“No, but you’re the one who manhandled me so roughly you bruised my arm.”
His eyes narrowed at that accusation and he demanded, “Show me your bruises.”
She hadn’t bothered to look at her arm to see if she had any, and was about to say so when he grabbed her arm and turned it. His expression changed immediately. She glanced down to see the bruise as well. It was just a tiny one. Good grief, she’d never in her life been happy to see a blasted bruise, but she certainly was now.
“I told you,” she said with the utmost pleasure.
“Yes, you did,” he replied quietly, and he actually looked contrite, no,actually,he looked stricken. “I apologize, Gabby. It certainly wasn’t my intention to bruise you, merely to help you that day. I’m sorry you bruise so easily.”
The last remark gave her pause. She didn’t bruise easily, and in fact, his grip that day hadn’t beenthatstrong and shouldn’t have left a mark…
She drew in her breath, recalling that she’d been jostled sharply in the carriage on the way to the Malory townhouse when the vehicle rolled over a rather large pothole, enough that she’d cried out and Ohr had remarked on it. There was no doubt in her mind now that that’s how she’d gotten the bruise.
She wasn’t going to tell him. She rather liked his current conciliatory expression…Oh, bother!
“I was mistaken,” she said sharply. “So you can retract your apology.”
“Excuse me?”
The blush came despite her irritation with herself. “I’ve just remembered that I got that bruise in a carriage the day after I saw you on the docks. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t a brute,” she added firmly.
He burst out laughing. It drew too many eyes. A big man like him, his laugh was deep, robust, and damned if it wasn’t distinctly sensual, too. She was barely able to ignore the shiver it sent down her back.
“I see I managed to break your tedium after all,” she grumbled.
“Yes, but I was only hoping for some witty remark that I’m sure you’re capable of. I certainly wasn’t expecting a feast of…silliness.”
His engaging grin said clearly that he was teasing her now. It flustered her, but what surprised her even more was that she wanted to grin back at him.
The man’s moods shifted quickly, and she found this winsome one more disconcerting than his earlier antagonism. It reminded her of that very real smile he’d given her on the docks, which had caused her stomach to flutter strangely.
She needed to get away from him. Her stomach was starting to flutter again. She looked for her current dance partner, who had gone off to procure some refreshment for her. Peter Wills—Willis, or something like that. But he was nowhere in sight. She wasn’t surprised. She’d wanted a break from the dancing before her feet got sore in her new slippers, and had noticed how long the line was for refills of champagne before she sent him off for some.
“Why are you standing here alone?” Drew asked. “I was only joking about that scowl, you know. It certainly wouldn’t have kept me from approaching you—if I were interested in making your acquaintance. So why aren’t you dancing?”
“I was parched. I sent—”
“Excellent,” he cut in, and twirled her onto the dance floor before she could object. “I was wondering how I could manage a dance with you. And the music will be over before your partner returns. A shame to waste it.”
He was touching her. Her hand was grasped warmly in his, while his other hand rested firmly on her waist. She felt his touch so keenly that for a moment she could think of nothing else and barely heard what he was saying.
His eyes—they really were black. The light in the ballroom was fairly bright from an excessive number of chandeliers, and standing this close to him, she could detect no other color in them. Quite disturbing, those eyes. They started that fluttering again in her belly—no, it was probably just him. The attraction she felt was more powerful than anything she’d ever experienced before.
His shoulders—good grief, they were so wide. He was such a tall, strapping man, and far too pleasing on the eyes. That fluttering inside her wouldn’t stop. She really should get away from him, but it would be too rude of her to end their dance abruptly, and oh, God, she didn’treallywant to.
He smelled so good, like exotic spice. They were dancing too closely. And yet she lacked the will to break the contact with him or mention that it was highly improper. Why, their chests were so close they were nearly touching; in fact, her breasts did graze against him at one point and instantly tingled in response.
“You never did answer my question,” he said softly near her ear. “Did you really come back to England just to get a husband?”
Her salvation! Such a perfect subject to get her mind off of what he was making her feel. “Yes, but don’t worry, I won’t be setting my sights on you. I’m aware that you’re just a Lothario.”
“Am I? And where did you hear that?”
She wasn’t about to admit that she’d eavesdropped on him and his brother this morning and had hurried away before they’d noticed. “Your sister must have mentioned it.”
“No, she wouldn’t have. She could be furious with me but would never use a word like that to describe me.”
“A sweetheart in every port?”
