Page 9 of Seduced By a Scoundrel

Jeremy followed him, though he went to the stove to see about heating the water for tea faster. He kept one eye on Talboys as he pored over the rest of the apartment, looking at Jeremy’s collection of books, peering out the window that looked into a side alley, and perusing the contents of the shelf of tea, bread, and other various foodstuffs near the stove.

Jeremy felt as though the man were peeling off his clothes and caressing his body to learn every inch of him. The feeling created some rather unfortunate effects that necessitated him to keep his front turned away from Talboys until he could settle himself.

“I would have expected that a man with as vast and important a clientele as you are reputed to have would live in grander settings,” Talboys said.

“I have no need for material things,” Jeremy replied with a shrug as he fed a few bits of wood into the belly of his stove. “My work is my life and my employment. I only care that my shop is well-equipped and comfortable, both for myself and my staff and for the clients who come to visit me here.”

“No lovers?” Talboys asked, turning to Jeremy from the opposite side of the room just as Jeremy twisted to look at him.

The question sent a wave of self-consciousness through him that had his heart beating faster. “As you have said,” he began in a quiet voice, “I have quite a large clientele among theton. If I wish to keep that business, I cannot set so much as a toe outside of the boundaries of respectability.”

“You could get away with it,” Talboys said with a rakish smirk. “Those sorts of rules of propriety only apply to those who have nothing to bargain against society with for their silence.”

“I beg your pardon?” Jeremy asked, wishing he had something to busy himself with while the water for tea heated so that he didn’t have to have that sort of conversation with Talboys so directly.

Talboys shrugged and sauntered across the room toward him slowly. “You are the darling of theton,” he said. “Everyone adores and talks endlessly about your creations. I am more than certain that they would gladly look the other way as long as it meant they could continue to strut through Hyde Park or attend the finest balls in London whilst bragging to their peers that they are wearing something fashioned by the inimitable Jeremy Wilkes.”

Jeremy’s heart pounded against his ribs. He hadn’t been aware that Talboys knew his Christian name.

A moment later, he shook his head. “You are wrong on that score. Society is fickle. Today everyone may find some sort of value in wearing my creations, but tomorrow it will be someone else’s turn. I will be nothing more than yesterday’s gossip.”

“Perhaps you underestimate the loyalty of your patrons,” Talboys said, lowering his voice to a seductive purr as he came so close to Jeremy that he could practically feel the heat radiating from him. “You are an extraordinary man, after all.”

Jeremy swallowed hard. Was Talboys flirting with him? If so, why? The two of them had nothing in common and did not run in the same circles. He had nothing to offer a man like Derrek Talboys. Well, nothing except that which he was too afraid to give.

“I never wanted to be an extraordinary man,” he said breathlessly, turning away from the larger, alluring man to see whether the water was hot enough for tea yet. He certainly felt hot enough to boil the kettle simply by touching it. “The only sort of man I am is one who has overheard something he should not and is now in a great amount of danger.”

That observation seemed to cool whatever ardor Talboys had been feeding. He took a step back and his expression steadied into thought. “Yes, that is a problem and a concern,” he said.

The water wasn’t really hot enough, but Jeremy needed to do something with his hands that would take his attention away from the unwanted feelings of lust he had for Talboys. “What should I do?” he asked as he set about preparing the tea with his back turned to Talboys.

“For one, you should be extraordinarily careful about where you go and who you see for the next few days,” Talboys said.

The hint of possessiveness in his voice sent a thrill through Jeremy that was so unexpected he nearly dropped the spoon he was using to put tea leaves into his teapot.

“I have appointments to keep, clients to see,” he said as he put the lid on the teapot and turned to take it to the table. “I cannot close my doors when so much work is left to be done.”

“You might not have to close anything,” Talboys said, helping himself to a seat at the table when Jeremy gestured to one of the empty chairs. “I need to investigate Conroy and discover anything I can about the driver of the carriage just now, though I suspect it will be impossible to learn anything about that.”

No sooner were those words out of Talboys’s mouth than steps were heard on the stairs leading up to Jeremy’s rooms. He hadn’t shut the door to the small hallway, so when Artie appeared in the doorway, timidly knocking on the doorframe to announce himself, he was seen immediately.

“Begging your pardon, sir,” he said, nodding almost reverently to Talboys.

“Yes, Artie?” Jeremy asked, uncertain whether he was relieved to have someone else in the room or irritated by it.

Artie dragged his eyes away from Talboys to say, “There was a gentleman here earlier asking about you.”

The shop was frequented by gentlemen asking about Jeremy in some way, shape, or form, so the statement struck Jeremy as unworthy of expression. “And?” he asked.

Artie frowned. “And it were odd, sir,” he said. “I asked if he was here to pick up an order, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t interested in coming for measurements or a consultation either.”

“Why was he here?” Talboys asked, suddenly on the alert.

“He wouldn’t say, sir,” Artie said, glancing between the two men. “He was an odd one, that gent. Fidgety and cross.”

“What did he look like?” Talboys stood.

Both Jeremy and Artie took a step back at his imposing presence and suddenly sharp mien.

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