Temptation: 3 (Timeless Series) (12 page)

Lucas laughed. “Are you sure you want to play against Parker? I don’t even like playing him.”

“That is because you are a terrible chess player,
mon capitaine
,” Jacques said.

“I seem to remember beating you a couple of times during this trip,” Lucas teased good-naturedly.

Jacques snorted. “I have to let you win sometimes. Otherwise I have no partner.”

“Well, a game of chess will help pass the time,” Penny said, laughing along with the others at the table as Lucas stood to refill his bourbon. While he poured, his eyes searched for others at the table
who needed a refill. Penny waited until he finished before she looked purposely at Parker. “Maybe you can even give me some pointers.”

“I’d be happy to.” Parker nodded.

“Since Penny’s playing, do you mind if I watch a bit before I make a bigger fool of myself with my lack of knowledge.” Mindy pushed her empty plate forward and grinned. “But I should warn you, Penny is better than she’s letting on.”

“Is she, now?” Parker slanted a glance at Penny, the heat of his expression sending warning signals to her brain. Considering the warm, tingling sensations his look generated, Penny wondered how great her idea truly was. She breathed a sigh of relief when Parker turned to Mindy and nodded encouragingly. “You’re still learning. It’s really a game of strategy.” After speaking, his focus landed on Penny once again and that knowing, amused smile was back. He captured her gaze for far too long before releasing it.

In a dismissive gesture, Penny glanced at the captain and smiled sweetly. “So, tell me. Do you think this beautiful weather will hold for the rest of the trip?” She would win this mental game with him or her name wasn’t Penelope Lytton.

~~

“The mademoiselle is no novice. Eh, Parker?” Jacques said not more than fifteen minutes later. “She has definitely played the game before.”

Parker nodded as he and Penny played chess in the officers’ game room.

Lucas was on watch and Mindy sat across from the Frenchman.

After a few moves on both their parts, more of Jacques’s laughter rang out.

Grinning, Parker shrugged. “I had a feeling she’d played before, especially after Miss Bowers’s comment.” With frank admiration, his stare moved slowly over Penny, catching her gaze once it finished the caressing journey. He added, still grinning, “I’ve always savored playing with a worthy adversary, and I find this is a pleasant surprise. Very pleasant indeed.”

A slight blush rose up her under his perusal, causing a tug of awareness. He looked back at the board. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to agree to this game. His attention, when not on the board contemplating his next move, had been directed solely at her and he was now having a hard time ignoring the fiery sensations such blushes generated.

When more than an hour had passed without an obvious winner, Jacques glanced at Mindy and whispered, “I think I will leave the chaperoning to you,
mademoiselle
. Mornings come too quickly for me, and the men are too hungry.”

Mindy nodded. Parker waved distractedly, but Penny was too absorbed in their game to notice his departure. Eventually, Mindy put her head back against the settee and closed her eyes. Soon her soft snores accompanied the sounds of water lapping against the sides of the ship.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Parker said when Penny began to move her bishop to a precarious position. In answer to his warning, she tipped her head in a challenging tilt and let go of the piece.

Parker deftly took her bishop and realized his error a few moves later when his queen came into jeopardy. Grinning and shaking his head, he said, approval clearly in his tone, “So, who taught you to use such daring strategy, Miss Layton?”

Laughing, she moved to take his queen. “My father. He used to always say it was the biggest mistake he ever made.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“Because I beat him regularly and, up until he taught me the game, no one in the area could except for Collingswood.” Her hand shot to her mouth as she realized what she’d said. An alarmed blue gaze sought his.

Their stares locked for endless seconds.

“How is it your father plays chess with a duke?” His voice was barely above a whisper.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Please, I can’t answer that.” She opened eyes that now glistened with pleading.

Her beseeching expression disturbed him, had him questioning his motives. “Why all the secrets?” He studied her features and noted something else he hadn’t expected. Pain. The thought of his questions placing such heartache in those blue depths left him feeling empty.

“Why is my past so interesting?”

“Your past is not what interests me. What interests me is that you’re so quick to hide it,” he replied truthfully.

“I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Do your parents know you’re sailing to America?”

“My parents?”
Her eyes narrowed in confusion.

“Aye.
At first I thought you might be running from them, but the obvious pleasure in your voice when talking about your father negates the notion.”

“My parents are dead and I’m on my own.”

Hearing the sorrow in her words, Parker dropped his goal of questioning her further, not comfortable with destroying their earlier camaraderie any more than he already had. He rose. “Well, I concede defeat. Hopefully you’ll let me regain some of my dignity by playing another game. Tomorrow night, perhaps?”

She offered one of her beguiling smiles and readily agreed.

While Penny woke Mindy, Parker left the room, wondering why the enchanting woman affected him so. Would he ever get over his lust for her? It was bad enough when she was mocking him, but when she’d sent him that smile a moment ago, it took every bit of willpower to walk away as if it meant nothing. In reality, the thought of her bestowing one on him so easily increased this need she stirred tenfold.

~~

With chessboard in hand, Parker stood on deck. A brisk, steady wind eased some of the tropical heat beating down on his neck when the sun came out of hiding from the billowy white clouds forever present in the blue skies above. His gaze swept over the ship. Catching sight of Penny, he bit back a smile when he spied Miss Bowers perched next to her. The damned minx had figured out a way to not only put a cog in his plans of using her friend to dig deeper into her past, but also to foil his attempts to rile her.

Penny no longer avoided him, yet always had her cabin mate close by, which amused him no end. He glimpsed a bit of a challenge in her actions, and he could no more ignore that challenge than he could quit breathing. Of course, after their shared chess game, his quest for knowledge of her past dimmed somewhat. For the last two days, he’d been working to enchant the lady and he could tell she’d warmed a bit to his charm, though she took great pains to hide her reaction.

He now looked forward to the next few days rather than dreading them, so much so that he wished the voyage wouldn’t be over quite so quickly.

Pushing that thought aside, he ambled toward the two women sitting in a shady spot, obviously enjoying the afternoon breeze. Neither seemed bothered by the continual rocking of the schooner under full sails.

“Ladies.” He nodded, dropping onto the empty bench next to them. He then started setting up the board on a nearby table.

“Mr. Davis,” Mindy gushed, smiling.
“How nice to see you.”

“I’m sure it is. But I’d thought we were ready to dispense with formalities. You’re to call me Parker. If you don’t, there’s no way I can return the favor and call you anything other than Miss Bowers.”

“Of course. I forgot.” A blush darkened her already pink cheeks as she cleared her throat. “Parker. After all, we are friends, are we not?”

“Exactly, Mindy.”
Grinning, he turned his attention to the blonde beauty next to her. “And what about you, Miss Layton? Are we to keep up the formalities?”

Due to the tropical humidity, both women dressed in less formal attire than their first night on board the ship. Penny wore a light blue muslin gown that, without petticoats, pantaloons, or the whalebone stays of a corset, outlined her lush, compact figure, sending the usual signals to his brain that incited his senses. Whenever near her, those senses were on full alert.

“I have no problem with formalities.” She smiled sweetly, yet he caught the bit of mischief displayed in her eyes before she shuttered the look. “I prefer to allow only close friends the privilege of using my given name.” Her new expression definitely said he didn’t fit into the category.

“I must be doing something wrong.” His grin only widened and he clutched his chest over his heart. “I thought we were friends.”

“You thought wrong.” Her chin rose an inch, presenting her usual stubborn mien. “We’ll never be friends.”

“My mistake.”
His smile quickly died and he remained silent, lost in thought. Finally, he seized her gaze again and asked solemnly, “What would it take to ensure your favor?”

He held the stare, unwilling to mask the intensity he felt just then. After being in her company, trying to charm and cajole her for days, he realized his plans had been a double-edged sword. He’d been the one charmed. More and more he loved seeing her impish smile. In fact, he said things just to put one on her face, because her smile could warm his heart for the entire day. And this concerned him.

Penny broke eye contact and glanced at the hands she nervously wrung. After an uncomfortable moment, she sighed. “Why do you need my favor? Isn’t Mindy’s enough?”

Parker shrugged. “One cannot have enough friends.”

“You really think we can be friends?”

“Don’t you?”

She shook her head and cast her focus upon the water. His followed. The gentle splashing was the only sound until a fish jumped, its plop dispelling the quiet.

Eventually she spoke, her soft voice barely audible. “No, I don’t.”

“Why?” He hated that his whispered word held a note of desperation, as if the answer was too painful to bear.

“Because friends don’t pry.”
She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. She glanced up, allowing him to see the honesty shining from her eyes. “They realize some things are better off left alone.”

Parker sucked in a breath. The sound of her clipped English accent never ceased to tug a reaction from his gut. The raw anguish in her tone had him questioning his motives again. Maybe her secrets were better off left alone. He leaned against the rail and scrutinized Penny’s face, as if by staring he could discover the reason her secrets mattered. Why did he have the urge to uncover them? Why did she intrigue him? “Maybe you’re right,” he finally said, still eyeing her. He really did see her as a friend. And as one, Parker felt her best interest would be served by getting her safely to her destination so she could marry her intended, however fishy those plans seemed.

He nodded. “Go ahead and make your move. I’ll not ask any more questions today.”

~~

“Good evening,” Penny said, breezing into the dining room. The captain, Mr. Hillman, Mindy, and Mr. Davis were seated along with two other officers, their dinners already on the table.

Jacques came up behind her carrying two bowls.
“
Bonsoir. Ça va, mademoiselle
?” He placed one on the table in front of her chair and one at his spot. Then he sat.

“
Très bien. Merci,
Jacques.” Penny smiled warmly. “It smells delicious.” Her bowl appeared to be filled with the usual bean and seafood soup they’d had too many times in the past two weeks, complete with scallops and potatoes.

She shook her napkin and laid it on her lap, purposefully ignoring Parker. Thank God she’d soon be able to escape his confusing presence. “I’ll miss the balmy weather once our journey ends.”

Penny chanced another glance at him and forgot to breathe. In the past few days, he seemed to smile at her more and more, and when he did, like right now, the dangerous element in his expression disappeared. Heavens! Parker was far too attractive. She looked away, fighting the urge to return his grin, and ate a spoonful of soup instead.

“When are we reaching land?” Mindy asked.

“We should be spotting land sometime tonight, and enter the Chesapeake in the early morning hours. We’ll reach Baltimore tomorrow after the noon hour,” Lucas replied. He took a sip of bourbon. “We’re all excited at the prospect of finally ending our journey.” Turning to Penny, he asked, “So, what are your plans after we dock?”

“I’ll need to secure passage to San Francisco. I’ll be taking the train.”

“You’re traveling by train across the country all alone?”

“My plans are set and I’ll be fine. What can happen on a train?”

Lucas shrugged. “I only hope you’ll be careful. Transcontinental travel isn’t easy and there are many dangers, especially for a woman alone.”

“Of course I’ll be careful.” Penny caught the silent communication that passed between the captain and his brother. Her annoyance grew. “I made it this far, didn’t I? The rest should be easy.”

Parker cleared his throat. “We’re only worried about your safety.”