Mishap Marriage. Helen Dickson
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with his thoughts, his life, tormented him, overpowered him. He didn’t understand why she had such a volatile effect on him, but he understood that he wanted her—he wanted her warm and willing in his arms.
In the dining room it had not gone unmissed that her sister-in-law’s sharp eyes were fixed on her the entire evening, which led him to believe that all was not as it seemed at Melrose Hill. It hadn’t been difficult for Zack to put the pieces together or to understand why Shona McKenzie had proposed to him afterwards. And he could sense her distress now as she sat at the side of the creek with her arms wrapped around her drawn-up knees, staring into the depths of the pool.
Zack distinctly felt his heart move and soften, then something speared him in the centre of his chest. She was a determined, wilful young woman, there was no doubt about that, but there was something vulnerable and sweet in her, something worth pursuing, something untapped, which she had allowed no one to see. He had been overwhelmed when he had left her the night before by the stunning realisation that this woman, if he didn’t take care, could mean something to him and he didn’t want it. He ought to stay away, he warned himself as he descended the path, realising Shona McKenzie spelled trouble and more trouble.
In this secluded place she had removed her dress. Her hair was wet and slicked back from her face, her petticoat clinging to her body. Her flesh shimmered in the light filtering through the treetops, making her appear as tantalising and as elusive as a woodland sprite. She was the lovely, young yet feisty, naïve young woman he had seen on the quay and he’d been unable to think of anything but her since last night. The sight of her hypnotised him and he felt the peace thread through his veins and stitch itself to his heart. Whatever the danger she posed to his sensibilities, he knew he could not walk away.
But that was a far cry from wanting to marry her. He had no wish to sacrifice his life as a freedom-loving bachelor and he already had one obligation along that line—an obligation that made it impossible to marry Shona McKenzie.
He had a daughter, a child he was unable to openly acknowledge, a child he loved fiercely. He had never expected to feel that way about another human being. When he last left England he would never have credited how profoundly he could be affected by a pair of innocent brown eyes and a dimpled smile from a small child. Nothing had ever claimed his heart like that before. Some day soon he would have to shackle himself to the mother in order to claim his daughter.
Occupied by her own thoughts, Shona didn’t hear him approach until he was directly behind her. She started and turned. Her heart gave a traitorous leap at the sight of him. Glancing up at him in alarm, she scrambling to her feet.
‘Captain Fitzgerald,’ she gasped, extremely uncomfortable with the dark way he was regarding her, his gaze narrowed and assessing. Her hand crept to her throat. Her state of undress embarrassed her and she was mortified that he should see her thus.
Zack met her searching gaze with an amused smile, momentarily awed by her eyes as they caught a shaft of light from the sun. For the moment, they looked similar to emerald-green crystals, but then they seemed to change colour in the shifting light. He was awed by the exquisite creaminess of her complexion and the softness of her eyes. Slim and graceful, there was an air of lightness about her, as if at any minute she was about to break into a sprightly dance. With some difficulty he dragged his mind to full attention. He knew she was upset that he should see her in a state of undress and pondered how he might soothe her.
A smile tugged at his lips. ‘I’ll close my eyes if it makes you feel better,’ he said softly, his voice imbued with warmth and humour.
‘No,’ she groaned. ‘It’s too late now. You’ve already seen me.’
‘Believe me, Miss McKenzie, I am no lecher...’
‘Neither are you blind!’
‘Nay, I am not blind,’ he admitted with a chuckle, ‘and I cannot deny that I am pleasured by the sight of your perfection.’
‘Under different circumstances, I would thank you for the compliment. But standing before you with half my clothes missing, I find it would be inappropriate.’
‘So would you mind if I stayed?’
‘I don’t mind at all.’
He laughed. ‘But you are very serious. You don’t really want me to stay. You are still cross with me.’
‘If I was, I would say so. What are you doing here?’
The corner of his mouth twisted wryly in a gesture that was not quite a smile. ‘I saw you leave the house. I wanted to apologise for my behaviour last night. I should have known better than to speak so harshly and to say the things I did.’
‘Really? You mean to say you followed me all the way here to do that? I am surprised. No one ever comes here.’
‘Your sister-in-law told me where to find you.’
‘Did she?’ Shona’s lips twisted with scorn. ‘Now, why am I not surprised? As you see, I came here to bathe. I’m quite amazed that, knowing this, Carmelita would suggest you follow me.’ Although, she thought, turning from him and sitting back down on the rock, Carmelita did want rid of her. Seeing Captain Fitzgerald as a possible suitor, she would do her utmost to throw them together.
Feeling the heat of the afternoon sun, shrugging himself out of his jacket, Zack hunkered down beside her. ‘I get the impression that the two of you do not get on.’
Shifting her gaze over the water to the feathered palms on the edge of the creek, she said quietly, ‘I have no great love for my sister-in-law, Captain Fitzgerald. We tolerate each other only because the situation demands it. In fact, we seem to exist only to antagonise each other.’ She tilted her head. ‘You look worried, Captain. You needn’t. It wasn’t particularly flattering for me to have to plead with you to consider marrying me and now I can only regret my foolishness in doing so. I’m not fool enough to repeat what I asked you last night.’
‘I suppose that’s a relief. Although being proposed to by a beautiful young lady was a unique occasion for me. You have a way of knocking a man between the eyes.’
‘Sometimes it means grasping opportunities even though we might be making the greatest mistake of our lives.’
‘What matters is that we learn from our mistakes and not to stand about licking our wounds. You don’t want to be my wife, I assure you.’
She shrugged, tossing her hair over her shoulder. It was already drying in fine wisps and floating back to caress her bare shoulders. ‘Perhaps you’re right.’ Turning her head, she looked at him directly. ‘You don’t want to marry me. I do understand.’
‘You do?’ He studied her face. She was no fool—her eyes were bright with an unexpected intelligence he had recognised from the first. Involuntarily, he dropped his gaze to her mouth. It was a tantalising mouth, moist and carnation-pink and made to be kissed, generous, with a lush bottom lip that begged for a man’s caress.
Shona nodded and caught her breath. She felt the impact of his gaze as she realised how intently he was studying her face. Around his neck there was a silver chain—what was suspended from it was hidden in the folds of his shirt. Did he perhaps wear a crucifix? She wanted to touch him very badly, to feel under the pious necessity of finding out what it was that was hidden. He was too close, she thought suddenly. Too close and too masculine. She could feel his warmth, could feel the vital power within him. His potent virility made her feel entirely too vulnerable and more than a little afraid. But for some reason she could not explain she did not want to move.
‘I would appreciate it if you would refrain from mentioning to anyone what I proposed last night. Unless you already have...’
‘No,’ he answered quietly. ‘It remains between ourselves. I won’t marry you. I can’t.’
‘But—you told me you are not married.’
‘True,’ he said, looking beyond her and squinting his eyes in the sun, ‘but back in England I have a duty I am obliged to fulfil.’