Charming the Spy (Scandals and Spies Book 4) Read online

  “She sounds…lovely.”

  “Oh, she is. And she makes this little squeal when we…”

  Lawks! Catt, in general, abstained from such activity, not wanting to find himself trapped in an undesirable situation one day. He couldn’t promise a woman the kind of lifestyle Gideon could, and most women he interacted with in the company of his best friend, so it hadn’t seemed worth the trouble to try courting someone. Certainly not…indulging in more. It seemed irresponsible when, with Catt’s financial situation, he was uncertain of his ability to provide for a wife and child. For the time being, he received a stipend from his uncle, but he didn’t know how long that would last. One day, his uncle might turn his back on Catt the way the rest of his family had. Even if his uncle had been the one to encourage his scholarly pursuits when his parents had tried to steer him in the opposite path. Though, now that Catt was a Crown spy, he had an income all his own.

  After learning far, far too much about David’s romantic life, Catt tried to steer the conversation toward other people at the manor. Somehow, it always returned to David’s affair in excruciating detail. The moment Catt finished the ale, he used the excuse to cut the conversation short.

  “We should return to the manor. Rocky will be missing me, no doubt.”

  David winked and elbowed him in the ribs. “Ah, so there is something between you two.”

  “What?” Catt’s heart stopped beating for a moment. “No. Of course not. I’m—” Her enemy, given the way she treated him. “—her assistant.” He didn’t like that word any better.

  “At work, sure, but after…” David cast him a sly look.

  “Nothing comes after.” Catt tugged on his cravat as they approached the door to leave. Even the frigid outdoor weather was preferable to this line of questioning. Shouldn’t he be the one questioning David?

  “Of course it doesn’t.” David chuckled. “Nothing comes after for me, either.”

  Oh, Lud. What had Catt done? If David bandied about that particular rumor and Rocky heard of it, she would eviscerate him.

  Catt shoved his hands in the pocket of his tailcoat. “Honestly, you’re welcome to her, if you decide you aren’t happy with your arrangement. There is nothing, not a single emotion, between Rocky and I.”

  Unless that emotion was hatred.

  By the time he they reached Lady Belhaven’s manor or not, he still wasn’t sure if he’d convinced the hostler there were no romantic feelings between them. At the very least, he hoped the man would keep the suspicion to himself. Though, given the way he’d spilled his every sordid secret, Catt highly doubted as much.

  He scrubbed the back of his neck with a hand that felt like ice as he navigated the manor to find the hothouse once more. It was easy to find. He paused at the door, steeling himself for the woman who awaited him inside.

  He had nothing. The only thing he had adequately ascertained was that David was most likely not Monsieur V. With the amount of liaisons he purportedly indulged in with his ladylove, he wouldn’t have the time.

  Which meant, if Rocky had found a better suspect, he had lost the bet. She would never let him live it down, not while they remained under Lady Belhaven’s roof. Their already tense association would only get worse.

  He squared his shoulders, opened the door, and stepped inside. The warm humidity wrapped around him, a welcome respite from the cold that had seeped into his bones. He shut the door and faced Rocky.

  She was already waiting for him, of course. Given the slight disarray of the pots, she must have started working as she awaited his return. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. The movement tugged her fawn-brown dress tight against her. She tapped her toe, raising one eyebrow as she met his gaze. She didn’t seem to notice the wisps of hair falling from her coif into her face. One clung to the corner of her pursed mouth.

  “What took you so long?”

  He gritted his teeth at the waspish greeting. “I didn’t know gathering suspects was supposed to be a speedy endeavor.”

  Her body stiffened. She dropped her arms to her sides, balling her fists. As usual, she couldn’t seem to stand still. “Then you found someone?”

  No.

  He crossed his arms, refusing to be intimidated. “You first. You did return before me.”

  She made a face. For a moment, his hopes buoyed. Had she found as little information as he had?

  “The cook’s daughter is hiding something.”

  “She can’t be our man. Seeing as she isn’t a man.” He gave Rocky a pointed look.

  Her eyes narrowed. “I know that. But she might be in league with Monsieur V. He could be her father or maybe her lover.”

  He shook his head. “You’re reaching.” He was not going to forfeit a prime working location simply because she refused to admit defeat.

  Her mouth tightened. The movement drew his gaze. The wisp of hair still clung to the side of her plump lower lip. His fingers itched to brush it aside.

  “I am not,” she snapped.

  He struggled to recall the conversation. Or rather, the argument. Hadn’t he been winning?

  “Did you meet her father?”

  “No,” Rocky admitted.

  “Then you can’t count him as a suspect.”

  She stepped closer, bristling with hostility. “You can’t discount him, either.”

  “No.” He gritted his teeth. “But he doesn’t count against our bet, because you’ve found nothing on him.”

  “I’ve found that he was away from the kitchen in the middle of the day while there were chores to be done.”

  The way she held her shoulders thrust her chest out. Did she do that on purpose, just to boggle his mind? Simply because he was a man and she was a woman did not mean he would be susceptible to her charms. In fact, before this moment, he’d never even considered that she might even have charms much less employ them. Wasn’t she always nattering on about how she was the equal of any man? A man wouldn’t thrust out his chest in order to win an argument.

  At least, Catt wouldn’t.

  “That is circumstantial,” he insisted. “The cook might have gone to the privy or to the market.”

  She crossed her arms, pushing her breasts even higher. Why did she have to stand so bloody close? He couldn’t help but look down her bodice, from this angle. Even when he tried to focus on her face instead.

  “And what did you find?” she asked. The look on her face was anything but seductive. Her mouth was a hard pucker, not at all enticing a kiss.

  And yet, kissing her would probably soften that mouth. And her expression. And her stiff posture…

  What was he thinking?

  He shook his head. “David spilled most of his secrets to me.”

  She looked dismayed. She shouldn’t—not one of those secrets was the fact that he worked for the French.

  Although he doubted his words, he insisted, “His openness could be to hide his true secret. I certainly didn’t dig any deeper after he started to describe his latest liaison.”

  The look on her face spread to a smirk. It would have been pleasant if not for the smugness that radiated from her. “You didn’t find a viable suspect, either.”

  “I did so.” He took a step back so he didn’t have to look at her from quite that angle. It was muddling his brain. “We can’t rule him out, yet.”

  “Just as we can’t rule out Eliza’s association with our spy.”

  Then it appeared they were at a standoff. Given the look in Rocky’s eyes, she was not going to back down. If Catt let her win, she would stick him in the furthest, coldest corner of the hothouse—or worse, the fetidly hot section next to the brick oven. Unlike when he worked with Gideon, Catt wouldn’t be at the luxury to remove some of his clothing if he got too hot. He would suffer if he had to work there.

  And Rocky, vindictive as she was, would probably enjoy every second.

  “I have a better suspect than you do,” he insisted. “Mine is at least a man.”

  “A man who doesn
’t appear to be hiding anything, if he confessed his secrets to you in such detail.” The look in her eye made it abundantly clear that she thought he was lying.

  Let her try speaking with David. Catt would eat his left boot to be a fly on the wall for that conversation. If he spilled his secrets to the first stranger who came along, Catt suspected that he wouldn’t hold back simply because Rocky was a woman. Especially not with the demeanor she usually enacted, as though she was the same as any other man. She would be scandalized.

  He opened his mouth to counter her accusation, but she held up her finger. She looked almost accusing. “Neither of us found a suspect.”

  That much was true.

  “The bet isn’t over.”

  He was willing to accede that, as well. He nodded, jerkily. “Agreed. We will keep looking. More importantly, who gets which side of the hothouse in the meantime?”

  They couldn’t agree on that, either.

  Chapter 5

  If an argument were a living being, theirs would have grown roots and flowered overnight. As Catt encountered Rocky on his way to the breakfast room, the tension in the air redoubled. Sometime in the night, she’d grown even angrier at him. How, he didn’t know. Once Lady Belhaven had recovered her strength, she’d spent the afternoon teaching them their duties and ensuring they would treat her plants correctly. By evening, the manor had become like a ghost. Lady Belhaven had retired early making a cryptic comment about “her man” bringing her tea, which made Catt wonder about her sanity. Perhaps she referred to Stanley or maybe some other servant he had yet to meet. But when one of the maids prepared and delivered the tea it made him wonder all the more. The quiet house was not what Catt expected.

  Wasn’t there some degree of socializing after work? But no, everyone had seemed so bone-weary from the day that they had eaten supper in near silence and slinked off to bed just as disgruntled.

  Their attitude had apparently worn off on Rocky, because when he nodded cordially to her in greeting, she glowered at him. The infuriating woman probably blamed him for something that had happened in a dream or something equally absurd. He tried to ignore her hostility as he entered the breakfast room with her on his heels.

  It didn’t bode well for the day.

  The other staff members, except for those who worked in the kitchen, milled in the breakfast room. Six, in addition to Catt and Rocky, who appeared to be near the last to arrive. He didn’t spot Abby, though she might be tending to Lady Belhaven this morning. The sun hadn’t yet fully separated from the horizon, necessitating a branch of candles to light the room.

  Steam rose from a row of covered trays on the sideboard. Catt found a plate and stood in line behind a pretty blond woman he’d been introduced to last night at supper, Miss Towney, another maid. She tipped her face up to his with a smile as he stepped beside her.

  “Mr. Catterson, you look well-rested.”

  Did he? He’d tossed for what must have been near an hour, worrying about the lack of progress on his assignment and the fact that he and Rocky couldn’t get along. Eventually, he’d fallen asleep, only to wake once he heard movement in the corridor.

  “I slept well, thank you. I hope you did the same?”

  She scooped eggs from the tray and set them on his plate, not hers. “I did. I had a lovely dream.”

  Did she mean to imply that she’d dreamt about him? Her thick eyelashes fluttered in front of her eyes as she helped herself to some kippers. She put nothing more on his plate, for which he was glad. Even without turning around, he felt Rocky’s glower.

  “Do you prefer coffee or tea, Mr. Catterson?” Miss Towney asked as they reached the end of the table. A carafe rested next to a teapot, with four empty cups left beside them.

  “Coffee,” he answered. His brain was still muddled from sleep and he needed all the help he could in waking up. “But I can serve myself.”

  “Nonsense,” Miss Towney said with a giggle. “I also love a strong cup of coffee in the morning. I’ll get some for us both.”

  The way she emphasized the word strong made him question whether or not she spoke the truth. Given the sour look on the footman, Stefan’s face, he was usually greeted with Miss Towney’s sunny flirtation.

  You can have her. Catt bit the inside of his cheek to keep from saying the words aloud. He needed to get closer to the staff if he was to determine who among them was a traitor. If Miss Towney plied him with enough attention, he might be able to use her to learn what he needed. Or at least find himself pointed in the right direction.

  Hesitantly, he sat at the table. Rocky stomped after him and chose the seat at an angle from him, as far as she could place herself, given the choice of seats. Her expression was black with a scowl.

  He caught her gaze. I didn’t ask for her to flirt.

  Not that it should matter whether or not he was the magnet for a woman’s affections. He wouldn’t allow himself to be distracted from the mission. Rocky should trust him that much, at least.

  It appeared she didn’t. She speared a kipper with her fork in a violent action. David, chuckling, nudged Stefan and jerked his chin down the table toward them. Catt didn’t know what was said, but he didn’t think he would like it much.

  Miss Towney deposited her plate in front of the open seat next to him, bypassing the empty seat at the end, and returned to the sideboard in search of coffee. When she returned, she slipped it in front of him.

  “I can sweeten it up for you, if you’d like.” She leaned closer.

  Lud, she was going to get him eviscerated. Rocky was in a bad enough mood as it was this morning.

  He smiled, trying to keep the expression neutral. Not encouraging, but not discouraging, either. “Only one lump,” he answered, making it clear that he meant sugar, not any other sort of sweetening she might be contemplating.

  She sashayed to the sideboard and returned with the sugar and cream. As she added both to his cup for him, Rocky seemed to be trying to do her best to murder Miss Towney with her eyes.

  Catt caught her gaze. What are you doing? She didn’t appear to understand the pointed look he gave her. Down the table, Stefan, who seemed in a much better mood, was sniggering with David over something Catt didn’t quite catch.

  David had already insinuated once that there was more going on between Catt and Rocky than botanist and assistant. He was right, but not in the way he thought. Catt didn’t want to let it on that they were, in truth, close friends.

  Although “friend” had never aptly described his relationship with Rocky, it was a sight more accurate than “associate” or even “enemy.” They rarely got along, but they were brought together by their mutual friend, Giddy. They knew each other better than a botanist and assistant might normally. Despite the fact that Catt was trying his best to fit his new role, he knew that someone would be able to discern that their relationship was not what it seemed.

  If Monsieur V dug too deep into their relationship, he might accurately deduce that they were not botanist and assistant but partners. Partners who rarely got along, but partners nonetheless. It wouldn’t be a leap to realize that, if not romantic, they must be partners in some other way. Such as spying.

  Catt hardened his expression, trying to impress on her the danger of her reaction toward him. If they were discovered to be spies—and considering the hasty change in staff, it must have crossed Monsieur V’s mind—they would not only be at a disadvantage when trying to find him, but they would also be in danger. Morgan had sent them both into Lady Belhaven’s manor for good reason. While here, they had no other support but each other.

  Despite his pointed looks, Rocky didn’t seem to understand the situation. Or perhaps she just didn’t care. Every time Miss Towney brushed his arm or giggled at something he said, Rocky’s expression grew tighter. The moment she stood, bringing her plate jerkily to the section of the sideboard reserved for dishes that needed to be washed, he finished his meal and followed her out. He extracted himself from Miss Towney’s hold with a smi
le and the ready excuse of work.

  Stefan gave him a glare as he left. David waggled his brows suggestively. Catt tried to ignore them both, as the other members of the household were doing—he hoped.

  In the corridor, he loped to catch up to Rocky. Although her legs were shorter, she moved at a fast, furious clip. He caught her by the arm, tugging her into the doorway of an unlit, unused parlor.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “Me?” She pulled her arm free and thrust out her chin. “I’m not the one who just yanked me into this doorway.”

  He gritted his teeth. “Not here. Back there, in the breakfast room. You were acting peculiar.”

  “I was not.”

  She crossed her arms, brushing them against his chest as she did. He ignored the contact. He didn’t move away. He wanted to keep this conversation private.

  Catching her gaze, he held it for a moment, trying to stress with his eyes how serious he was. This wasn’t a petty argument. She might have caused them a real problem just now.

  “Do I really have to remind you that looking peculiar at this moment will draw a certain man’s eye?”

  “We’ve already drawn his eye—or you have. Miss Towney is in league with him.”

  “What?” He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “How do you figure that?”

  She didn’t have a cogent reason to offer him, of course. That didn’t mean she didn’t try.

  “Isn’t it obvious, with the way she suddenly latched onto you this morning? She didn’t have a second glance for you at supper last night.”

  He glared at her. With the way she held her head, her lower lip jutted out slightly. The soft pout was completely at odds with her hostile expression and the way her eyes glinted behind her spectacles.

  “That is indicative of nothing and you know it.” His temple throbbed. He resisted the urge to rub it. “You’re only jealous that someone was flirting with me, while no one thought to flirt with you.”