She glanced over and up at him. He was such a reassuring presence. If any spirits decided to engage in some hauntings, he’d send them back to where they came from right quick. It was odd to feel so close to someone she’d known only a couple of days, but then, the intense intimacy they’d shared was no doubt responsible. How could a woman not draw comfort from a man who had feasted between her thighs? “Did you ever meet him? Did he come to your other club?”

“If he did, he didn’t use his real name or title. Although I’m fairly good at ferreting out deception so I rather doubt it.”

Swallowing became difficult as she wondered if he’d correctly ferret out her deception and motivations. If he discovered the truth, would he be angry or not care?

“Here we are,” she said.

He watched as she knelt at the foot of a mound of dirt covered in flowers.

“I had no tears for him today. I wept them all last night,” she said quietly.

Crouching beside her, he draped his forearm over his thigh. He was in an odd place, not so much the cemetery as offering comfort. He’d always been about the laughs, the fun, the pleasure when it came to women. She was causing him to delve beneath the surface and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Yet the alternative was not to be here for her, and he liked that notion even less. “I’d have thought he’d have a monstrous headstone.”

“Oh he does. It’s a huge angel carved from stone that will watch over him, us. The vicar said it would be best to wait a year before putting it in place. Apparently, it takes the ground a while to settle after it’s been disturbed by a burial.”

He didn’t care about the ground, but something else had caught his attention. “Us, you said.”

“Yes, he purchased the plot next to him, on his left so I’m buried near his heart.”

“Not for a good long while yet, I should think.”

She offered him a small smile. “I shall hope not.”

The thought of losing her caused a tightness in his chest—

As though she were his to lose, an inner voice castigated him. She was only for jollies, until she tired of him or he tired of her. Yet here he was in one of the least fun places in the world, and he wasn’t thinking about how he’d like to pleasure her again, but only how best to comfort her. He was grateful she’d wanted him to be with her as she made this little excursion. “How did you come to marry him?”