Katie sat her rod on the floor. “Eliam would never set a lady out to sea without her expressed permission.” And probably a chaperone.

“Too bad, Eliam isn’t here and I am.” Eledon glanced at her.

That glance was enough to set her on fire, but Katie rolled her eyes and picked up her kindle.

“Eliam, please don’t leave me.”

He gave a slight shake of his head. “Elizabeth, you won’t agree to marry me. You’re upset and I’m—” He stepped away and turned his back to her, pressing his hand into the stiff lounge chair. “I find it incredibly hard to stay away from you, and you do not discourage me. Sweetheart, if I stay—”

“You’ll make love to me again. We’ll both enjoy it. I’ll fall asleep in your arms and wake up feeling safe.” Warm tears slid down her cheeks.

Even with his back to her, he sensed her tears. In a moment, he was at the settee with her again. Her in his lap, his finger softly stroking tears away. His lips muzzled in the side of her neck. “Christ, Elizabeth. I can’t handle your tears, and you know it. But you forget the part where I have to be out before the maid awakens, lest you be ruined. You forget the sneaking around and the risk of a child.”

“You’ll marry me, if ever there is a child.”

He shook his head. She could put a knife through him like no person he had ever known. “Lizzy, I have no desire to force you to marry me. Unless you choose me, we won’t wed.”

Her tears had stopped now. She threaded her fingers through his and brought his hand to her mouth where she placed a feather-light kiss. “My Gypsy has to be the only one in the world worried about propriety.”

His arms tightened around her. “I am not concerned about propriety. I am concerned about what people say about you, and how you are treated. And as for refusing to compromise, so you would have to marry me, for God’s sake Elizabeth. I have some pride.”

She snuggled into his hold. “My refusal to marry you has nothing to do with anything that should wound your pride. You’re very marriage worthy. Had you asked for the hand of one of my sisters, I would have granted your request. But I have no desire to marry anyone. And you, you are fun, adventurous, and all the things I am not. I cannot marry you, because we don’t suit.”

“Sweetheart.” His lips pressed against her ear. His teeth caught the lobe just for a second and released it. “We suit in all the ways that matter.”

Elizabeth wanted to give in. Relax into him. Let him melt her problems away. “I would drive you crazy. You would be bound to the estate. I would expect you home for dinner every night. I would turn you blasted English.”

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Most ladies in the ton cannot say their husband wishes to be home for dinner every night.”

“I’m not common for the ton.”

“I know.”

“You’ll stay with me tonight.” It wasn’t a question. He should drag her to Gretna Green to elope.

Blood pumped under Katie’s cheek. Stay, Eliam. Please stay. And she knew he would, because it was the sixteenth time she’d read this book.

“What are you reading?” Eledon asked

A shake rolled through Katie’s spine and she gasped. Frick. She was so drawn into Elizabeth’s Heart, she’d forgotten she wasn’t alone.

Eledon laughed at her reaction. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Dr. Plastic Nails.”

She rolled her eyes. “Uh. It’s just a French manicure. They aren’t plastic, and I seldom have time for manicures. I just thought if I was going on vacation—”

“You might as well be hot for Eliam, but your nails aren’t what any man with a pulse would care about.”

She stared at the low hanging clouds in the sky to avoid looking at Eledon. Thank God for the strong breeze. The gushing wind cooled the rushing heat under her face. “And what does that mean?”

He shrugged. “Sorry, I mean it as a compliment. What are you reading over there? It’s got your blood pressure up.”

“What makes you think that?”

“You’re all red again.”

“Ugh. I’m the doctor. I don’t need blood pressure advice from you.”

“I gave no advice. Just made a friendly observation. Why won’t you tell me what you’re reading?”

She sighed. “Case studies.”

“That must be a damn interesting case study. Normal people don’t read case studies on vacation.”

She sighed. “Fine. It’s Eliam.”

“You need a Kindle to read a love letter? What kind of name is Eliam anyway?”

“Romany.”

Eledon laughed.

“Why is that funny?”

He shrugged. “Sorry. They piss me off.”

She pursed her lips. “What did a Gypsy ever do to you?”

“They want to be recognized as people of Indian origin. They want PIO cards. The government should issue me dual citizenship first. My people didn’t leave five hundred years ago.”

Katie frowned. She didn’t realize Gypsies still existed, and she had no clue they originated in India. She probably shouldn’t have called him Captain Fake Accent earlier. But then again, he couldn’t stop poking fun at her French manicure.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your Eliam.” He said the last word in a mocking tone, his voice going up an octave.

“No offense taken.”

He smiled at her, and her stomach dipped. “Good. Now pick up your rod. You have a bite.”

Katie picked up her rod and began to reel the fish in. Eledon came up behind her, placed one hand over hers on the rod, and the other higher up the rod. He leaned this way and that with her, lending his strength to her. She didn’t need the help, but the caress of his hand over hers, the strength of him supporting her from behind stopped her from protesting. Katie took a risk. She leaned into him. He said nothing but the hold of his over hers became firmer.

Katie followed the weight pulling on her fishing pole, Eledon followed Katie’s lead, until she’d pulled in a fish that weighed at least twice as much as her Prada bag and medical kit combined.

She wanted to stay put, leaning into Eledon, but the fish flopped around trying to free itself from the hook in its mouth. No time to linger. Katie stepped forward. “Stop fighting me, or I’ll knock you in the head, you freak.” Katie looked to Eledon. “Aladdin, where are you keeping the fish?”

“It’s Eledon.”

“That’s what I said. Where are you keeping the fish?”

He pointed to the other side of the deck. “There is an ice chest under the bench. Do you want me to—”

Katie gripped the fish with one hand and yanked the hook with the other. She let the bloody piece of metal drop to the wooden floor of the deck, gripped the fish with both hands now that the reel was gone, swung him around, and bashed his head into the boat.

Eledon’s eyes grew wide. “Remove the hook for you?” He finished, his words falling flat.

“What’s wrong?” Katie followed his gaze to the battered fish. “Ah. He would have suffered. It’s best to put him out of his misery.”

“I’ve never seen a girl mercilessly kill a fish before.”

Katie grinned and scooped the fish off of the floor. She walked to the ice chest and tossed it in. “I’m a doctor, not a girl.”

“Dr. Fish Killer, where did you learn that?”

“I grew up an hour north of Houston, and in the 90s it wasn’t concrete.”

Eledon nodded. “So what kind of farm girl wears red-soled shoes that cost enough to feed an entire village in India?”

“The kind that left the farm knowing she’d never return. The Indian villagers are going to have to fend for themselves. Besides, what kind of freakin’ villager owns a boat in the U.S.?”

He laughed. “I grew up outside the village in a refurbished mansion the English abandoned when they were kind enough to leave. Even my servants lived better than the villagers, and since my tutor came to the estate, I never visited the village. Until college. And I couldn’t handle it. Ryan went to college in India, because he couldn’t get into a decent engineering program in the U.S. His dad helped me get a visa, and when my parents died, I opened the estate up to the villagers, told them to pilfer anything they could use, and I walked away. I’d make my own life here and not be held down by parents’ money.”

She scoffed. “And if you ate the same meal every day with the addition of random items to stretch it, you’d probably feel less burdened by the wealth.”

“That’s the point. I never had to, so I let the villagers use it. I don’t care about money. It’s just an invention to divide people and spread war. Most of the world’s problems start and end with money, who has it, and who doesn’t.”

“It was very kind of you to give your entire estate to a poor village. But they probably have no idea how to take care of it.”

Eldon shrugged. “It’s a gift. What they do with it is not my concern. But if it helped feed someone’s kid or grandma, it was worth it.”

“As nice as this philosophical chat has been, I have to go wash my hands before we die of smelly fish bacteria. Otherwise, we’re both going to die of smelly fish bacteria.”

He veered his head. “There is a washroom in the back. There is a jug of fresh water. And I have plenty in a storeroom.”

Katie trotted off to the bathroom. She had to do something to distance herself from this guy. He was beautiful. He couldn’t have been more beautiful if he was Eliam. But for the first time, she understood what Lady Elizabeth meant all the times she told Eliam they didn’t suit. Katie was faced with a gorgeous, care-free guy so kind he left his entire inheritance to strangers. But her father was a man who didn’t care about money either and saw life as a game. She knew by thirteen she’d never tie herself to another man like him. She’d never live on a farm. Her kids wouldn’t worry about doing homework in the dark, and her family would never wonder if they would have food for dinner.

She enjoyed the verbal sparring with Eledon, and his gaze made her think more than once he was a little bit interested in her, but they didn’t suit.