He left Suzanna kneeling beside his friend and pointing out where a bolt should be tightened or a screw slipped in. The other ladies watched in fascination, and he sensed Bonham was enjoying his lovely audience immensely.
“I had better get back to work,” Gideon said quietly to Berry, for he needed to return to the Musket Club before it opened to patrons. “I’ll see you here tomorrow at nine. Better yet, I’ll come to your door and escort you over. Do not walk over on your own. In fact, do not go anywhere alone for these next few days, not even to cross the square to visit Lady Miranda or Lady Gwendolyn. Have Melton or one of your footmen escort you wherever you need to go.”
“Are you that concerned about Lord Hawthorne?”
Gideon nodded. “He sat in his carriage for hours waiting for you even after Melton had instructed him you were not at home. Who in his right mind would sit there drinking and no doubt stewing in anger when he had clearly been sent away? I cannot trust him or his motives. Will you promise me to be careful, especially when around him or his friends?”
She nodded. “All right.”
He strode away before he gave in to the urge to kiss her, an urge that struck every time she looked up at him with her big green eyes.
Berry also had the sweetest lips, sweet as cherries. They beckoned him, but were they not as dangerous as a siren’s call to lure a man onto the rocky straits and drown him?
He returned to his club, eager to drown himself in work and stop thinking about Berry.
Henry was nowhere in sight when he arrived, so Gideon sent Pudge off to look for him. “He’s probably hiding in the larder or the wine cellar. Bring him up to my office when you do find him.”
“Right away,” Pudge said, and hurried off.
Pudge was another orphan Gideon had taken in about ten years ago when this club was newly established, a shy boy who was heavyset and a little clumsy on his feet. But he was honest and hardworking. As he shot up in height, growing as big as an oak tree and maintaining his heft as well as developing muscles, he became a daunting figure on the gaming floor. No one was going to challenge Pudge.
Jasmine approached Gideon as he started upstairs. He frowned, for he had work to do and did not look forward to dealing with her petulance.
“Gideon, I need a moment of your time.”
Joss was nowhere in sight, so Gideon could not pretend he had an urgent problem at the club to address with him. He sighed, knowing there was no way out of talking to Jasmine.
“Come into my office.”
She ran her hand lightly along his arm. “We could be more private in your bedchamber.”
“No, that is over and done.”
“Are you certain?” She cast him a seductive look, then took his hand and placed it on her breast. “Isn’t this better?”
“No,” he repeated sternly, drawing away from her. “If this is all you want, Jasmine, then go use your charms on someone else.”
She slapped him. “Beast!”
He caught her hand when she attempted to slap him again. “Try that again and I’ll ban you from the club permanently. What are you doing here? Did you not just find yourself a new benefactor? The Marquess of Haverstock is a decent fellow. He honors his debts and is a gentleman. Did he buy you that necklace?”
“Yes.” She tossed him a petulant look. “But he isn’t you.”
“Be grateful for it. I would never be as nice to you as he will be.”
“Who’s your new partridge?”
“I don’t have one. But what I do have is a lot of work. If you will excuse me.”
He started up the stairs and had gotten halfway up when she blurted out Berry’s name. “Lord Hawthorne saw you with her the other night at the Denby Arms.”
He paused and turned back to her. “Keep away from that fellow. He’s trouble.”
She tipped her chin up in defiance. “He’s a viscount.”
“Jasmine, do not embroil yourself with him. He is deeply in debt and getting desperate now that his family has refused to step forward and help him out. Guard those jewels you’ve worked so hard to acquire, because he won’t hesitate to steal them from you.”
She followed him into his office. “Haverstock will never marry me.”
