A Spinster's Awakening (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 2)

“Go home,” Angus growled, his voice dark and menacing.

“Don’t you want to know what I saw?” she persisted.

“A man disappearing into the woods,” Angus snapped. He stopped and widened his eyes at her. “You are not the only one around here, you know. We have men on watch, so don’t upset them, or get in their way. They have every right to arrest you if you interfere in their work, Charity, as do I.”

“Arrest me for what? How can I be getting in their way? And if they were watching the streets, why didn’t they follow him like they were supposed to? It is strange, don’t you think, that I watched that man disappear across a field, and he was the only one around, except for me?” Planting herself firmly in his path, Charity folded her arms and lifted her brows superciliously at him.

Angus knew she was right, but without having had the opportunity to talk to his colleagues to find out exactly how the man had snuck past all of them, he couldn’t answer her. That, unfortunately, only fuelled his anger. He hated the fact that Charity appeared to be better at following people in the village than the highly trained men of the Star Elite were.

“The men have a very clear job to do,” Angus retorted coldly.

“So why weren’t they doing it?” she challenged.

“What makes you think they weren’t? You go blundering around, sticking your nose in, running off into the dark all by yourself. What would you have done if that man had been waiting for you in those woods? Eh? Have you stopped to think that maybe you got home safely because of us?” Angus argued.

“I wouldn’t have gone into those woods if I hadn’t seen him walking across that field,” Charity protested. “You, on the other hand, couldn’t even be bothered to leave the warmth of the house.”

“Charity-”

Ignoring him, Charity snorted disparagingly. “It’s nice to know we are all safe in our beds at night.”

She winced when she realised just how spiteful that sounded, but was affronted at his high-handed, bull-headed determination not to listen to her all because she was a female.

“Don’t you even want to know who that was?” She demanded when he didn’t speak or try to defend himself.

“Stay out of our job,” Angus ordered, his voice thunderous. “You don’t have the authority to get involved in our work, are not armed, and have no experience in dealing with the kind of people we deal with daily. If you stick your nose in again, I will put you behind bars myself.”

“For what?” Charity protested loudly.

Angus sighed heavily. “Will you shut up?” he hissed.

Charity opened her mouth to argue some more only to be interrupted by a long, low hoot of an owl that sounded just a little bit raspy. She frowned when Angus froze.

“What?”

“Be quiet,” Angus whispered.

To Charity’s disbelief, she found herself being pushed backward, into the shadows beside an old outbuilding at the end of her neighbour’s garden. She opened her mouth to object, but Angus was so close to her she could feel every breath he took. Rather than speak, she stared in amazement at his chest, mere inches from her nose.

Angus moved his cloak, so it covered the bright material of her skirt, and did his best to keep her protected from sight. He willed her to sense there was danger afoot and willingly remain quiet. Thankfully, she nestled against his heat and sighed deeply. His brows lifted when he felt her small arms slide around his waist.

Suddenly, his job became a Hell of a lot harder. While he should have been protecting her, he found himself nestling her against him even tighter, and pressing a gentle kiss into her hair. To his disgust, his body responded with a predictability that tested his patience to its very limit. It was his professionalism that compelled him to remember the danger afoot and keep her safe, whatever the cost to himself.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to protect Charity from himself.

“Damn,” he whispered when the hooded figure raced past the end of the road.

“It’s not Mr Lawrence,” Charity whispered.

“I know,” Angus growled. “It is the neighbour.”

He paused and waited for her to tell him the name. To his surprise, she didn’t.

When he looked down at her, she had her head resting against the soft material of his shirt again. To his bemusement, her eyes were closed and there was a soft smile curving her delicate lips.

Aware that his colleagues could stumble upon them at any moment, Angus tried to extricate himself. He stepped back only to find her hold a little too reluctant to loosen. Sensing movement, he looked at the end of the road, and saw Jasper standing beneath a tree watching them.

“Shit,” Angus whispered.