Danice Allen Read Online Free Page B

twitched, since he’d hurtled himself out of harm’s way and connected in such an unfortunate manner with a rock.
    His inertia alarmed Amanda. After all, he looked to be in prime twig. He couldn’t be much over thirty years old, and every bit of the fourteen stone he carried on his tall frame had to be either muscle or vital organs, as he appeared not to be the least encumbered by fat. He was dressed very smartly, too, and would no doubt be horrified to know how muddied he’d become.
    Despite the labored breathing of her servants and their uncertain footing in the muddy road, the removal of the gentleman to the carriage was going along fairly well till Joe slipped and fell. Without his assistance, Theo and Harley staggered and looked ready to drop their burden had not Amanda set down her lanterns and come to their rescue by supporting the suddenly unsupported “middle parts.”
    Even as she exerted all her effort to do her fair share of the heaving and hoeing, Amanda thought with some amusement that for the first time in her life she had her hands quite firmly planted on a man’s derriere. She also thought, with a rush of blood to her cheeks, that his derriere felt rather pleasantly … firm.
    Not too soon for Amanda’s deteriorating composure, they finally maneuvered the gentleman into the carriage and draped his large body on the forward-facing seat. The man was much too big to fit comfortably on the cushions; his legs dangled off the end and stretched across the foot space between the seats. But in his condition he could not be aware of how uncomfortably he was situated, so Amanda tried to disregard how awkward he looked crammed into the small space and stepped into the carriage to sit down opposite him.
    As she was settling her damp skirts about her, Theo stuck his head in the door and said, “We’d best get Harley or Joe in here with ye, miss.”
    “Under the circumstances,” said Amanda dryly, “I don’t think a chaperon is necessary.”
    “He might wake up, miss, and be out of ’is head. He’s in ’is cups, and who knows what he’d do once’t he found hisself alone with a comely female … if ye don’t mind my plain speakin’, miss.”
    “If the goose egg on his forehead doesn’t keep him sleeping like a babe till long after we reach the inn, the goodly amount of liquor he imbibed certainly will,” Amanda calmly replied. “Besides, there’s no room for another passenger.”
    “Harley’s no wider than a lamppost, miss. He’d squeeze in nicely, I should think.”
    “No, thank you, Theo,” she said firmly. “If I find myself in danger of being seduced or strangled, I shall certainly use my parasol to knock on the ceiling … or on the stranger’s head if the situation is desperate.”
    Theo frowned doubtfully.
    “Now, do hurry along, Theo, and drive us to that village you mentioned before I freeze to death or the gentleman actually does recover his senses.”
    “I don’t know, miss,” Theo said stubbornly, convinced it was an odd business allowing his mistress to be closeted with a stranger … swell or otherwise.
    “He’ll have the devil of a headache, you know, when he does come about,” Amanda said pointedly. “He’ll want some brandy and a warm, dry bed to collapse into. Remember, Theo, we’re dealing with a gentleman who is accustomed to comfort, and who may perhaps be a little toplofty, as well. If he learns you delayed our departure out of concern for my safety while in his company, he might take umbrage!”
    Theo needed no further inducement to climb atop the box and urge the horses to a gallop.
    Amanda leaned back against the velvet squabs of the carriage and pulled off her wet and dirty gloves, her eyes fixed on the fashionable fellow sprawled on the seat across from her. The lantern inside her carriage was lighted, and she could observe him quite easily and, since he had no notion he was the object of her perusal … quite freely as well. Though considerably disheveled