Excerpt of Brothers of Baird's Cove: Renegade by Caroline Lee

“Why are you here, Mr. Baird?” Becks took a step back. Anything to put more distance between them, afraid of losing her reason again.

“You called me Mac before.” He was apparently fascinated by the portrait on the landing, judging from how carefully he studied it. “I liked it.”

“It doesn’t seem proper.”

“Are you always proper, Becks?”

She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry at the sound of her name on those lips. “I confess…” She looked down at her hands, now clasped in front of her. “I’m not.”

“Really?” She heard the lightness in his tone, and glanced back up to see him smiling at her. Oh God, that smile. She had to look away. “I had no idea.”

“Teasing isn’t very gentlemanly, Mr. Baird.”

“Mac.”

“Fine. Mac.”

“And I wasn’t teasing you. I was remembering the last time I got to catch you.”

He would have to bring that up again, wouldn’t he? “Again, not very gentlemanly.”

“Catching you?”

“Bringing it up.” “Well, you’ll find that I’m as improper as you are.” She sucked in her breath at that, wondering what he meant. But he clarified, to her relief and secret disappointment. “I haven’t been accused of being a gentleman in long time.”

“Really?” Becks didn’t bother hiding her surprise. He was dressed like a gentleman, and had been taking tea with her mother like a gentleman. In fact, if she hadn’t seen him barefoot and muddy on the bank of her river, she would have guessed he was a Charleston planter… albeit one without a barber.

“Really.” He smiled again, and she liked the way his face creased. His smiles were sudden and over quickly, but the lines around his mouth and at the corners of his eyes told her they were frequent.

Lord have mercy, what had they been talking about? Oh yes… “Well, do you think you could at least try?”

“To be improper?”

“To be a gentleman.”

He gave a little mocking bow. “For such a proper young lady, I’m sure I could make an attempt to remember how.”