Page 30 of One Dangerous Desire
Rex forced his mouth into a smile as they reached Lady Caroline, taking care not to turn a single glance in May’s direction.
“Lady Caroline, thank you for the invitation. May I introduce my business associate, Jack Sullivan?”
Sullivan comported himself as if he’d been born to etiquette and social niceties, but he still looked slightly queasy when he took Lady Emily’s arm.
Devenham and May led the rest of them into the ring around the arena, and Rex found ignoring her much easier when he could glare at the back of their heads.
As if she sensed him watching her, May turned and looked back at him. She tried for disdain, her mouth tense and chin high, but her eyes were wide with interest as she held his gaze. She glanced at Lady Caroline before turning back.
“I do so enjoy this. I never move faster than when I’m skating.” Lady Caroline missed May’s look as she chattered on. “Or riding a horse, I suppose. Or even traveling in a carriage.” She frowned, as if weighing the various speeds of horse-drawn transport versus flinging herself around an enormous oval rink on eight small wheels. “And I never know who I’ll see.” She caught the eye of someone she knew and waved eagerly. “There’s always such a crush at the Olympia.”
After the third “Look, there’s Lady (or Lord) Thus-and-Such,” Rex simply nodded rather than trying to scan faces to locate a lady or gentleman he wouldn’t recognize if they stood directly in front of him.
Sitting on a nearby bench while they attached their skates, Sullivan and Lady Emily seemed to be engaged in actual conversation. She listened to him intently before offering an answer and a grin, which he returned.
“Have you skated before, Mr. Leighton?” Lady Caroline inquired as Rex claimed a bench to sit and place his booted foot on the four-wheeled metal base of his skate, taking care to buckle each leather strap securely.
“Only on ice back in New York when I was a child.” The constant noise and movement of the ladies and gentlemen already gliding around the rink brought memories to poignant life. A flash of his mother’s face and her encouraging smile made his chest ache.
“You must tell me about New York.”
Rex offered her a practiced grin. These English nobles were terribly curious about the city where he’d grown up, but none of them could imagine the hovel where he’d lived before leaving the States. Nor the sort of drudgery that had sent his mother to an early grave.
“Would you help me lace my skates?” Caroline reached out with both hands to indicate how helpless she was to reach her ankles while seated. Rex knew the time it took to divest a woman of her laces and stays. Considering Lady Caroline’s elaborate striped day dress with an impossibly narrow waist, he didn’t doubt her corset made movement difficult.
“My pleasure.” Rex crouched in front of her at the same moment Devenham knelt before May, lifting the edge of her gown just enough to reach beneath.
He forced his focus to remain on Lady Caroline’s ruffled hem and the work of wading through her layers of petticoats. Even when Devenham whispered something to May under his breath, and she laughed demurely in response.
She’d probably marry the man. He allowed himself a single glance at her face and caught a smile she offered the earl as he crouched at her feet.
“I do have another foot, Mr. Leighton.” Lady Caroline lifted her hem an inch higher and thrust her other booted foot toward him.
He buckled her skate in place and then reached higher, slipping his hand over the edge of the boot, gripping her warm stockinged leg above. “Forgive me, my lady.”
“Oh, you’re forgiven,” she purred, loud enough to earn her brother’s notice. The earl finally stood, stopped touching May, and led the way toward the entrance to the rink.
“I take it we simply wade into the fray.” Sullivan drew next to him, Lady Emily at his side.
“Seems the best strategy.” Rex never dreamed hundreds of Londoners would pack themselves into an enormous arena on a Monday afternoon to roll around a wooden rink in huge concentric circles.
Lady Caroline tugged him onto the floor, and they ended up behind a wall of three couples skating with their arms linked.
Rex noticed many skaters favored a forward lean and attempted it himself. The position allowed him to gain speed and maintain balance at the same time. Lady Caroline reached out and hooked her arm with his. He wasn’t certain if the connection allowed them to steady each other or made skating more precarious for both of them. She slowed him down, but they still achieved enough speed to make the experience exhilarating.
Devenham struggled to keep up with May, who clearly possessed skill and experience the rest of them lacked. The earl ended up nearly shoulder to shoulder with Rex and called ahead to her. “I had no notion you were so proficient in the rink, Miss Sedgwick.”
She cast an indulgent grin over her shoulder and slowed enough for the earl to catch up. Devenham drew close. Near enough for her to reach out and hook her arm through his. But she didn’t, and a satisfying fizz bubbled up in Rex’s chest at the sight of it.
Devenham didn’t seem nearly as pleased.
“Oh, look, there’s Georgie!” Lady Caroline called out, clearly intending her brother to hear. “He’s one of our dearest friends,” she said in a quieter tone to Rex.
There had to be twenty young men skating in the general area Lady Caroline indicated. As they continued to move around the oval, she twisted her head back to look at her friend, leaning at an awkward angle to keep the gentleman in view.
“Careful, Caroline.” Rex let go of her arm and reached around her waist in an attempt to keep her upright, but she’d already begun to lose her footing. One leg extended too far.
“Ah!” She let out a frightful squeal and both her legs splayed as she started down onto her backside.
