Page 40 of The Danger of Desire
“Very well,” she said smoothly. “A thousand pounds it is. I’ll even give you the choice of who deals first.”
“Good,” he said. “Because this time I mean to prevail.”
He could try all he wished. No one ever beat her.
The next game was long, heated, and intense. There was no chatter. No baiting her. Warren seemed determined upon winning, which she preferred. She didn’t like knowing that he had let her win the last game.
In the end, of course, she still won. It took an effort for her not to crow over it, but she had no time for that. The hour grew late. She had to be home.
She waited for Warren to hand her an IOU, but instead he said, “I tell you what. My rig is outside. Why don’t you come with me, and I’ll pay you at my town house? That way you don’t have to wait for your funds.”
“An IOU is acceptable, sir. I trust you to pay your debts.”
She wouldn’t let him trap her at his town house, although how she would claim the funds otherwise, she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as if Miss Delia Trevor could ask for them. Although Owen could.
“Come now, Jones. It’s not far. And afterward, I’ll have my coachman take you to wherever you stay.”
She hesitated. It didn’t sound at all wise to be alone in a carriage with him, even for a short amount of time. “I shall call on you tomorrow, my lord, if you will give me your direction.”
“Whatever you wish.” He scribbled his address and handed it to her, though his shuttered gaze warned that if he ever got her alone at his town house, matters might go differently than she would like.
He might try to kiss her again. Or caress her. Or—
Stop thinking about that! It makes you go all squishy inside. Which can’t possibly be healthy.
Exactly. So she would have to send Owen to claim the funds and hope that Warren wouldn’t balk at that. “Thank you, my lord,” she said again, and meant it.
With an enigmatic glance, he stood. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
After he left, she released a pent-up breath. He hadn’t exposed her. He hadn’t stayed around to badger her. She’d bluffed her way through his threats and won. For now. At last she could go home.
She lingered only long enough to allow Warren a chance to have left the area entirely. Then she walked out the door of Dickson’s and started for home.
But she didn’t get far. Within moments, a carriage came up next to her, keeping an even pace with her. One look at the crest on the side told her who it must be. Blast the man.
Warren opened the door. “Get in, and I’ll take you home.”
“I will not, and you will not.”
But she had to admit she was tempted. A number of men were on the street, all of them watching her. Or it seemed like it, anyway. She wasn’t used to navigating the stews without Owen. She’d never felt so exposed.
Warren ordered the coachman to stop, then climbed out. Picking her up bodily, he tossed her into the carriage. It took her so by surprise that she just sat and gaped at him as he threw himself into the other seat and told the driver to go on.
“You had no right to do that!” she cried as she recovered her wits.
“I certainly didn’t. Not that it matters. What can you do to stop me?” He brandished that cocky smirk that maddened her. “Scream for help like a woman? Pretend to be Jones and report me to the magistrate? Who, by the way, has gone drinking with me a time or two. He’d be fascinated to hear about your masquerade as a Welsh male card player.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “What aboutyourmasquerade as a gentleman? When really you’re a bully?”
His smirk disappeared. “Yes, I’m the biggest bully in the world, forcing you not to walk the streets of London alone, keeping you from being attacked by footpads and scoundrels. I cannot believe you came here without Owen.”
“You left me no choice. How dare you threaten to have my servant turned off? He nearly had heart failure over it.”
“Yet he let you go out without him.”
“He doesn’t know I did that. I told him I would stay in tonight.” She glared at Warren. “Otherwise, he would have felt compelled to go along, thus risking his position. So if you dare to go to my aunt about him when he did nothing wrong—”
“I won’t.” He leaned forward, eyes glittering. “Ifyou answer my questions.”
