Instead he said, his voice thick and low, “She’s beautiful.”
She started, her gaze finding him. Her eyes widened, running down his body, her mouth forming a small oval of surprise as she took in the changes in him.
He felt that perusal like a physical caress. Heat shot through him, igniting what he had fought so hard against since their kiss.
It took every ounce of willpower he possessed not to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. He shifted uncomfortably, hoping his thoughts weren’t made obvious by his pantaloons. Which leftnothingto the imagination, damn it.
“Thank you,” she murmured. “And you look very handsome.”
Polite words, no doubt, an automatic compliment that she had given a thousand times before. Yet he couldn’t fail to notice the way her eyes lingered on him. Nor did he fail to notice the desperate hunger deep in him that her gaze dredged up. And not only to touch her. He had missedherover the past few days, her conversation and laughter, and the freedom from the bone-deep anger that had been his companion for so long.
Damnation, what was wrong with him?
A moment later, she seemed to recall herself. Blushing, she turned her attention to Quincy. “And you as well, Mr. Nesbitt. Why, you wouldn’t be out of place in even the most discerning London drawing room.”
Quincy grinned. “Miss Hartley, you shall turn my head.”
Peter barely bit back a growl. “Shall we be off then? I wish to get this infernal evening over with.”
“Oh, Peter, you’re so gallant,” Lady Tesh drawled as they turned for the door.
Once outside, Peter immediately strode for the box where the driver was perched, awaiting them. He would ride there tonight, and he didn’t care if it was unseasonably chill, or that the drive would most certainly make a complete mess of the careful job he’d done on his clothing and hair. There was no way in hell he was going to be stuck inside a carriage with Lenora.
Lady Tesh, however, was not about to let him get away so easy.
“Peter, where do you think you’re going?”
He ground his teeth together. “There won’t be enough room for all of us inside the carriage. I’ll ride up top with the driver.”
“There will be plenty of room, for Mr. Nesbitt has graciously offered to ride his horse.”
Peter cast an incredulous glance to Quincy, but his friend was already mounted up and looked sickeningly dashing. By the time he’d reined in his frustration and turned back to the others, they’d already been helped up into the waiting carriage. Grumbling to himself—for what else could he do?—he lumbered over, knowing even before peering inside that the only seat would be next to Lenora. Because what else could he expect, considering the joke his life had become?
Lenora, for her part, didn’t so much as glance his way as he hefted himself inside. She fairly hugged the carriage wall as he settled onto the plush bench, as far away from him as she could manage. Even so, he couldn’t fail to feel her leg pressing into his, to smell her faint scent of summer berries drifting toward him.
He swallowed hard, shifting in his seat.
“There now,” Lady Tesh said with a contented smile. “Completely comfortable.”
Peter would have disagreed, and loudly. If he had not been fully focused on controlling his baser urges. For the carriage started off down the drive with such a rocking jolt that Lenora instinctively reached out to steady herself. Unfortunately the closest thing was Peter’s arm. She pulled her hand back as if burned, mumbling her apologies. Peter turned to look at the passing scenery and caught sight of Quincy prancing into view. The man had the gall to grin and salute him before kicking his horse off at a gallop.
If he didn’t embarrass himself with the obvious proof of his desire showing in these ridiculously tight pants, or killing his best friend, he would count it a miracle.
Chapter 17
Iadmit, I did not expect that Peter would actually dance.”
Lenora, standing against the wall beside where Lady Tesh sat, flushed hot. “Oh, is he dancing? I hadn’t noticed.” Which was a blatant lie, of course. She hadn’t stopped noticing every move he made from the moment they’d entered the assembly rooms.
Like now, as he made his way with precise care through a quadrille. He was stiff as a poker, his brow furrowed in concentration. But he didn’t embarrass himself. It seemed he had remembered every lesson she’d taught him with impressive recall.
A fact that shouldn’t have sat sour in her stomach as it did.
As glowering and unwelcome as Peter was, he was proving himself to be a favorite with the local ladies. A moment didn’t go by that he wasn’t besieged by some flirtatious miss or another. As she watched, the young lady opposite him in the set batted her lashes, swaying a bit closer than was proper as they passed one another. And she wasn’t even his partner.
Lenora fought the urge to gag. Not that she blamed the woman. In the stark black of his evening wear, the expert cut of it hugging every inch of broad shoulder, every sinew of muscle, Peter put the softer, weaker men about him to shame.
But Lenora’s mumbled untruth was not enough to turn Lady Tesh off the subject. “You haven’t noticed? How can you miss him? Not only is he the tallest man present, but he is quite the most good-looking one as well, even with his ridiculous beard and that horrendous glower of his. No offense to you, of course, Mr. Nesbitt,” she said to the manwho had just returned, hands laden with glasses of punch. “I mean, goodness, I knew the man would clean up well. But even I did not expectthat.”
