“Agreeable? Social?” Alex added when Ramsey stopped. “Handsome?”
“And this is what I was worried about,” Gray said, but he was smiling.
“Gray?” the Duke of Raven asked. “It is you.”
“James.” Gray looked happy to see the duke.
“I wondered when you’d reappear,” the peer said. “He helped me with some enquiries on a certain matter,” he added, noting the surprised faces around him.
“It’s good to see you again,” Gray added.
“And now it is time for us to head to our seats,” Alex said. “Where are you sitting, Gray?”
“We have seats—”
“That will never do,” Aunt Ivy said, joining their conversation. “There is plenty of room in the box. Come along, you can join us.”
“There really is no need, our seats are excellent,” Gray said after introducing Ramsey to her aunt and uncle.
“There is every need. Now, let’s go as the performance is about to start. We do not want to miss the beginning of the play.” She then looped her arm through Gray’s and started walking.They all fell in behind.
Followed by the duke and duchess, they walked up the stairs to their seats, and Ellen thought again this wasn’t so bad. She was surrounded by people she liked, and maybe it had been wrong of her to hide from something she’d always loved.
Looking around when they reached the upstairs foyer, her eyes locked on the dark angry ones of her ex-fiancé, and every inch of the calm she’d just felt evaporated.
CHAPTERTHIRTY
Gray had spent the day at Scotland Yard going through the books he’d retrieved from George Nicholson’s locked box. He reviewed what he knew and made more notes. He’d also tried and failed not to think about Ellen Nightingale and that kiss. The way she had little creases around her mouth when she smiled at him and how beautiful she was. But it wasn’t just her looks that intrigued him. The woman was intelligent, feisty, and fun to be with.
He couldn’t fight the fact anymore that she meant something to him. That he cared for her. He wasn’t sure how it had happened in such a short time, but it had. As yet, he wasn’t sure what to do with this recent knowledge. But like everything he did, he would analyze and think it through before taking action.
After a long day, he’d gone home ready for a drink, a meal, both in solitude, and then a full night’s slumber that would reset his odd mood. Gray rarely let anything interrupt his ability to work on a case. Ellen did that, and he could not allow it to continue.
When he’d entered his home, he’d found his cousin seated in his parlor. Shoes off and feet resting on the arm of his sofa as he lay full length along it. On his chest was a plate of food.
He’d then told Gray they were going to the theatre tonight. Gray hated the theatre. Ramsey had walked around the house one step behind him until he agreed. He’d done that often when they were younger. His cousin was incredibly tenacious when his mind was set.
“This is exciting,” Ramsey said from beside him while they waited upstairs with other theatergoers to reach their seats, which as it turned out, were now in a private box. “Your Ellen’s family are very nice people,” Ramsey whispered to him. “Except for the glowering eldest brother, Lord Seddon.”
“He’s untrusting, and who can blame him? I’m no different, and she is not my anything.”
But he wanted her to be his something, and that terrified Gray. When he’d seen her across the foyer looking nervous, hands clenched in front of her, he’d known that what he felt for that woman would not easily be pushed aside.
“If you say so.”
“I do.”
He found her a few feet in front of him. She wore gold beneath the deep blue cloak. Her hair shone as she passed beneath any light. Her eyes were on the move, head turning from side to side as she took everything in and looked for danger. She was uncomfortable in this setting, Gray could tell. Her head tilted slightly to answer her aunt, and his eyes went to the soft skin just under her ear. He wanted to place his lips there.
Christ.He turned away.
A woman to their left gave Gray and his cousin a flirtatious smile. Ramsey bowed and smiled back. Gray scowled.
“For pity’s sake, man, it takes no time to smile,” his cousin hissed.
“When you are raised, having manners rammed down your throat, you tend to rebel when you no longer have to adhere to them constantly,” a deep voice said from behind him.
He looked over his shoulder into the eyes of Leo. Gray nodded, and Leo returned the gesture.
