Page 21 of In Compromise with the Earl
Chapter Eight
The sour look on Jameson’s face was all the proof Aphrodite needed to know that she had made the best choice in her dinner garments. She knew that he was a stickler for tradition and would hate how she dressed as a man. Her breeches were made for her though, they were not some cast off from her father or anyone else.
She could feel the judging gaze skimming over her skin and some sinking under it like a heated scalpel; but she did not give a whit. They were not faced with the same debacle she had in front of her; she had to get out of whatever plot or scheme her father had cooked up, no doubt with Lady Pandora and the Duke as co-conspirators.
The only recompense she could come up with was to cause a scandal, enough that it would disqualify her for marriage and she could go about living her life on her terms. Step one was to draw negative attention, as she was doing now, dressed in men’s clothing in a formal assembly gathering.
She put on the most nonchalant, unbothered face she could muster and went about smiling and laughing. Amusingly enough, the scandalous look on their faces as they saw what she was wearing was the catalyst for true humor. It amused her to see how they looked at her, and she smiled right through it.Maybe there is something to being an outcast.
The ladies turned up their noses at her, making her want to snicker instead of feeling snubbed. Then, just as she had hoped to dissuade Jameson from approaching her, he did with a confusing smile on his face.
Touching his glass with hers, the Duke smiled. “I should have expected that you would do something to draw every eye to you. Why, look at you, dear Aphrodite, the social butterfly of this season. No wonder all eyes are on you.”
Her teeth gritted. This was not what she had hoped for. “It’s all very amusing,” Jameson said. “Lovely prank, now, with all the attention on you, you can go back up and change.”
Internally, she smiled. “I am not going to change, this is it for tonight.”
The Duke scowled. “You’re not?”
“No.”
“No?” he parroted.
Pleased, she nodded, “That’s right.” Huffing, he turned on his heel and moved away, and Aphrodite gave herself a mental pat on the back. He moved away and she grinned knowing that step two, getting the Duke off her back was achieved too.
The evening hours moved slowly but all through it, she felt Jameson’s eyes on the back of her neck. What more could she do to get rid of him? Games were arranged, and Oswald came to her side. “Seems as if the ladies are making you a pariah tonight,” he said. “Care to upset the status quo anymore? Join me in a game?”
Turning to Oswald, she smiled. “It doesn’t upset you that I am dressed in men’s wear?”
“Oddly,” he shrugged, “I find it charming.”
“Just charming?”
His gaze ran from her breast to her boot-clad toes, and he leaned in., his voice husky. “What I think is not fit to be spoken out loud.”
Cocking a brow, she said, “You surprise me, My Lord.”
She joined him at the table with the thirty-two-hand deck and he handed her the cards. “Ladies first.”
“You just want to name me the younger dealer,” she sniffed. “Old man.”
His blue eyes were glimmering. “This old man might turn you over his knee if you keep sassing me, minx.”
Thinking off their previous encounter, she grinned. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Teasingly, he grinned, “Wouldn’t I?” he countered, his voice soft and low, yet unmistakably aroused.
She shivered and looked at the cards in her hands as if they were a foreign object. “Um…yes. Cards. The first cut.”
Having mercy on her, Oswald took the deck from her shaking hands and did the dealing himself. They played in alternate deals, with each trying to score the highest.
Aphrodite felt her concentration scatter whenever Oswald did so much as look at her, much less speak in those warm, hushed, aroused tones. She vividly remembered the feel of his lips on her, the warmth of his body and the seal of his possessive kiss.
She barely got through the last six deals, with her having to touch him while handing over the card. Her heart kept thumping out of rhythm and she could not keep her nipples from hardening when his eyes ran over her.
At the end of it, she excused herself to go to the water closet, hoping to get a moment to gather herself. Who would have known that a game of cards could be so intriguing? She hoped that he would be there to lay another kiss on her, but instead, when she exited the small room in the back hall, it was Jameson who stood close by.
She had the distinct feeling he’d followed her. “What are you doing withhim?”
