No proper Lady Deering whose icy primness would keep them both in check?
Virtue frowned at him. “We cannot dine alone. It is unseemly.”
His finely molded lips twitched, as if to suppress mirth. “I am your guardian. It is perfectly acceptable.”
She never would have agreed to attend dinner if she had known it was to be with Ridgely. Alone. And she suspected he was more than aware of that fact. Indeed, Lady Deering’s absence was undoubtedly why he had insisted she attend dinner.
“I find my hunger has abated,” she said. “I will return to my chamber.”
“No you won’t, my dear.” His hand shot out, snaring her elbow when she would have attempted her escape. “You will dine with me.”
His hold was firm, but she knew she could break it if she truly wished. Still, she was cognizant of the servants traveling quietly about in preparation of the meal. She told herself that she had no wish to cause a scene, and that was the reason she lingered, far too near to him for comfort, his scent taunting her. Why did he have to smell so decadent, like a rare, expensive treat?
“I don’t want to dine with you,” she said quietly, taking care to keep her voice from carrying. “Have you sent your sister away intentionally this evening?”
His smile deepened, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Of course not.”
He was lying, she was reasonably certain of it.
“I don’t believe you.”
He chuckled then, the sound low and inviting. Good heavens, he was handsome when he smiled. Sinfully so. How was she to maintain her defenses when one charming laugh from him was akin to a wall of cannon fire? To say nothing of his hold on her arm.
It burned her through her kid gloves.
“Don’t believe me then, if it pleases you to do so,” he said softly, releasing her arm. “But come to dinner with me. We need to talk, you and I.”
“There is nothing I want to say to you,” she informed him.
“Do you intend to remain angry with me forever?” his voice was teasing. “If so, our marriage will be a deadly dull one.”
Not his nonsensical insistence upon marrying her again. She had hoped that as a seasoned rakehell, he would have seen reason now that the fogs of lust had faded from his mind.
“We aren’t marrying, Ridgely.”
“Yes, we are.” He took her gloved hand in his and tucked it into the crook of his elbow. “We’ll discuss it at dinner.”
Her stomach possessed the utter gall to rumble at that moment, completely ruining her ire.
He heard it of course, the cad. “You see? Even your stomach agrees with me.”
Her stomach was a traitor just like the rest of her. Fortunately, she had her wits. She was far stronger than the weak, physical part of her body.
“Very well,” she relented, but only because she was hungry. And what could be the true harm in dinner? It wasn’t as if he intended to ravish her over the first course, was it?
His smile turned predatory. Positively wolfish. “Excellent decision, my dear. Come along.”
CHAPTER14
The second course had been laid out on the table. Trevor was separated from his true quarry by a decadent sea of food. Roast fowl, quail, asparagus in butter sauce, raspberry gelée, soufflé, peasà la française. Pity he wasn’t hungry for anything but the mahogany-haired beauty dressed like a wraith who had been sending him poisoned glances for the full duration of the first course.
He had been doing his utmost to charm her and had failed dismally. No more playing the gentleman now. He had her at his mercy. The servants had been dismissed and they were alone, the door to the dining room closed at his request.
Propriety could go hang.
He was going to win her over tonight if it was the last bloody thing he did. And since his would-be murderer was possibly still roaming London, plotting his next move, courting Virtue very wellcouldbe the last thing Trevor did.
Grim thought, that. He would do his utmost to protect her from the dangers facing him. Hell, he would save her with his own life if need be. He had known better than to ruin her with this terrible business hanging over his head, and yet he had been helpless to resist her. Now the responsibility for her safety was his, even more so than it had previously been.
