“I’m glad you’re having a good evening. I don’t want to dampen your spirits, but look over there and see who else is at the party.” He nodded in Ellie’s direction.
Lilly rose on her tiptoes to look across the crowd. When she saw Pettingill, she gasped. “Oh no! That rake is flirting with Miss Middleton. We must stop it.” She tugged on his arm. “Vincent, you must say something to her.”
“Actually, I think it’s best if she hears it from you, since you were his victim at one time.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? You think that is wise?”
“I do, but wait until Pettingill leaves before you say anything to Miss Middleton.”
Lilly fidgeted next to him as she aimed her glare at the other lord. Vincent tried not to grin too wide. Pettingill didn’t deserve a sweet woman like Ellie. Vincent would like nothing more than to see him forced to wed a penniless waif because he’d seduced her. That would serve the man right.
“They are done dancing,” Lilly whispered. “I’ll go over and tell her now, before her next partner comes to claim a dance.”
Vincent nodded. He flexed his hands by his sides as he watched Ellie to see what she’d do when Lilly came to her.
Ellie’s caring smile lit up her face as she took hold of Lilly’s outstretched hands in greeting. Lilly leaned into Ellie and whispered something in her ear. Slowly, the lovely smile on Ellie’s face disappeared, and by the time Lilly pulled away, both women were frowning.
Something peculiar squeezed inside his chest. His first reaction was to hurry to Ellie and take her outside, to get away from all of the men who were wrong for her, until he realized thathewas one of those men. He should be satisfied in knowing he was the reason Pettingill wouldn’t snatch her up. So why wasn’t he happy about it?
Lilly walked away from Ellie. Within moments, she looked slowly around the room. Before her gaze came toward him, he looked away. Would she know he had asked Lilly to tell her about Pettingill? If Ellie asked, he’d admit to it. There was no shame in confessing to want the best for the duke’s daughter.
“There you are, hiding in the corner.”
A woman’s sultry voice snapped Vincent out of his thoughts. Standing in front of him was one of his former mistresses, Lady Livingston—Candace. They’d parted ways as friends, but every so often she reentered his life and tried to sway him to come back. He never did, mainly because he was with a different woman at the time.
Smiling, he took her hand and brought it up to place a kiss on her knuckles. “Lady Livingston, the sight of you takes my breath away.”
Although the words were practiced, they weren’t true this time. Candace was a very lovely woman who’d been widowed for six years. She appeared the same as when he saw her last, still wearing expensive gowns and costly jewelry, but he could honestly say that no longer was she the loveliest woman he had ever seen. And it seemed her waist had thickened slightly. Laziness could do that to a person. Why he’d said that she took his breath away, he didn’t know.
Immediately, Ellie popped into his mind, making his heart soften. Nowshewas the woman who took his breath away.
As quickly as the thought came, he ushered it out. He shouldn’t be having thoughts like this about her.
Candace chuckled sensually as she slowly pulled her hand away, purposely sliding her fingers against his palm in a suggestive manner. “Oh, Vincent. You always say the sweetest things.”
“It’s good to see you. What have you been doing since I saw you last?” he asked.
She waggled her eyebrows. “Trying to replace you, my dear man.”
He widened his eyes in shock. “You’re still trying? Whatever for?”
“Come now, Vincent. You know you’re one man that’s not easily forgotten.”
He laughed. No woman had ever told him that. “How interesting that you would think such a thing when you go through men almost as fast as I go through women.”
“Vincent, have you forgotten how many times I’ve told you howspecialyou are to me?”
He arched an eyebrow. “If you say so.”
Candace looked away from him and put her focus directly on Ellie. He held his breath. She must have been watching him long enough to know whom he’d been absorbed in since arriving at the ball.
“I see that Miss Middleton has captured your interest.”
He swallowed hard. “She has?”
Candace turned her attention back on him and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t play coy with me, my good man. I know you well enough to know when you’ve targeted a fair maiden to be your next seduction.”
He laughed forcefully, mainly because he didn’t want Candace knowing the truth. “You think you can read my mind, eh?”
