he said, registered in her brain. It was hard to know, with his warm
hands on her bare arms, and the scent of pine and rain invading her senses. She
leaned toward him, a positively idiotic thing to do, but one she was helpless
to stop. Mmm…not only did he smell nice, he had the loveliest smile, perfect
white teeth. He grinned at her, and she grinned back.
“Lady Gillian, did you hear me?”
“Uh-huh.” One superb smile and two dazzling
eyes, and her brain was now mush. How disappointing. She had to do better. She
pulled out of his grasp and stepped back to put proper distance between them.
His brow dipped down as if he knew
exactly what she’d been thinking. She squirmed under his penetrating stare. He
smiled, causing dimples to appear on his cheeks. “Are you unwell?”
“I’m perfectly healthy.” Daftness did
not constitute sickness.
He proffered his arm while inclining
his head toward the stairs. “Oh, yes. You are acting like the picture of health.
Not answering questions, your eyes are glazed and a sheen of perspiration is
covering your brow.”
“It’s very
ungentlemanly to point out such things.” She slipped her arm through his and
feigned a rabid interest in the floor.
“Something
interesting down there?” he asked as he led them toward the steps.
“Just making sure I don’t misplace my
step again.”
He walked toward the stairs, and when
he reached the top, he paused. “Has anyone ever told you that you are a
terrible liar?”
“A few times,” she answered, too
distracted by the way his fingers rubbed back and forth on her arm to guard her
tongue. She needed to leave him before she said anything else foolish and he
told Mr. Sutherland to avoid her. What could she say to part ways that would
sound truthful?
“Gillian!” someone called,
interrupting her thoughts. Sally rushed up the stairs to join them. She looked
between them as she heaved deep breaths. “I was wondering where the two of you
ran off to.” Her amused gaze moved from Gillian’s face to her hand. Gillian tugged
her hand free from Lord Lionhurst’s grip and forced herself to meet Sally’s
smirk. How thoroughly irritating. Did Sally think her so silly as to fall for a
man based on his remarkable looks?
“Did you decide to explain everything
to Lionhurst?”
“She was just explaining,” Lord
Lionhurst declared.
Stunned at his blatant lie, Gillian
gaped at him, unsure how to correct his claim without actually calling him a
liar.
“Good, good.” Sally leaned toward
Lord Lionhurst. “So can you help her secure a marriage proposal from your
partner?”
“Sally, please.” Gillian glared at
Sally then turned to meet Lord Lionhurst’s gaze. She wished she hadn’t.
He assessed her in a most unfriendly
manner. “You surprise me, Lady Gillian.” His tone was low and hard.
She really didn’t want to know how
she surprised him, but what choice did she have? “How so, my lord?”
“I had allowed myself to consider for
a moment that you might be a genuine woman. Something I never do when it comes
to your ilk.”
His verbal flaying made her flinch.
She was nothing like the debutantes here. She did not want Mr. Sutherland for
his money, and though she did not love him yet, she believed in her heart she
could. That had to count for something. It just had to . She swallowed
back her emotions. Lord Lionhurst’s unfair judgment could not be the undoing of
her composure. “Lord Lionhurst, you don’t understand.”
Sally wagged a finger at him “You’re
being unfair. And it’s quite unlike you.”
If anything his expression grew
colder. Gillian could not resist rubbing at the goose flesh that popped up on
her arms. Silence stretched so that she wanted to bolt from his presence and
never see the man again. It was vastly unfair that he was partners with the man
she intended to marry. Maybe she could talk Mr. Sutherland into finding a new
partner in years to come. One who didn’t hate women.
Sally blew out a
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