Heaven Scent (18 page)

“Rafe,” she added, with a deep breath.
“I’ll get them settled in and hot baths prepared.” She hugged Rosa
to her side. “Tomorrow, we will take you to the dressmaker. We must
get you outfitted properly.”

Rafe thought Rosa’s smile could only be
described as radiant. Patrick’s gaze flew to his.

“St. John, keep an eye on things until
we get back,” Rafe said, as he backed out of the room. “I hope you
brought tequila with you. I’m almost out.”

Beau grinned, his arm braced against
the mantle, one leg crossed over the other. “I did, but the only
way you’ll get your hands on it is if you beat me in a game of draw
poker.”

#######

“I feel like I left the fox in the
henhouse.”

Riding inside the Sutherland coach,
Rafe frowned over at Patrick. “What?”

Patrick flicked a hand at Rafe, his
legs braced against the floor. “St. John. He has not quit flirting
with mother since he arrived.”

Rafe laughed as he gazed out the
window. “He flirts with all women. It’s just his way. It’s the
reason we got along so well back in Texas - we had a lot in
common.”

Patrick shook his head. “I cannot
believe he traveled from Texas alone with a beautiful woman like
Rosa.”

Turning back to his brother, Rafe
frowned. “If you’re worried about her virtue, it’s under lock and
key - believe me.”

His eyes widened. “Are you implying
that you tried to…”

“Come on, Patrick...” Frowning, Rafe
waved his hand towards Patrick then dropped it to his knee. “You
act like you’re some kind of saint. Even I know better than
that.”

Patrick’s voice rose. “There are women
that deserve to be shown a certain respect - others that do not
expect it at all.”

What bothered Patrick now? Rafe knew he
frequented certain gentlemen clubs on a regular basis. Clubs where
female entertainment could be bought for the right price. Rafe
wondered if their current financial situation had cut into
Patrick’s favors, causing him to be more irritable than
usual.

“Damn brother, I’m surprised you can
move around at all in that stuffed shirt. I wasn’t implying Rosa
didn’t deserve respect, I just…”

Rafe stopped. What
did
he mean? Once upon a
time, he did think of women as a means to a quick… end. But, God
had changed that. And Tarin.

“I just, what?” Patrick
cried, clutching the portfolio on his lap in a tight grip. “Am used
to using women? You had better have the utmost respect and proper
intentions with Tarin or you
will
answer to me.” He leaned forward on the seat. “Or,
has that changed with Rosa’s arrival?” He pointed a finger at Rafe.
“And don’t even think you can have them both.”

Gritting his teeth, Rafe sat forward on
the bench, too. “Both? Are you mad? Have you taken a good look at
me lately?”

Nostrils flared, Patrick said, “Forgive
me if I don’t find sympathy for your plight. I find it hard to
muster for someone who has the attentions of two beautiful women.”
Patrick breathed in through his nose. “You don’t fool me, Rafe. I
know how you were before you left. You would have one girl waiting
for you in the garden, while you fooled with another in the
library. I won’t have it for Tarin - or Rosa.”

Stunned, Rafe sat back in
his seat. His brother had a fine opinion of him, didn’t he? Rafe
couldn’t blame him. Once upon a time, he
was
a rogue. Before he left Boston,
he’d had his pick of women to warm his bed. The ladies thought him
handsome and Rafe knew it.

The night of his graduation from
Harvard, Rafe had a fight with his father and left home without
warning. He had deserted his family at a time when he should have
stepped up to take the reins of the business. Instead, Patrick had
been forced to do so in his stead.

Yes, he had once been an arrogant young
man and selfish womanizer - like his father. Not anymore. God had
humbled him in a way he never could’ve imagined.

Rafe would do his damndest to change
Patrick‘s opinion. He would marry Tarin Worthington and take his
family to a social status well beyond his father‘s
aspirations.

But, what about Rosa?

He remembered their last conversation
the night he was captured. If Rosa came to Boston with the
expectation of marriage…

He blew out a breath. Rafe didn’t want
to hurt her. She was the sole reason he lived. How did he thank her
by saying ‘sorry, you traveled all this way but I can’t marry
you?’

Tarin was the woman for him and no one
could change that. He wanted her in his bed and her father wanted
Rafe in her life. Amen.

“I’m a changed man, Patrick. My
intentions towards Tarin are pure. I want no other.” Staring down
at his lap, he shook his head. “I don’t know what to do about
Rosa.”

Silence. “Why?”

Rafe glanced out his window before
staring at his brother. “How do I tell a woman that saved my life
and traveled across the country for me that I want someone
else?”

Patrick‘s shoulders relaxed. “You be
honest and let the chips fall where they may.”

Rafe laughed to himself. “You haven’t
seen Rosa with a gun.“

“What?!” Patrick’s eyes
widened.

Rafe laughed again. “She’s damn good
with a gun. Not that she would use it on me, but she does have a
temper.”

Patrick laughed with him. Clearing his
throat, he tugged at his sleeves. “I may just have to be there to
console her.” He raised an eyebrow.

Rafe stilled. Patrick and Rosa? She
would eat his poor brother alive.

Pulling up to the curb at McAllister’s
office, Rafe reached across and slapped his brother on the knee.
“Let’s go sign a new client so we can afford those clothes the
women are going to buy tomorrow.”

#####

“I have wanted to get you alone ever
since I got here.”

Rafe found himself in another heated
kiss with Rosa out on the solar balcony. He had stepped out for a
moment to enjoy a smoke before he and Beau settled in for a night
of cards and tequila.

The kiss was definitely the invitation
Rafe had told Patrick was under lock and key. Damn, what he would
have given to have this back in Texas.

“Rosa, no.“ He shoved her to arms
length. “There’s something I’ve got to tell you.”

She trailed her palms up
his chest and stared at him through heavy-lidded eyes. “You can
tell me in my room,
mi
amor
” she whispered. “In bed.”

Rafe stilled, shocked his body did not
respond, didn’t show the slightest interest in the beautiful woman
standing before him. Had his injuries ruined more than his flesh?
Had he completely lost his mind?

Tarin didn’t want him. She had told him
so, just today. So why couldn’t he get it up for Rosa? A woman
Patrick found even more beautiful than the copper-haired wench that
had him tied in knots he may never free?

Rosa tried to pull his head down for
another kiss. He held firm.

“Rosa, here, sit down.” He led her to
one of the wrought-iron chairs at the table. Rafe paced a while,
trying to figure out how to tell her without hurting her
feelings.

Stopping, he dropped to squat in front
of her. Her eyes sparkled in the dim candlelight, her gaze filled
with adoration.

Adoration he didn’t deserve or
want.

“A lot has changed since I saw you
last.”

Her hand squeezed his where
it dangled between his legs. “I know. You are fit, well,
mi amor
. So handsome.”
Her hands caressed his cheeks.

He pulled them away. “You saved my life
that night. And I will forever be grateful.”

The smile on her face made guilt
tighten his gut. Leaning forward to kiss him again, the neckline of
her gown drooped. Her breasts were almost completely exposed to his
gaze. She made no move to cover them.

Hell-fire, he had to stop this. “Rosa,
there’s a woman…”

She sat up in the chair, her back
ramrod straight. Her wide eyes pooled with tears. “No…” She shook
her head.

“She’s important to me.”

Jumping up from the chair, she nearly
knocked him over in her haste to get to the railing. Clutching it,
she stared out into the inky blackness.

He came to stand behind her. “I didn’t
expect it or seek her out. It just… happened.”

Her voice was soft when she spoke, her
accent heavy with tears. “Since mama and papa died, all I have
thought about is finding you. To be with you, take care of you.”
She turned to stare at him. “We belong together, Rafe.”

Was she feeling lost without her family
rather than heartbroken over him? God, he hoped so.

“No, Rosa.” He shook his head. “But you
are welcome to stay here as long as you’d like. I just don’t want
you to assume something that isn’t there.”

“Rafe,” she said, clutching the lapels
of his coat, “I know I don’t have schooling and fancy dresses like
women here. But I can change for you.”

“Rosa,” he said, taking her hands in
his, “I know you can. But I don’t want you to change for me. You’re
beautiful the way you are.” He smiled at her. “It wouldn’t change
anything. I care for her and intend to marry her.”

Pulling away slowly, she backed against
the railing and crossed her arms over her chest. Her
whiskey-colored eyes blazed in anger. “If she is so important,
where is she, then? Why isn’t she here tonight for
dinner?”

Rafe stared at the stones beneath his
booted feet. “We had a falling out today,” he said, his gaze
meeting the challenge in her eyes. “But, we will reconcile, I
assure you.”

She studied him a long moment. “You
want to marry a fool!” she stated, storming past him.

His shoulders slumped as he turned to
watch her go.

“So, who is she?”

Rafe’s head snapped around. Beau stood
in the shadows of the solar doors, glasses and tequila in hand. Two
cigars stood tall in his shirt pocket behind a deck of
cards.

Shaking his head, Rafe met Beau at the
table and sat. Did he tell Beau? The two of them had been through a
lot together under Jack Hays’ command. If he chose to confide in
anyone, it would be Beauregard St. John.

“She married? With child? An
ogre?”

Rafe chuckled to himself. “I wish it
were that simple.”

Lighting a cigar, Beau took a puff
before he spoke. “I’ve got nothing but time, my friend. Besides, I
have a better chance of winning the first round if I keep you
distracted.”

Grinning, Rafe poured them both a glass
of tequila. Leaning back on two chair legs, he took a drink. Now
that he thought about it, Beau might be able to help him uncover
the truth behind Kent and Worthington. St. John had a tracking nose
like a St. Bernard. He would certainly be less suspicious than Rafe
inquiring himself.

“Tarin Worthington -
Lady
Tarin
Worthington.”

Eyes round, Beau stopped dealing the
cards to stare at Rafe. “British nobility?”

He nodded. The cigar drooped on Beau’s
bottom lip. “When you aim, you aim high.”

Collecting his cards on the table, Rafe
said, “Actually, it wasn’t me - her father approached
me.”

Rafe filled him in on every damned
thing that had transpired since he arrived in Boston - except of
course, the intimate details of his time with Tarin.

When he finished, St. John set down his
cards. Arranging them in a neat stack at his elbow, Beau slowly
folded his hands together on the table. He stared at Rafe dead on.
“You’re damned.”

Rafe burst out laughing. “Tell me
something I don‘t know.”

Beau smoothed back a lock of black hair
from his face. “Bed her and your problem is solved. She will have
no choice but to marry you.”

Rafe’s smile vanished, the cards in his
hand forgotten. “Bed her? Hell, all I think about is bedding her.”
He took a deep breath. “I’m afraid to show her… what happened to
me.”

Hating the melancholy that accompanied
him these days, Rafe tried to lighten the mood. “Besides once she
sees that pretty face of yours, I’ll probably lose her
anyway.”

Beau‘s eyes were round, somber. “Then
she isn’t deserving of you.”

Rafe gave him a brief nod. St. John
would always be loyal. He knew that. Beau had stood by him through
many battles over the years and had saved his hide a time or
two.

“More the other way around,” Rafe
replied. “If she doesn’t recoil from me, she’ll hate me once she
finds out about the deal with her father.” He blew out a breath.
“But, first things, first. I have to get her to agree to
courtship.”

Nodding, Beau said, “Tomorrow, I’ll go
down to the docks and see what I can find out about your future
father-in-law and Kent. I can’t imagine a duke’s son involved in
opium shipping. There’s got to be another story there.”