Page 12 of The Rakehell's Seduction
A bitter, salty taste hit his taste buds like a blow to the face.
“Ack!” He spewed out the vile-tasting concoction and snatched the cloth napkin off his tray and wiped at his mouth.
Ben had been in the midst of laying out a new set of trousers and froze, his eyes wide as he stared at Ambrose.
“Who said I requested this?” He waved at the bowl, still smacking his lips before he took a very, very long gulp of juice. It barely erased the over-salted porridge.
“Um…” Ben shuffled his feet. “I was told by the housekeeper, who was told by the cook, who I believe was informed by Lady Alexandra.”
“You’ve got to be…” His words trailed off into a low growl.
“Right…well, I’ll just leave you to eat…” Ben started to back out the door, his face a little pale.
Ambrose let him go. He could tell the lad was frightened, and Ambrose knew why. He was letting his anger bubble up to the surface, but the only one who would pay for this was Alex, and he was going to be ruthless…by making her desperate for him. He wouldn’t go easy or slow—he’d take over her senses and overwhelm her with passion.
Alex, love, you’ve set the rules for our game, and I intend to win.
*****
Alex was perched on the edge of her seat, delicately licking off the last bit of honey from her fingertips, when the dining room door opened. Ambrose strode in, his tall, lean legs finely on display in buckskin trousers. He tugged absentmindedly at his gold-and-cream striped waistcoat as he scanned the room. When his eyes settled upon her, he smiled.
“Ah, breakfast,” he announced and came over to sit directly across from her. “I’m simply famished.” He reached for the tray of toast and then added bacon and eggs to his plate.
Carefully wiping her hands on her napkin, Alex sipped her tea and studied him. His hair was a little mussed, as though he’d run his hands through it. The dark strands revealed a hint of red when the midmorning sunlight illuminated them. How curious. Her hands itched to reach out and touch his hair, to get a closer look. She abruptly shook herself out of such strange daydreams.
“How did you sleep, Mr. Worthing?” she inquired, knowing all too well that poor Ben had woken him up four hours earlier with salty porridge. The footman had rushed straight to the cook, who’d told the housekeeper, who’d come to Alex, distraught over having upset their guest. Alex had assured the woman that their guest was not at all upset, even though she knew he was. But that had been the point of it all. To infuriate him into leaving.
“I slept well enough, thank you for asking.” He hummed softly as he spread marmalade on his toast, and Alex’s lips parted in shock. That hadn’t been the response she’d been expecting. So he wasn’t going to admit he’d been woken up far too early? Interesting…
“And you?” he asked. “Did you sleep well? I imagine dining on tarts before bed might give you sweet dreams.” His brown eyes were as warm as the honey in the pot beside her.
Startled by his lack of reaction to her scheming, she answered honestly. “No…the rain…the sound of it on the rooftops and the gables makes me restless.” She shivered at the memory, and his eyes darkened.
“Are you sure you slept well? I see dark circles under your eyes.” She tested him, seeing if he would mention the little morning surprise she’d planned.
“Well enough.” His look sharpened as though he sensed what she was fishing for.
“You could skip the shoot my father had planned.” She smiled smugly as she thought of Ambrose missing out on an activity he clearly favored.
“No, I’ll be quite fine. I’m resilient, you see,” he murmured, his voice a little too low to be prudent over breakfast.
She blinked, trying to think of a response, but she had none.
“And I shall also be attending Lady Darby’s picnic in a week, so if you’re in a mind to pester me into leaving, you’ll be sorely disappointed, my love.” He chuckled when she huffed in outrage.
“I would never pester you into leaving, Mr. Worthing. You’re my father’s guest, and it’s not the sort of thing a lady with good breeding would do.” She raised her chin and met his amused gaze defiantly.
“I believe it is the exact sort of thing you’d do, Alex.”
She glowered at him, and before he could say anything else, she fled the room.
*****
The next week passed in a blur. Alex kept herself in check when it came to punishing her guest outright. She didn’t want him to know that she had been attempting to push him into leaving. That meant she’d played the dutiful daughter and a gracious hostess to the rakehell. And for the last seven days, she had to admit, the man had been charming and likeable.
When they weren’t quarreling about everything, she realized they agreed on quite a few things. He too loved the outdoors, and more than once she’d found him catching up to her when she took her horse out in the mornings for a ride. Sometimes they talked, and sometimes they didn’t. The silence then was amiable too, and it reminded her of what he’d said about his friend Gareth and how friendships could form like this between two people.
Was it possible for the daughter of an earl and a notorious rakehell to be friends? If she ignored his teasing hints that he would dearly love to seduce her, she could almost imagine that they were in fact becoming friends.
