“You don’t understand.” Alyssa shook her head. “Caroline’s mother is Lady Fremont. She didn’t come here last night, did she?”
***
Travell froze. “What? No. I don’t…”
He stopped talking. No doubt Alyssa would start to believe that he was suddenly dimwitted, but he couldn’t believe his luck, or rather, thelackthereof. This was so much worse than the gossips of London recanting torrid tales of his father’s madness and wondering if he was conflicted with the same malady. The fact that he’d attempted to speak with Lord Fremont, only to have his wife travel all the way from London didn’t set well.
“I can’t imagine it’s a coincidence.”
He nodded, for Alyssahadvoiced the very same concerns rushing through his mind. He held up a hand. “Let’s not panic.” He considered what to do, and then felt almost sick for even considering it. “I’ll speak with Lady Lockley,” he began slowly. “But I think I should do it alone.”
Alyssa immediately set her hands on her hips. “I thought we were a team. You might need someone to help distract her attentionfrom the earl.”
Travell felt the bile try to rise up his throat, but he tamped it back down. “I don’t think I’ll have any trouble with that,” he muttered. “The baroness has already shown her interest in me rather boldly. I’m sure I can direct her focus somewhere other than my father, if she’s onlyhere for the purpose to passonincriminating informationto her mother.”
He waited for Alyssa to catch his meaning, and when she did, she pushed away from the desk with a horrified expression. “You mean to…seduceher?” She shook her head adamantly and began to pace in front of his desk. “That’s low, Travell. Even for you.”
“Consider it charming her, then,” hereturned impatiently. “I can’t allow her to spread malicious rumors about, for not only would that injure my father, but it could very well harm your reputation.”
She stopped to look at him with a shocked gasp. “I have been properly chaperoned, as you well know! Daisy has been with me every time.”
He snorted at that. “I wouldn’t call your maid attending to you when you arrive and when you departas‘properly chaperoned.’ You and I both know that if we wanted something untoward to happen between us, it wouldn’t be difficult to manage to find time alone.”
Her cheeks turned bright pink, and he knew she was thinking about the steamy kisses they’d shared. As his trousers began togeta bit more snug, he realized his thoughts were traveling down the same dark, dangerous path. For days he’d been fighting his attraction to her, but with Mr. Lyridon’s continual presence, his desire had been easier to maintain, but now that they would be alone again in such a spacious manor with several places to sneak off for a rendezvous…
And….now he was athalf-mast.
Blast. He had to curb these licentious thoughts.
“That isn’t the point!” Alyssa returned evenly, as she crossed her arms. “And it’s not very gentlemanly of you to bring up such things.”
He moved around the edge of his desk. “I never claimed to be a gentlemen when it comes to you.”
She watched him warily, like a rabbit when confronted with a conniving fox, the comparison making him smile rather wickedly. But then she drew herself up. “We don’t have time fornonsense. Caroline—”
“She’ll wait.”
Travell swept her into his arms and brought his mouth down on hers in one smooth motion, effectively silencing her oncoming tirade. She resisted only a moment, and then she went lax in his embrace, her arms sliding up his chest to rest on his shoulders. He groaned and deepened the kiss. No other woman had ever fired his blood like Alyssa. Even when they were children, she’d always managed to find a way to get under his skin. What was it that made her different?
In truth, he was afraid to answer that question. For years, he’d fought his attraction to her, tamping it down to the one woman who was off limits. She was the unattainable prize, because he refused to dally with ‘little Alyssa Breyton’ even though she had turned into a beautiful woman over the years.
But in the past week alone, thatallurehad steadily been fanned into something deeper…more meaningful.
And that terrified the hell out of him, because while he might want Alyssa with every fiber of his being, and claimed that she should marry him, the truth was, if she evercalled his bluffand actually said yes, he wasn’t sure how he might react. While he didn’t know how long his father’s condition would last, he’d already checked into the York Retreat, an asylum that offered a more humane treatment for the mentally ill. It would be a last resort, but reality reminded Travell that hecouldn’t stay at Rosewood forever. He still had responsibilities to the Crown as an agent, and that took precedence over all else—even his own desires.
He abruptly broke off and stepped back.“Let’s go see what Lady Lockley has to say, shall we?”
With that, he walked out the door.
Chapter Sixteen
Travell’s sudden departure left Alyssa’s head spinning.How dare he kiss her like that and just—leave? She shook her head, completely flummoxed, but just as equally determined to act as unaffected as he had.
Lifting her chin, she headed for the parlor.
When she arrived, she found that Travell was bowing over Caroline’s hand rather gallantly. The sight made her want to snort, but then the lady turned her head and spied Alyssa on the threshold.
“I thought you might have rushed off to tend to your flowers.” She fluttered her lashes at Travell. “I have no need of a chaperone as a married woman. Feel free to run along.”
