe this story that you are merely taking a walk. At four o’clock in the morning? Really?”

“I am the landlady’s fiancé,” Marcus declared with a dramatic sigh.

He was aware that Joe was watching from several feet away, and could only hope that his colleague had not overheard what he had just said. He had no idea where on earth that particular ruse had come from, and absolutely no idea what he was going to do about it now. But something warned him that he had to get closer to Ben somehow, and it seemed that the best way of doing that was by firming up his association with the man’s sister.

“Jessica Parkinson is not engaged,” Lloyd declared flatly.

“Oh, you know everything about everyone’s private business as well, do you?” Marcus challenged. “I didn’t realise your services to the village were
that
personal.”

“I am not going to have anybody skulking around in the dead of night,” Lloyd snapped, swiftly changing the subject.

“Like you, you mean?” Marcus replied. “How many people live in Smothey? One hundred? Two?”

“One hundred and sixty two,” Lloyd bit out. “But what the blazes-”

“I can assure you that the Parkinsons are not answering your questions purely because they tend to be a little protective of their privacy. I am sure you understand. You are a very dedicated man, Lloyd, especially if you are providing this level protection for everyone in the village. You have a lot of work on your hands. I will let you get on with it. I am sure you will eventually capture your – pheasants – was it?” Marcus guffawed. “Goodnight.”

He didn’t give the magistrate time to say anything else, and continued his journey toward the end of the road, this time without interruption. Although Lloyd didn’t approach again, he was aware that Carruthers followed him all the way to the lodging house.

Once safely inside, he locked the door behind him and pocketed the key. Rather than go to his room, he took a detour to the kitchen and began to search the cupboards. It was clear that the brother, Ben, was sleeping down here somewhere because all of the rooms upstairs were now taken. Careful not to alert the lad to his activities, Marcus worked his way steadily through the dresser, the cupboard under the stairs, the sitting room, and study cupboards and all of the shelves and drawers, but came up empty handed. It was unsurprising, really, given that there wasn’t much to search. In fact, the personal belongings in the house were so sparse that most of the contents of the drawers could fit into one of the dressers.

His concern grew as he searched the kitchen and found very little in the way of food to feed a house full of hungry men.

What on earth were they going to try to serve for breakfast?
Marcus thought with a frown as he shut the door to the almost bare cupboard.

His gaze landed on a small package resting on the hearth. Minutes later he stared blankly down at a small cut of beef. It was odd that it was left next to the fire and not stored in the scullery where it was cooler.

What on earth was going on? 

“Looking for something?”

Marcus sighed and scowled at the young lad, who looked back with his brows lifted in supreme arrogance.

He is good,
Marcus mused ruefully.
I didn’t even hear him move.

For someone who worked for the Star Elite, that was rare. Marcus began to look at the boy in a new light.

“I am looking for something to eat,” he explained. “However, raw beef isn’t going to do the job. Do you not keep a loaf of bread out for the guests in case they get hungry?”

Ben shook his head.

“Most of the guests stick to their rooms at night. They don’t creep around with their boots in their hands.” His gaze dropped meaningfully to the said boots Marcus held.

“I have just been for a walk. I suffer from insomnia,” Marcus lied. “I find the night air soothes me. Unfortunately, it also gives me a raging appetite.”

He frowned at the empty kitchen table and wondered if the lad, or his sister, would be offended if he bought some extra food.

“The kitchen closes after dinner in the evening,” Ben warned darkly. “We also ask the guests to remain in their rooms at night. How did you get in?”

Marcus sighed heavily when the lad’s gaze sharpened.

“More importantly, why does the magistrate seem to patrol this village in the dead of night?” Marcus replied, evading his question.

“Is he out there?”

Marcus nodded. “Yes. Lloyd and that sidekick of his are skulking around in the woods. I got the distinct impression that I was being threatened about something, but I haven’t done anything wrong. I have to say that I have never seen a village as nocturnally busy as this one.”

Determined to leave Ben with something to think about, Marcus ambled casually to the door.

“Best to stay inside then,” Ben warned. “You know, so that you don’t get caught up in anything you should stay away from.”

“Oh, I can hold my own,” Marcus drawled. His meaningful gaze met the lad’s. He waited for the mild threat to register on him.

“I am sure you can,” Ben replied thoughtfully.

Marcus nodded to the cut of beef. “Best get that moved somewhere colder. It looks hot.”

He sauntered into the hallway, the look of guilt on the lad’s face lingering in his mind. It told him far more than any words could. The beef had been stolen. That meant the situation in the house was so bad that the lad was stealing food to get by.

His anger flared, but it wasn’t at Ben. It was at his sister, Jessica.

Did she not know what would happen to her if she got caught with stolen meat in the kitchen? She would have no argument against the inquisitive magistrate.

Somehow, though, Marcus doubted the magistrate would put her behind bars. If she didn’t end up in gaol, Heaven only knew what the man would force Jess to agree to once he was in a position to hold theft over her head. It was a no win situation either way for her.

That made him incredibly annoyed; at the magistrate, the brother, and the circumstances in which she lived. The house was nothing short of a ramshackle dump. It was incredibly difficult to understand why lodgers would pay to live in such a place.

That though was enough to draw his attention back to the other lodgers. He knew there was something odd about them; he just didn’t know what.

But I will find out
, he mused and made himself a promise that he would search their rooms at the first opportunity.

He made his way up the stairs but, when he turned the corner to his bedchamber and slammed into a delightfully feminine figure he hadn’t realised was there. His arms immediately swept around her to hold her steady when she stumbled. She was so close that her gasp was lost somewhere in the region of his chest, but he paid it no attention. His mind locked on her delicate scent, and how wonderful it felt to have her flush against him.

He looked down at her at the same time she peered up at him.

Even standing on tip-toe she barely reached his chin. Tipping her head back, she immediately became lost in the dark promise in his eyes, and the comfort of his warm embrace.

“I am sorry,” she whispered, ensnared by that gentle gaze.

When she had bumped into him, her hands had lifted instinctively and now rested against the solid wall of his chest. She made no attempt to move them. At the moment they didn’t feel as though they belonged to her.

“It’s alright. No harm was done,” Marcus whispered.

He lifted a slightly shaking hand and tucked an errant curl behind one ear, and breathed in her essence. It was honeysuckle. Sweet and natural, just like her. Logic went out of the window. Reasoning followed it. Nothing could have stopped him from dipping his head and placing his lips over the warmth of hers. He elicited a gasp from her and eased back so that he didn’t frighten her.

“Jessica,” he whispered.

Her name on his lips washed over her. A shiver slid down her spine. It was only when the silence between them thickened that she realised he was expecting her to say something. She tried to think of something but couldn’t. She didn’t usually converse with her lodgers while still in her nightgown – in a darkened hallway – wrapped in their arms in the middle of the night.

It was then that the reality of their situation slammed into her, and she realised what she was allowing to happen.

“I am sorry, I shouldn’t have-” she murmured as she pushed away from him.

Marcus sucked in a reluctant breath and slowly released her. He had no idea what had just happened, but his body ached. Wrapped in the pale fabric of her night gown as she was, Jess looked angelic. The halo of her long hair tumbling wildly around her shoulders made her look wild and carefree. The mental image of her running through a wildflower meadow flickered through his mind with such clarity that he yearned for it to become a reality. He swiftly closed the door on it when his body began to respond and forced himself to focus his attention on more mundane matters.

“I heard voices you see, and wondered who was up and about,” she explained self-consciously. She wanted to tuck her hair up but didn’t have her pins.

I must look an awful fright,
she thought in horror.

“I was downstairs, having a conversation with your brother,” he explained.

Jess frowned. All trace of the warm flush of desire she had just relished immediately receded, and left shame in its wake. Of course, there had to be a reason for him to be up and about in the middle of the night, and it was not her.

“What’s wrong? What’s happened?” she gasped, forcing her attention back to her brother. “Is he alright?”

When she tried to side-step around him to go and check on Ben, Marcus captured her arm.

“He is fine. I just found I couldn’t sleep again so went for a walk. When I came back, I ran into your brother,” Marcus hastened to assure her.

“You couldn’t sleep?” Jessica parroted. “What do you mean ‘again’?”

Marcus tried to ignore the way her lips glistened in the moonlight. When his body began to tremble with the need to touch her, he made himself turn away. He had to put some distance between them before he did something rash like hauling her back into his arms for a very thorough kiss. That would most definitely lead to the bedroom.

“I don’t sleep very well,” he replied, hating to have to lie to her. “I have been for a walk. When I got back, I ran into your brother. I didn’t realise he slept downstairs.”

“Yes. There aren’t enough bedrooms. Ben sleeps in the scullery,” she replied.

Marcus smiled. “I am sorry to have kicked you out of your room.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she hastened to reassure him.

She wanted to ask him what the kiss had been all about, but she couldn’t. Not even when she noticed him studying her lips with a thoughtful frown.

“I will say goodnight then.” His words were interrupted by four chimes from the grandfather clock downstairs.

“Or good morning,” she grumbled to hide her awkwardness.

With as much aplomb as she could muster, she turned around and hurried back to her room. She had to close the door on the sight of Marcus watching her. While it felt rude to shut him out, she had no intention of offering him anything. She didn’t run
that
kind of establishment.