Page 44 of My Best Friend's Earl
“This can be our secondary plan, if Franklin takes his affection elsewhere.” A shadow crossed her features.
It hadn’t been easy to tell Althea’s beau about the lack of a dowry. Connie had encouraged him to carefully consider the situation before leaving word of his decision at Martin House. Franklin claimed he didn’t need time to answer, but before he’d given a concrete reply, disaster struck. One of his expansive gestures while ranting about Sir William’s beastliness resulted in the lace debacle and Oliver barging in.
“As soon as I receive his answer, I’ll come to your kitchen as we discussed. If you could have seen how concerned he is for you, you wouldn’t feel the need for another plan. That man loves you, dowry or no dowry.”
Althea sighed. “I hope love is enough. Just in case, let’s focus on you. You enjoyed kissing Oliver last night, correct?”
Constance’s face flamed again. And it had just begun to cool, she thought ruefully. “Lord Southwyn is an attractive man. I’ve always said so. And amusing when he’s not striving to be proper.”
Althea wrinkled her nose. “Oliver’s quite accomplished at playing proper, isn’t he? It makes me want to shake him.Which makes his behavior with you all the more intriguing. From what you said, it took one kiss to wake him from that stodgy personality. Like a fairy tale, but in reverse. It was the prince who woke up. Or rather, the earl. We can use this.”
Constance sobered. “I know I’ve called him Lord Stuffy Pants, but he’s a good man, Althea. I won’t lead him on or play with his heart. Not even for you.”
Her friend squeezed her hand. “I would never ask that. And should it come up, feel free to tell him I’m mad for Mr. Wellsley. He’s probably pieced together the truth, anyway. Even if Franklin retreats, I want Oliver to know my heart belongs to another. Maybe the knowledge will give him permission to search elsewhere.
“Because I see how we’ve been going about this all wrong. We don’t need to give Oliver a disgust of me.We need to make him fall in love with you.”
“You don’t understand. I was barely more than an animal.” Oliver wasn’t sure how clear his words were, given the way he covered his face with his palms.
Dorian must have caught the general idea. “Hardly. I’m not sure many members of the animal kingdom experience lust.”
Oliver’s mother would have known the answer. That was something she would’ve found fascinating. Although thinking of his mother at a time like this struck him as odd. Oliver sighed and slumped in the chair he usually claimed in front of the fireplace. “Lust is not part of my usual repertoire.”
“I know you’ve always preferred to keep your private matters, well, private. But surely Connie’s not the first woman to get under your skin. Sometimes there’s an unexplainableconnection.” A smile quirked Dorian’s mouth as he stared at a set of bookshelves.
Oliver followed his gaze, then thought better of it. Right. The duke and duchess had probably passed an enthusiastically pleasurable time against that bookshelf. If he recalled correctly, the books at hip level on that shelf consisted of mostly poetry. Not his usual fare, so he needn’t worry about borrowing a book on which his friend previously shagged his wife. As had been happening since he’d covered Constance in his coat, then shuffled her into his coach last night, images from their time together assailed him.
The memories had literally kept him warm as he’d walked home in the rain, staying in the shadows as his shirt turned transparent. It hadn’t been a long walk. Or at least, that’s the argument he used when Constance asked if he’d join her in the coach.
Truth was, he knew that way lay madness, and he couldn’t fool himself otherwise. After experiencing exactly how quickly things could escalate, Oliver knew his good intentions would dissolve if he climbed into the privacy of a dark, enclosed carriage with her. Especially with her taste lingering on his tongue, while his coat covered her perfect, nearly exposed breasts.
In the time it would take the carriage to traverse Mayfair and jostle through traffic to the Martins’ working-class neighborhood of stores, Oliver could have buried himself in her willing heat and found pleasure three times over.
After all, the first time would be fast. There was no avoiding that. Hell, he’d probably lose control the first time she touched his cock, and not make it inside her until he recovered.
Oliver rubbed the back of his neck and tried to think of literally anything else.
Silence filled the room. When he glanced up, Dorian watched him with a shocked expression.
“Oliver, this wasn’t your first amorous encounter…”
Rather than answer, he angled his body away from the duke and felt the faint crinkle of paper against his side. The ace, of course. For some reason he’d started carrying it in his pocket, like a talisman, reminding him to stay the course. Or perhaps, reminding him that the only thing keeping him on this course was his determination to act with duty and honor.
Dorian sank into the other chair flanking the fireplace. “Are you a virgin?”
“I’ve always known who I’ll marry. Even if I didn’t love Dorcas, or Althea for that matter, I wasn’t going to betray that agreement. Besides, you know about my father. I couldn’t risk turning into him, Dorian. My conscience is all I have as protection against that fate, so I listen to it.”
Dorian stared, apparently fascinated to meet aMasculum virginalisin the wild. “How did I not know this about you?”
“You were happily married, then overseas for years. Even after Juliet died, you weren’t the kind to go carousing.” Instead, they’d attended the theater, visited their estates, and spent long hours reading or talking about nothing. When Dorian spoke of women and needed Oliver to chime in, he’d simply omitted a few bits of information.
“I always assumed you enjoyed discreet liaisons and spared me the details.”
Oliver shrugged. “No details to spare, my friend.”
“Was that—Oliver, was that your first kiss?” A deep V dug a groove between Dorian’s eyebrows, and Oliver had to wonder at the marked concern.
“Third, actually. I kissed a barmaid in the village. She was open to more. The earl was in the room, and made it clear he’d not only had her already but highly recommendedthe experience. Everyone was watching and laughing, so I ran. That prompted my conscious decision to abstain. How could I return to that pub with Dorcas after paying their barmaid to relieve me of my virginity? I decided, if my fiancée had to wait, there was no reason I shouldn’t as well.”
