Page 29 of One Dangerous Desire
“I don’t give a damn about your past,” Rex shouted and was surprised to see a grin crest Jack’s face out of the corner of his eye. “We both play the gentleman when we must. We both have pasts we’d rather forget. I judge a man by his actions now, not by what he did when he was young and foolish. Or desperate.”
“Very well. We’re to be gentlemen today, and manage it with wheels attached to our boots.”
“When you put it like that, it sounds—”
“Terrifying?”
“Less appealing. How difficult can it be?”
Sullivan slanted an eye at him. “With a good deal of effort, I’ve actually managed to remain upright a few times. I used to know a lady who was quite fond of skating.”
“And? Not so bad, was it?”
“When I was vertical, it was grand.”
Rex couldn’t imagine the tall, poised detective next to him falling repeatedly in a skating rink, but he could easily envision slamming to the polished wood on his own backside. He winced as he asked Jack, “Did you fall a lot?”
“Depends on one’s definition ofa lot. On my first attempt, I came home with more bruises than I’ve received in many a round of fisticuffs.”
Surely he’d fare better. Some of the agility of his younger days may have abandoned him, but he could keep to his feet on a skating rink. As a boy, he’d ice skated in Central Park. Once. Perhaps twice. He couldn’t recall sustaining any injuries, though he’d always been accompanied by his mother, who no doubt stood watch, ready to catch him if he started to fall.
“We’ll do fine, Jack. I suspect our main task will be to ensure that the lady joining us in a turn around the rink remains on her feet. If nothing else, you’ll have a titled lady to hold on to.”
“Which titled lady? I assume you will be paired with Lady Caroline. Do you know the young lady with whom I’ll be skating?”
He’d hoped to avoid the revelation until they reached the rink, considering how mention of Ashworth’s daughter had roused Sullivan that first time she came up in conversation. “Lady Emily Markham.”
“No.” Sullivan shook his head vehemently. “I cannot skate with Lady Emily.”
“Why does the woman frighten you so?”
“Nothing frightens me,” he scoffed, though Rex noted the man’s brow had furrowed into deep lines. “Lady Emily is . . . ” Sullivan lifted his hands and gestured in the air. At first he seemed to be indicating her height, but then his hands traced a more sinuous feminine shape. He finally gave up and folded his arms. “She’s the daughter of a duke.”
“Mmm, yes, perfectly clear now. However, I may ask Lady Caroline to marry me, so I think it best I stick by her side.”
Sullivan drew in a sharp breath through his nose. “Very well. I shall assist you in whatever way I am able.”
“You needn’t make it sound like I’m asking you to fall on your sword.”
“No, just my arse. Repeatedly.”
The cab slowed as they entered a row of traffic drawing up in front of the Olympia Grand rink.
“We’re here.” Sullivan lifted his chin to look out over the crowd awaiting entry into the arena. With his usual keen sight, he spotted their party immediately. “It seems we’ll be a group of six.”
Rex squinted in the direction Sullivan indicated and spotted a cluster composed of Devenham, his sister, Lady Emily, and May Sedgwick.
“Damnation.” The prospect of tripping over his feet in front of Caroline held no appeal. The possibility of making an utter jackass of himself with May in attendance made him want to call the whole outing off altogether.
He and Jack unfolded themselves from the cramped quarters of the carriage and offered each other a mutually wary glance before proceeding to join the others.
“Didn’t expect her to be here, I take it?” Jack asked as Lady Caroline caught sight of them and began waving. Rex needed no clarification to know she wasn’t the lady to whom the inquiry man referred.
“You’re my detective! Shouldn’t you have known where she would be?” Rex increased his pace, stomping ahead of Sullivan as he made his way through the crowd.
Jack called from behind him. “You did tell menotto include her in my efforts, sir.”
His punctilious investigator was right, of course. Rex spent months watching May’s parents fuss over her every action, controlling her behavior, and curtailing her freedoms. He couldn’t bear the thought of paying someone to track her movements now that she seemed to have achieved a bit of independence in London.
