Chapter 5
Don’t think that past mistakes will stay buried. There is always someone willing to remind you of them.
MISSMAMIEFORTESCUE’SDO’SANDDON’TSFORCHAPERONES, GOVERNESSES, TUTORS,ANDNURSES
Griffin quietly closed the door of the employment agency behind him as he stepped out of the two-story building. He stood under the entrance of the covered archway for a moment and watched the rain come down in a heavy, chilling stream.
He didn’t know how long it’d been since he’d had such an invigorating conversation with a woman—if ever he had. For far too long he was used to the fairer sex only saying things they assumed he wanted to hear rather than actually being brave enough to speak their minds. Even when he gave them permission to do so. Too, there was a freshness about Miss Swift that piqued his interest. He was used to women who knew how to make their lips rosy and cheeks pink with creams, ointments, and dyes. On Miss Swift the alluring blush was natural.
More recently, he found that he not only wanted a woman to share his bed, he wanted one he could enjoy conversing with as well. Finding such a woman had been impossible among the available mistresses.
He grunted a laugh. Perhaps it was just that he’d lived so devilishly, so fast, and for so long that for a time he’d become disenchanted with mistresses, drink, and gambling. Now that he was twenty-eight, maybe he was finally ready to enjoy all life had to offer again, but in moderation this time.
Since he had to attend the entire Season because of his sisters’ debut, perhaps he would give serious consideration to the possibility of searching for such a lady who could stimulate his intellect as well as his primal passions. Surely there would be a bevy of young ladies at the balls to choose from. Perhaps he’d find one who stirred him as much as Miss Swift had just now.
She’d had no compunction about talking freely with him—except, of course, when it came to telling him why she couldn’t chaperone his sisters. Now that he knew her problem, he wasn’t surprised she was so reluctant to divulge her personal and financial circumstances to him. Surely it was an embarrassment for her to have to do so, though it shouldn’t have been. Her situations weren’t her fault.
It couldn’t be easy for a young woman to take care of herself and a sibling without the aid and protection of a male relative or guardian. Knowing she had done just that, and that she seemed to be doing a reasonably good job of it, impressed the hell out of him.
She had done very well holding her own with him too. That was no easy accomplishment. He wasn’t sure he understood it himself, but the more she said she couldn’t chaperone his sisters, the more adamant he became that she would. She kept telling him she had never been a chaperone, but he’d already made up his mind by then that she was the one for Sara and Vera.
Nothing else had mattered to him.
Including the fact that she was probably right when she said that most of Society wouldn’t consider her the proper age to be an acceptable chaperone. He could imagine the horrified expressions on all the widows’ and dowagers’ faces.
He smiled.
They all knew him well. They should expect no less. Miss Swift’s determination to resist him demonstrated the kind of strength needed to keep an eye on his spoiled sisters at the Season’s parties and other festivities.
At first he didn’t know why he was so hell-bent that she be the one to chaperone the twins other than he desired her.
Hewantedher.
No matter how unwillingly. It was that simple.
There was no use in denying it, because it wouldn’t change the fact he wanted her. In bed. Beneath him. Softly gasping with pleasure. Desire stirred low in Griffin’s body. He almost gave in and welcomed it so he could enjoy the satisfying feeling. But this was not the time for that. So once again he pushed away the yearning for her that beckoned enticingly.
He hadn’t been drawn to a woman in the way Miss Swift charmed him in a very long time. It wasn’t surprising she captivated him and now his thoughts. He was a man after all. She was enticing. Strong, shapely, and lovely. But he wouldn’t act on those primal urges she’d aroused so wantonly inside him. He couldn’t. She was now a part of his staff. Under his protection and his care. He’d never attempted to seduce anyone in his employment, and he wasn’t going to start with her.
However, he had no doubt he would enjoy lively conversations while in her presence.
With that thought firmly planted in his mind, he settled his hat on his head and walked briskly in the rain to the other side of the street where his carriage waited. His driver jumped down and opened the door for him.
“St. James,” he said as he climbed inside.
Settling himself on the plush velvet cushion, Griffin doffed the hat he’d just donned and knocked off the rain before laying it on the seat beside him. He felt the landau pull out into the street and take off at a jaunty clip. Seconds later the carriage lurched violently and then jolted to a quick shuddering stop, throwing him forward.
“Damnation,” he swore, catching himself with his hands on the opposite seat as his hat tumbled end over end to the floor.
The only thing that would have made his driver stop so quickly was if a person or animal had run into the street in front of them. Intent on finding out what the devil happened, he reached for the door, but it was suddenly jerked open and he grasped only air. Rust Rathburne, the Duke of Rathburne, bounded inside and slid onto the cushion opposite Griffin. Sloane Knox, the Duke of Hawksthorn, climbed in behind Rath and plopped onto the seat beside him. So it wasn’t anything quite so horrendous as a person or dog in danger of being run down after all but a foolish stunt by his friends.
Griffin’s driver was left standing in the open doorway, looking bewildered while rain drizzled down on top of his hat.
“Park, and I’ll let you know when I’m ready to leave,” Griffin told the shivering man.
Turning to his friends, he said, “Do you want to tell me what the bloody hell made you cause my driver to almost wreck my carriage and harm my horses?”
“You know that wasn’t our aim,” Hawk said, removing his hat and running a hand through his dark brown hair to smooth it down. “Just as we alighted from my coach, your driver took off like bats from a chimney at dusk. We had no idea he’d react so quickly to stop the horses when we waved to him.”
