She gnawed at her lower lip as she wrestled with her conscience. Truly, she hadn’t had a full night with him. No, they hadn’t completed the act at all. He’d said there was more to come. Devil probably knew she was planning to back out and purposely baited her into coming again.
She squeezed her eyes shut and blew out her breath in exasperation. Why did this have to be so difficult? Why was shemakingit so difficult? How could she be found out if she were careful? Tonight’s encounter had only whetted her appetite, and she wanted very much to experience the other pleasures he promised with those dark brooding eyes of his. Even if it meant risking everything.
Chapter Six
Jenna bounded down the stairs hoping to look more energetic than she felt. She’d been meticulous in her toilette, trying to disguise any sign of the prior night’s activities as if they would be emblazoned on her forehead.
She nearly collided with the family butler at the foot of the steps. “Good morning, Thomas,” she said taking a step back.
“Good morning, Lady Jenna,” he said, straightening his sleeves. “Breakfast is being served in the family dining room.”
“Thank you.” She gave him a sunny smile and hurried on toward the dining room. As she entered, her brothers looked up from their plates. She nodded at them and went over to the sideboard to begin preparing her plate.
After selecting eggs and sausages, she took her plate and slid into a chair beside Quinn.
“Good morning, Sprite,” Quinn said around a mouthful of food.
“Good morning.”
“Are you feeling well?” Sebastian asked from his place at the head of the table.
“Sebastian, I do wish you would sit over here with the rest of us,” she said irritably. “It’s wretched uncomfortable to crane my neck to see you, much less try to have a conversation.”
He chuckled and picked up his plate. He ambled down to a chair across from her and sat back down. “That better? You must be feeling well since you’ve seen fit to order me about as usual.”
“Much better,” she said smiling at him. “I never liked you sitting at the head of the table anyway. I can’t get used to anyone but Papa being there.”
“So what do you plan to do today?” Quinn interrupted from her side.
She turned to face him and pursed her lips in concentration. “I don’t recollect any specific plans. I’ll have to check with the family secretary to see if I have any engagements.”
“You don’t,” Sebastian spoke up. At her inquisitive look he added, “I already checked.”
“Well then, I suppose I am free to go shopping,” she said with a grin.
“Don’t forget Stuart is coming to call later on.”
The smile faded from her lips, and she felt Quinn’s leg go out and kick Sebastian under the table. Quinn glared at Sebastian. “There wasn’t any need to remind her. I am sure she hadn’t forgotten.”
“I was merely reminding her so that she would be here and not out shopping.”
She dropped her eyes to her plate. Shehadforgotten. It had been easy to push Stuart from her mind when Gray was all that consumed it. With a heavy sigh, she pushed back from the table. “I am going up to my room. Have Margaret summon me when Stuart arrives.”
The two brothers watched as she left the room, and Quinn rounded on Sebastian as soon as she disappeared around the corner. “What the hell was that for?”
“I don’t think avoiding the issue of her marriage is going to help her come to terms with it,” Sebastian said as he laid aside his napkin.
“It isn’t for you to decide. But I can tell you this. Shoving Stuart in her face at every turn is not going to make her come to terms with anything.” Quinn dropped his fork in disgust and got up abruptly. “I’ve lost my appetite.”
He strode from the dining room and mounted the stairs on his way to his room. He paused outside Jenna’s room for a moment then shook his head and continued on down the hall.
Closing his door behind him, he moved over to his desk and slumped down in the chair. It bothered the hell out of him that Jenna would be the family’s sacrificial offering. It wasn’t something he would have ever thought their father would do, and yet he’d agreed to the viscount’s terms with no fuss and the marriage contracts had been signed.
He’d always assumed the three siblings would be free to choose who they would marry since their mother and father had fallen so deeply in love and married against the wishes of Father’s family. Not that they weren’t technically free to choose, but none of them would go against the wishes of their father.
Now he worried that he and Sebastian would be next, but the fact that Jenna hadn’t a choice at all was uppermost in his mind. When Father returned from Italy, he’d confront him about it, even at the risk of gaining his ire.
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