Page 17 of A Scottish Bride for the Duke
Lady Isobel looked pointedly at Adrian. “I wonder who ye could mean,” she said flatly.
“I would never refer to the duke in that way.” Joseph winked. “He is excessively good with a blade, and I could never win in a duel.”
Adrian could practically see the way Lady Isobel’s gaze tracked across his shoulders and down to his waist.
“I don’t know,” she said, responding to the flirtatious lilt in Joseph’s voice. “I think ye might have a chance.”
“Do you now? Hear that, Adrian?”
“I hear,” Adrian said, turning his glare on Joseph now. “Are you done flirting with my guest?”
“Not in the slightest. This is the most fun I’ve had all night. Why don’t you attempt a similar thing?”
Adrian almost snorted.Flirt with Lady Isobel?
“She’d be more likely to stab me with a butter knife than flirt with me,” he said.
She appeared to mull the thought over, then nodded, a mischievous smile curling her lips. He did his best not to look at her mouth or to notice the conspiratorial glance she exchanged with Joseph.
“He does make the prospect tempting, do ye not think?”
“I do,” Joseph said. “But you mustn’t blame him for it, you know. Some people can’t help it.”
“That suggests he is amongst those who cannot help it,” Isobel said.
“Well, I suppose that’s up to your discretion, my lady.”
“Och, that’s too much responsibility for one person.”
Adrian snapped his jaw closed. “If you are bothquitedone?”
“He’s always like this,” Joseph assured her, then grinned across at Adrian. “Don’t take it to heart.”
“Yes,” she murmured. “I would be foolish to take him too much to heart.”
Enough was enough.
“Rowton,” he snapped. “Enough. Let’s leave the ladies to gentlemen who might have aspirations to their hands.” Even as he said the words, his gut churned.
Still, the sooner he removed his friend from Lady Isobel, the better.
The ladies tittered behind him as he led Joseph away.
“A pretty one,” Joseph said once they were alone, handing him a glass of wine. “I can see why you’re so interested.”
“I’m not interested,” Adrian said curtly.
“All that effort to pull me away, and it’s not because you want her for yourself?” Joseph surveyed him over his glass. “That seems unlikely.”
“I don’t trust her. She came out of nowhere asking for my mother, but has yet to explain precisely why.”
“Your mother is in Cornwall.”
“Well observed.”
Joseph rolled his eyes at the sarcasm. “So, what is your plan?”
“Keep an eye on her. Until my mother returns and decides what to do with her.” Adrian sipped his wine and watched her smile at more young gentlemen. “She seems to have come here with the object of finding a husband. In fact, she reprimanded me for scaring away potential suitors, when it was clear they wanted nothing more than to sate their curiosity.”
