“I’ve noticed that this foe of mine vanishes for extended periods of time only to surface and create havoc again. I wonder if he does this of his own accord or if he has no choice and must return somewhere? Then when he gets anxious to play his little games again, he surfaces.”
“You need to make your wife aware of this,” Devin advised.
“I have little choice after what she saw.”
“It is better she knows what goes on, keeping her ignorant could harm her. Besides, once you return her home, this evil-doer could show up at her door and claim her as his wife.”
Slatter sat staring at the flames in the fireplace after Devin left. He could not get his friend’s words out of his head. If this man, so intent on making it appear Slatter an evil scoundrel, discovered he had wed, what evil deed would he attempt with Willow? Anger surged in him at the possibilities and made him all the more determined to keep her safe and by his side until the culprit was caught.
The door creaked open and he turned to see his wife enter the cottage. He did what seemed natural and stretched his hand out to her.
She responded as if out of habit. She went to him and his hand closed possessively around hers. He gave a tug to land her on his thigh, his arm going around her waist to keep her steady.
“All goes well?” he asked.
“It does and Crofton has calmed, knowing there is something he can finally do to help his seanmhair,” she said, her thoughts not on their words but how easily she had responded to him. She rubbed at the deep wrinkles that worried his brow. “Something troubles you?”
Her gentle touch was meant to soothe, but instead it aroused him, but then he had been finding, since their time together, that he aroused easily around her. He found her attractive, so why wouldn’t he grow aroused? Yet there was something different about her and he couldn’t quite reason what it was.
He hadn’t realized his eyes held hers and silence had grown heavy between them, not to mention the passion that sparked around them. It was easy to sense, to see, though difficult to ignore. He’d be in trouble if he wasn’t careful. He was relieved, or was it regret he felt, when she hurried off his leg and went to stand at the end of the fireplace, the farthest distance from him.
Willow struggled to temper her feelings for her husband. She worried that he had awakened her passion when they had been in the hole in the ground together and now she was having a difficult time controlling it when too close to him. She had to quash her feelings, since if she surrendered to him, consummated their vows, they would be stuck together forever. And Slatter was still a stranger to her.
“You never explained about the woman you were kissing in the marketplace,” she said, a change of subject the best way to divert her rousing thoughts.
“We should talk. There are things you need to know,” Slatter said, glad for the diversion. He’d been close to kissing her and with how fast he had gotten aroused, he feared it wouldn’t have ended with a kiss and he could see in her passion-filled eyes she felt the same.
He pointed to the other chair, not trusting himself to step near her.
Willow hurried to sit across from her husband as he turned his chair around to face the table and waited eagerly, though somewhat apprehensively, to hear what he had to say.
“That wasn’t me you saw kissing that woman.”
Willow shook her head, not expecting a denial. “My eyes did not deceive me. It was you I saw.”
“I’m sure you believe that, but I’m telling you it wasn’t me.” Slatter raised his hand when she went to protest again. “Let me explain.” Her silence let him continue. “It started about two years ago, though I wasn’t aware of it then. It wasn’t until a man accosted me and accused me of fornicating with his wife. I had no idea what he was talking about, since I refuse to bed married women. I was also accused of stealing and lying in a particular situation I had no knowledge of. It took time, but I discovered that someone had claimed my name and was passing himself off as me.”
“There is someone you believe resembles you?” she asked startled by the revelation.
“Your encounter with him proves that, since as I said, it wasn’t me you saw kissing that woman.”
Her brow scrunched.
“You wonder if you should believe me.”
“Of course I do since you’re known to lie easily.” She bit at her lip, wishing she could take back her remark.
“I see it dawns on you that perhaps it isn’t me who lies.”