Chapter Nine

      ‘There he is. That’s your mark,’ Mercedes whispered at his ear a few hours later. The quiet inn had been transformed into a noisy crowd of people. It was a Friday and wages had been paid out. Men jostled at the bar for tankards of ale and the activity was brisk around the billiards table. Even a few women were present, although none were as stunning as Mercedes.

      Tonight she wore a tight-fitted gown of deep-blue satin, trimmed in black lace and cut shockingly low, shoulders bared, the star pendant hanging from a black satin ribbon at her neck. Looking as she did, Greer was almost ready to forgive her for hustling him that afternoon. Almost.

      He kept a hand at her back, ushering her through the crowd to an empty space near the billiards table where they could watch the games. ‘Him?’ Greer nodded towards a tall man in his early thirties playing at the table. The man in question had been winning.

      Mercedes nodded, but he noticed her gaze kept moving about the room, always landing on one man in particular, a handsome auburn-haired fellow who boldly returned her attention. ‘Greer, why don’t you get me a glass of wine, if they have any?’ she said absently.

      Greer questioned the wisdom of leaving her. Every man in the room had noticed her by now, Mr Auburn-haired included. When he hesitated, she laughed up at him and he had no choice but to go in search of wine. ‘I’ll be fine. But it is sweet of you to worry.’ He was going to end up fighting someone over her tonight, he just knew it.

      By the time he had returned, hard-won glass of wine in hand, he could see his suspicions weren’t far off. The auburn-haired man had moved to her side in his absence and men hovered around Mercedes. Worst of all, that little minx was encouraging it.

      ‘Your wine, my dear.’ Greer elbowed Auburn Hair at her side with a little more force than necessary.

      She took the glass from him with a smile and a laugh. ‘There you are, I thought you’d got lost.’ Then she addressed the group around them. ‘This is Captain Barrington. He’s a fair billiards player, too, like your Jonas Bride there.’ Impressive, Greer thought. She had the name of the mark already.

      She batted her eyelashes at Auburn Hair. ‘Do you think my Captain can take him, Mr Reed?’ Her hand idly fiddled with the star charm where it lay against her bare neckline. Every man’s eyes were riveted on that bare expanse of skin, especially Mr Reed’s. Mr Reed’s eye might be a bit darker for it too.

      Mr Reed shot him a cocky glance men everywhere have understood for centuries. I can take her from you. To Mercedes he said, ‘Shall we see?’

      Mercedes reached into her cleavage and pulled out pound notes with a graceful gesture while half the room sucked in their breath. Good Lord, she was putting on a show. Even knowing that, Greer couldn’t help but feel the first stirrings of desire. Then Greer understood. The mark wasn’t Jonas Bride, not really, not unless he chose to make the man his personal mark. The real mark was Mr Reed and she’d been drawing him to her since she’d walked in the room. Find someone who likes to bet beyond their ego.

      Reed called over to Jonas Bride and a game was quickly established. Mercedes blew him a kiss, the signal to lose. Give up a bit, build the opponent’s confidence. This would be for both of them should he choose to engage Jonas Bride. It was what Mercedes was waiting for, his test for the evening. Would he personally engage in a hustle? Would he be able to win when he needed to, unlike in Bosham?

      ‘Bride, care for a wager between us?’ Greer offered, the affront to his own pride goading him into it. He’d show Mercedes he could play this as well as she could.

      Greer lost the first game good-naturedly. Mercedes passed her pound notes to Reed and tossed her dark head. ‘Shall we go again?’ she said coyly, drawing more money from her bosom. Reed practically salivated. She blew him another kiss. And another.

      Reed was standing too close to her, staring too much by the time she gave the signal to win. Greer doubled his own wager with Mr Bride, who gladly took it, seeing it as a chance for easy money. He’d just won three straight games.

      Greer broke and won, careful to win just barely. There was no sense in making Bride look foolish. Reed bent over Mercedes’s hand and kissed it lavishly before he surrendered the funds, his eyes lingering on her breasts.

      It’s just a game, Greer reminded himself, watching money pass back and forth between them. She’s playing with Mr Reed, working him out of his money. It’s you she likes. It’s you whose ear she sucked into oblivion; it’s you who she kissed in the parlour at Bosham, really kissed. You kissed her first and she kissed you back.

      But it was hard to remember that when Reed had his hands on her, his mouth possessively close to her ear as if he had any right to Mercedes. And that cocky stare of his! He positively gloated every time he caught Greer looking at them.

      Looking at them was proving costly. Reed slid a hand along Mercedes’s leg and Greer shot a poorly aimed slice that nearly caused him to scratch. Mercedes laughed and slid a hand inside Reed’s waistcoat. Greer clenched his jaw and tried to focus on the game. He should split the pair and make the table difficult for Bride. It was what Mercedes would recommend.

      ‘Don’t miss, Captain,’ Reed called out. ‘I’d hate to have to console your lady if you lost again.’

      Greer looked up. Lucifer’s balls, Mercedes was in his lap, her mouth at Reed’s ear. That was it. No defence, no strategy. He was going to clear this table, take his winnings and his woman and get the hell out.

      Greer aimed and aimed again, the shots coming in rapid fire. He saw only the table, only the balls until he’d potted them all.

      ‘I think that might have been the fastest game ever played,’ a man breathed somewhere in the crowd. Greer didn’t care.

      ‘I’ll take my money, Bride.’

      ‘And give me no chance to win it back?’ Bride was disappointed.

      ‘No,’ Greer said tersely although he could see the answer was not popular with the crowd. Bride had lost a considerable sum. Greer stuffed the money in his pocket. ‘Mercedes, we’re leaving.’

      Mercedes shot him a disapproving look, but he was done. He wasn’t going to stand by and watch her flirt with another, especially when he didn’t know exactly where he stood with her. It was time to stake that claim.

      ‘Maybe she doesn’t want to go, Captain,’ Reed sneered, deep in his cups by now.

      ‘The lady is with me.’ Greer planted his feet shoulder width apart and flexed his hand.

      ‘Is she?’ Reed drew Mercedes to him, but she was too quick. A small blade flashed in her hand, coming up against Reed’s neck.

      ‘I am.’ Mercedes’s eyes glinted with the thrill of the hunt.

      Reed released her. She moved backwards to his side and Greer felt a profuse sense of relief to have her with him. Ale had made Reed slow, but his sluggish brain was starting to work it all out. ‘Hey, that’s not fair. You made me believe—’

      He couldn’t complete the thought before Mercedes interrupted. ‘You’re right. I made you believe and you fell for it.’ She slipped the blade into the hidden sheath in her bodice and gave Reed a wink. ‘The last rule of a hustle is to quit while you’re ahead. Adieu.’

      Greer grimaced. He wished she hadn’t said that. Reed wasn’t drunk enough to ignore the slight, but he was drunk enough to fight. It didn’t take a genius to know who he’d be swinging at. It wasn’t going to be Mercedes.

      Reed lunged. Greer was ready for him. His arm came up, blocking the punch while his other fist found Reed’s jaw,