Page 54 of The Duke and Lady Scandal
And despite all the reasons he knew he shouldn’t—despite the feeling that something in him had been torn open and his usual defenses would no longer shield him—he needed to kiss her again too.
Depending on the time of year, they would close Princes for the day on a Sunday. Shoppers would sometimes come, as the holiday approached, in November and December. But since there would only be two of them in October, Allie had agreed with Mr. Gibson that they’d close on Sundays during the month.
Ordinarily on such days, Allie took care of all the tasks she couldn’t get to in the evenings—replying to letters, reading the newspaper, or even sifting through research for her book.
But today wasn’t an ordinary day. It was the day after she’d shared the most extraordinarykiss, with a man who’d tempted her from the moment she’d met him.
And now? Her thoughts were consumed with him. And kissing him.
It wasn’t supposed to be unforgettable. Indeed, Eve had warned her years ago that a lady’s first kisses were often an unpleasant, even disastrous, experience.
But nothing about her encounters with Benedict Drake—Ben—had been unpleasant, not even the remainder of the night at the Wellingdons after their stolen moments in the garden. Oh, Haverstock had snubbed her the rest of the night. And Jo had been miserable because there’d been no time to talk about what had happened in the garden. And Ben had been seated too far away from her too.
Yet she’d been in a kind of warm haze for the rest of the night.
And this morning, she was good for nothing but remembering the heat of his mouth on hers, the way he’d lifted her easily and fitted her against the hard muscles of his body.
She found herself tracing her lips, yearning for more. To be back, hidden in the hedges, with him again.
Could people make love against a hedge?
She was so brazen now that she wanted to find out.
Even as the day’s hours stretched on, the hunger to do it all again—to do more—didn’t diminish. And she spent hours trying to convince herselfthat the wild impulse to go and find Ben and kiss him again was entirely reasonable. She’d never been forward, never truly flirted or pursued an interest in any man. Not that she was missish about ladies doing such a thing. Only that no one had inspired her to make the effort.
Until now.
She stood, walked to her wardrobe, and selected her newest walking suit.
Lottie, who’d been chatting in the hallway to Mrs. Taunton, must have heard the squeaking hinges of her wardrobe door.
“Anything I can do to help, miss?” Lottie rapped once and stepped into her room.
Allie stared at the young woman, her mind still spinning with possibilities. She wanted to see him. Indeed, it felt more like a need. Was he at home on Sundays? Or was he working on all the cases that required his attention?
It had been so long since she’d considered any kind of outing beyond charity work and her bicycle club.
“I’m going out, Lottie. No lunch for me today. Though if I’m home by supper, tell Mrs. Taunton a tray in my room will suffice.”
“May I help you change?”
Allie was still wearing an old day dress that was soft and comfortable for days at home.
“I can manage the suit, but would you do something with my hair?”
“Of course, miss.” Lottie smiled. She relished any kind of work that involved lady’s maid dutiesand had a special talent for arranging hair, choosing just the right earbobs, and picking the best accessories.
Soon she’d transformed Allie’s simple chignon into an artistic arrangement of braids and curls.
“Is it the young constable?” Lottie whispered once she’d set the last pin in place and stood back to survey her work.
Allie smiled at her in the mirror. “No, not the constable.”
“But you are going off on a little adventure, aren’t you, miss?”
“I am.” Not quite an adventure by the Prince definition. There was no artifact or buried treasure involved. And yet she was pursuing something of great value single-mindedly with no real certainty of the outcome.Thatwas very Prince of her indeed.
“It’s about time I did,” she told Lottie. Everything in her cheered the sentiment.
