The Lady Is Innocent (The Star Elite Series) (19 page)

“Coward,” Pie called.

“Yes, I am
, but better a live coward than a dead hero.” Jonathan slammed the door behind him and disappeared upstairs with a shudder.

“Who is going first?” Hugo muttered, not relishing the prospect of having to prise his wife away from the wine bottle. If he was honest, he had never ever seen his wife relax and enjoy herself like this
. It was hysterical to see this slightly absent, more than a little domineering, entirely funny side of her come out. Although he wasn’t going to sanction her turning into an old soak, he was glad that she felt that she could let go and enjoy the occasion. He was thrilled that she had made firm friends with Francesca, Cecily, Portia and Florrie, because it went a long way to securing the future of the Star Elite. They were now friends and he wanted to keep it that way.

The sight of Francesca being shoved back onto her seat by
Florrie, who was struggling to focus on her glass made him struggle to bite back a laugh.

“My wife will never forgive me if I break up their cosy chat,” Archie sighed. It felt wonderful to be able to call her ‘my wife’ and he grinned over at
Portia, giving her a cheeky wink when she looked at him. He laughed outright when she winked back at him.

“So what do we do, stand over here and wait until they pass out?” Pie sighed, wondering how deep into her cups
Florrie was.

“We could carry them all out in one
go,” Simon muttered, trying to think of a good way to get his wife up to bed so that she was still speaking to him in the morning.

“Jesus,” Pie snapped in disgust. “We fight smugglers, murderers, despots and French spies and here we are struggling with a handful of females.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Hugo drawled, hiding a smirk. “But those smugglers, murderers, despots and French spies aren’t our wives, and won’t refuse to give us our conjugal rights for the next three weeks.”

“
Three?”
Simon looked at his wife with renewed determination.

Pie started to laugh and felt smug all at once. He knew that whatever happened, no matter how angry she was with him,
Florrie would never attempt to keep him out of the marriage bed.

Hang on a minute, old chap, you aren’t even married yet.
Pie paused and scowled across the room as the realisation dawned that he was standing there talking to the others as though Florrie was his wife, even though they hadn’t exchanged vows. It had felt so right, so natural, to consider himself one of the husbands that he hadn’t stopped to consider that Florrie wasn’t actually his wife and none of the others had corrected his presumption.

“What’s put that scowl on your face?” Archie gave
Pie a nudge.

“The thought of three weeks without conjugal rights
probably,” Simon replied morosely wondering if Francesca would make him sleep on the floor.

“
Florrie isn’t my wife yet,” Pie muttered, shaking his head.

“
Yet,” Hugo replied. “I think your plan has been going a little too well, Pie, and if this impacts on me with Harriett, I may just need to come and find you to seek a little retribution. You owe me,” he muttered darkly.

Pie smirked, not bothered in the least that the others were going to be troubled by their wives. He knew that everyone want
ed to see him and Florrie marry, that was what tonight had been all about after all. If a third wedding was to come about before the Star Elite went their separate ways, then the women would be appeased and life could return to normal.

He closed out the small voice that asked him what he would do if he couldn’t persuade
Florrie to take a chance on him.

Draining his glass, Pie slapped it down onto the table beside him and moved across the room. He ignored Simon’s warning and Hugo’s guffaw. His eyes were locked firmly on
Florrie as he approached.

“Oh ho, trouble is heading this way,” Harriett sighed, staring hard at Pie as he approached.

“It’s time to go to bed,” Pie said gently. He dropped onto his haunches beside Florrie’s chair and stared down at her glass.

He really was rather handsome,
Florrie mused, smiling at him with open adoration.

“She is with us,” Francesca snapped, glaring at her husband. She liked her new friends and wanted the night to continue for a little while longer. It was nice to relax and be in the company of ladies with whom she had a lot in common for a change and nothing, and nobody, was going to spoil it.

“Go away and leave us to decide when we want to go to bed,” Harriett snapped, glaring at Pie indignantly.

“I am just saying that it is getting late and we have a lot to organise tomorrow.” Although he was talking to Harriett, his gaze was firmly locked on
Florrie.

“Do we?”
Florrie suddenly felt the enjoyment drain away. It was replaced with a sadness that she couldn’t hide. “Of course, I have to make arrangements to leave.” She didn’t know what hurt the most, the fact that he couldn’t wait to get rid of her, or the fact that he clearly didn’t want her to make new friends with his colleagues’ wives.

“Look, you have made her sad now,” Harriett sighed, giving him
a none too gentle nudge. “Go away and leave her in peace.”

“No, not making arrangements to leave,” Pie sighed, ignoring Harriett’s insistent prodding. He captured her hand and placed it securely in her lap with a warning look. She seemed to take the hint and shut up
, but he could feel her hard gaze on the side of his face. 

With the end of one long finger
, he tipped Florrie’s head toward him until she met his gaze. He could see tears shimmering on her lashes. It made him suddenly wish that he had kept his mouth shut but he could see no better opportunity than the one that was before him now.

Rising to his feet he held a hand out. “I want a word with you, darling,” Pie drawled.

Florrie stared at his hand for a few moments as though debating the wisdom of going with someone who didn’t want her to be around. Harriett and the others lapsed into silence, having finally realised that something was about to happen.

“I will bring you back when we are done, I promise,” he urged when she made no move to take his hand.

Florrie took a breath, carefully placed her wine goblet on the table beside her and took his hand. She didn’t know what he wanted, probably to know what her plans were for leaving the house, but she wanted to have just a few moments alone with him. After all, it would be the very last time that they would be together. Tomorrow, come hell or high water, she was going to head out to her new life in Norfolk, even though she was going to be leaving a very large part of her heart behind. She loved him and really could deny him nothing.

She caught Simon’s wink as she passed and smiled hesitantly at him as she followed Pie out of the sitting room and into the room next door. It was cold and dark inside the unlit morning room, but that didn’t matter. Pie walked through the shadowed room with a cat-like grace while Florrie stumbled along behind him trying to pick out the different items of furniture scattered around so she didn’t fall flat on her face.

She was quite breathless by the time they drew to a halt next to one of the front windows overlooking the lawns and the small Norman church. She glanced around them and wondered if she should offer to light some candles.

“Is everything alright? It is rather dark in here,” she glanced around her again, a dark frown on her face.

“Has what happened to you
given you a fear of the darkness?” Pie asked, reaching out with one hand to urge her closer. He sensed her initial hesitation, but she eventually gave in and shortened the distance between them. He took the opportunity to prevent her escape by wrapping both arms around her waist. Once she was flush against him he savoured the feel of her against him for a moment and placed a kiss on her brow.

“I am sorry for the others
,” he whispered softly. He eased back to stare down into her face. “They aren’t really a load of drunkards. I think that because of the stresses of the past few weeks, the opportunity to celebrate has rather gone to their heads.”

“I like them. They are a lovely group of people. You are very lucky to be able to consider them as friends,”
Florrie declared softly. She couldn’t understand why he seemed to want to hold her, especially when he had tried to get rid of her only a few nights ago. She was confused and, thanks to the amount of alcohol she had consumed, was determined to get to the bottom of his strange behaviour.

“I am very lucky indeed.”

“So tell me something,” Florrie said, easing out of his arms with more reluctance than she cared to admit. “What is this all about?” She waved her arms around the room but encompassed them in her circle, and tried to ignore the fact that she had to grab on to the back of the nearest chair to stop the room whirling.

“This is about you and me,
Florrie,” Pie warned, his voice dropping to a husky murmur.

“There is no you and me,” she sighed, feeling the threat of tears.

“There is and you know it.”

“You don’t want me.” She was horrified at the quiver in her voice and fought to quell the tears that choked her words.

“Of course I bloody want you, why the hell do you think that I have been desperately trying to keep you safe from harm over the past several weeks? Why the hell do you think I allowed you to seduce me?”

Florrie
gasped, and felt her cheeks flame. She opened her mouth to argue but, much to her shame and consternation, found that she couldn’t protest. She had seduced him.

“I am sorry, I should not have done.”

“Yes, you bloody should,” Pie argued. He sucked in a deep breath and fought to keep hold of his patience. “It was inevitable really. I was intrigued from the first moment I sat next to you in the church and saw you pulling funny faces at Ben, and elbowing Tabatha back. You ensnared me even then.”

“Ensnared you?”
Florrie’s eyes grew wide. She had never ensnared anyone in her entire life and was fairly certain that she didn’t know how. She gazed at him with a mixture of shock and consternation.

“Yes, damn it,” Pie growled. He couldn’t keep his hands off her and grabbed her shoulders in a gentle hold. He dipped his head until she looked at him. “I now demand that you do something about it.”

“D-do something?” Florrie glanced around them nervously. What was he talking about? Her slightly alcohol soaked brain wouldn’t co-operate and allow her to think logically. Surely he didn’t expect her to attempt to seduce him again, here and now, in the morning room, did he?

“Marry me,
Florrie.”

The words dropped between them.
Florrie stared at him and tried to absorb what he had just asked. Had she really heard them? Had Pie really proposed to her?

She thought of
her small cottage near to her Uncle Silas and felt it slide a little further out of her grasp. Was she wishing for rainbows thinking that she could turn her back on the man before her, and head off to spend the rest of her life as a lonely spinster who would always wonder what might have been?

“I-I don’t know,”
Florrie sighed. She wanted to say ‘yes’. The words hovered on her lips but she just couldn’t say them.

She couldn’t ignore his commitment to the Star Elite. Although the people next door had battled their own demons and found each other along the way, they were happily married and deeply in love with each other. Did she really love Pie? Was it really possible to fall in love after only three and a bit short weeks?

She knew in her heart of hearts that it was. That this man standing so tall and proud before her was the other half of her soul and she couldn’t bring herself to simply turn around and walk away. Not after everything they had been through. She loved him, but he had yet to declare any feelings for her.

“I need to think,”
Florrie murmured quietly. She turned away. The wine suddenly sat a little heavier in her stomach and didn’t feel as pleasant as it had moments earlier.

“Wait, talk to me,” Pie urged, halting her by the door. “What is it that puts you off? I mean, we can still use your cottage in Norfolk, we just won’t live there all the time.” He glanced around the room ruefully. “We have a bit of work to do here now.”

“Here?” Florrie stared at him before she shifted her stunned gaze to the room.

“I bought it from Jamie.” He coughed uncomfortably. “I bought the house along with about thirty acres of land, although heaven knows what we will do with them. I have never farmed anything in my life and don’t know where to start but, with you by my side, I am sure that we are more than capable of muddling through.” 

“Good Lord, you bought this house?” Florrie sighed.

“It’s a good a place as any to set up a home. It is close to your cousin so you will have Cecily to keep you company while Jamie and I are away, and vice versa. If anything happens and you need help
, Jamie is just down the road. You can keep your cottage and we can use it as often as you please.”

“But you have your work with the Star Elite.”

Pie nodded slowly. He wondered if this was the reason why she was reluctant to commit to him.

“I do, and it will take me away for long stretches at a time but I now have a home to come back to. You, and whatever children we have.” He hurried on when he sensed her objection. “It will be no different to what Hugo, Harriett, Simon, Francesca, Archie, Portia, Jamie and Cecily all have together. The difference is that you are close to your cousin and Cecily.”

Her acceptance hovered on her lips and she had to struggle not to fall into his arms and give him anything he wanted. The only thing that held her back was the knowledge that he still he had yet to declare any feelings for her. Florrie sighed despondently. She couldn’t ask him outright. It didn’t seem right to put him in the awkward position of having to confirm he actually cared rather than felt any deep, abiding love.

He made
their life together sound so perfect, so idyllic, that a part of her wondered what was wrong with her. If he didn’t care about her, he was a long way toward it. After all, he had brought a house, and land, with a view to settling down together. That was a big commitment and had to be supported by real affection, didn’t it?

But the logical side of her asked her if she really did want to hear him say that he didn’t love her deeply just yet, but it would all come in time. Men like Pie were honourable men. Men who felt they had to protect those weaker than them; in his case,
Florrie. She didn’t want him thinking that her latest problems with her aunt, finding the body, and their intimacies, meant that he had to spend the rest of his life ‘doing his duty’ and protecting her.

“I need some air,”
Florrie sighed, moving out of his grasp and walking toward the door in more purposeful strides.

“I’ll come with you.”

“No!” She snapped and turned to look at him somewhat awkwardly. There were so many things she wanted to ask; to say, but she couldn’t put a voice to any of them. “I thank you for your offer but, if I may, I should like some time to think.”

“About what?”

But the question echoed around the empty space Florrie had just left. Pie stared at the door for several moments and realised that things were worse than he had feared. He had expected to have to persuade her a little, but hadn’t expected her outright aversion to the thought of getting married to him. He could almost feel his dreams slipping away and there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it.

He didn’t need to think twice
, and stalked toward the door after her.

By the time
Florrie made it to her room, tears were streaming down her face. She closed the door behind her and moved into the room but then stood there, not sure what to think or do. She wanted to run back down stairs, throw herself at him and tell him that yes, she would marry him, but the other part of her didn’t want him feeling obligated to offer for her because he had helped her out of her woes, and they had been intimate. She wished she knew which way his affections lay but knew there was no possibility of her ever finding the courage to ask him.

She squeaked in alarm when the door was suddenly thrust open and Pie walked in.

“I just want to know one thing,” Pie demanded, slamming the door behind him. “If you had no intention of ever getting married, why did you sleep with me?”

Florrie
stared at him. She couldn’t tell him. She couldn’t lay everything open to a man who didn’t feel the same. “It just happened,” she finished weakly.

“It just happened. You seduced me,” he accused, pointing one long finger at her. “You gave me your innocence. Do you really think I would just take it and walk away saying ‘thank you very much, until next time?’ He scoffed and glared at her. The sight of her tears unnerved him but he refused to pay any attention to them right now
, not when he needed to get to the root of her hesitation. He desperately wanted her to be honest and answer him. 

“I-it was a mistake,” she said hesitantly. He knew she was lying from the look in his eyes.

“You know damned well that I don’t believe that. You knew exactly what you were doing. What I want to know is why you chose me? Why, Florrie? Tell me?”

“Just leave it, Pie. I am tired and want to go to bed.”
Where she could have a good long cry and try to work through her misery
, she thought morosely to herself.

“I am not going to leave it.” Pie snapped. He had to fight the urge to shake her. His disappointment at her refusal to marry him, and he was taking it as a refusal, irritated the hell out of him. Did she not realise how much he was prepared to change to be able to have a life with her? Did she not realise how much he adored her? He frowned at that and stared at her in consideration for several moments.

She wiped at the tears in her eyes and jumped when Pie handed her a handkerchief. “Thank you.”

“Talk to me,
Florrie. Tell me what upsets you so?”

It was his gentleness that did it. She
hiccupped a sob and buried her face in his handkerchief. When he tried to draw her into a hug, she moved away and put several feet of distance between them.

“Tell me,
Florrie. I can’t read your bloody mind.”

Florrie
knew that he would continue to badger her. She had nothing to lose really. She loved him; adored him, but knew that there was little likelihood of anyone as wonderfully handsome and charming as Pie ever being interested in someone like her. Tomorrow she would leave and not look back. Right now though, she had her heart to break just a little bit more.

Drawing her shoulders back she turned watery eyes on him and stared at him almost defiantly.

“I thank you for your kind offer, but I am afraid that I cannot possibly accept your hand in -,” she sucked in a breath and fought to keep the quiver from her voice, “- matrimony. I have to go to Norfolk to start my new life and hopefully there, I can forget you and move on with what is left of my life. I shall always remember this place with fondness, in spite of all of the adverse things that have happened here. But, more importantly, I shall always remember you,” she whispered. She made no attempt to swipe at the tears that flowed this time. The sadness on his face broke her heart even more. “The devil of it is, that after everything that has happened, I wouldn’t change a single second of the time we have had together.”

“Then why won’t you stay and spend yo
ur life with me?” Pie demanded feeling thoroughly confused. She had to feel something for him or she wouldn’t be this upset. So what was wrong with her?

“I am afraid that isn’t possible. You see, I happen to love you so very much and I cannot bear to see the disappointment in your eyes as we spend our lives together and you realise you are with someone you cannot possibly hope to have the same feelings for.” She hiccupped and let the silence settle between them. In all honesty she couldn’t bring herself to say anything else. Her heart had risen to her throat and now threatened to choke her.