Page 11 of An Earl by Any Other Name
Leo was suddenly grinning again. “You need never cry on my account. Now let us not quarrel. I suspect that Mother played us so that we would argue on purpose. She’s been most vexing since her mourning period ended a few weeks ago. Creating scandal and trouble seems to have become her new favorite activity.”
“I’m sorry. I heard about your father last year. Does she miss him very much?”
Ivy knew the truth, that the dowager had loved her husband but hated loving a man who had forsaken her for another woman, but she had to feign ignorance of all this. She was not to know Leo’s family’s darker secrets if her identity was to remain a mystery during the house party.
Leo joined her by the ivy-covered tree, leaning one elbow against the bark and studying her. She had to resist the urge to move back. There was something frightening, yet exciting, about the way he was cornering her, like a lynx she’d seen during a hunting expedition with her father. Leo and the lynx had the same cunning gleam in their eyes. As a boy, he’d been charming, but as a man, he was so much more tempting. The strong lines of his jaw, the brightness of his eyes, the strong yet elegant hands that she couldn’t help but picture on her body…Ivy jerked herself away from the dangerous trail those thoughts could lead her down. You cannot let a man tempt you, not even this one.
“Actually, Mother’s never been happier, and she’s determined to live scandalously. I’m merely doing my best to keep her more wild desires in check.” His gaze dropped to her lips for a moment before he met her eyes again.
Wild desires? Why did the way he say that make her body tremble? She had to keep the conversation going. She couldn’t let him know the effect he was having on her. The last thing she needed was for Leo to up his charm and make her forget her promise to herself to avoid falling in love with him. It would be a disaster for them both and it would crush her dreams of making a difference in the world for women everywhere.
“Do you miss your father?” she asked, her voice breathless as he leaned in close, his face a mask of intensity. She felt cornered, yet not afraid, only…uneasy.
“It is hard to miss a man I barely knew and rarely liked. He was not a kind man.” While he delivered this brusquely, there was a hint of hurt beneath it. Ivy couldn’t help but wonder if it was because Leo’s father had been cruel or because of the scandal he’d left behind was causing a stir in London.
Her memories of her childhood at Hampton House had been shadowed with the old earl’s darkness of spirit. He’d threatened to turn her mother out when word of her pregnancy reached him. Leo’s mother had flat out refused to send her lady’s maid away, regardless of the scandal of the situation. When the two had fought over it, there had been shouting and the smashing of glass. After that, Ivy’s mother had been allowed to stay, and Ivy had grown up hiding from the old earl. Out of sight and out of mind.
“Is your mother joining us this weekend?” Leo asked.
The responding wince she made drew his complete focus. She had to keep up pretenses since it was quite clear he didn’t remember her as little Button tagging along on his boyhood adventures.
“My mother passed when I was a child. My father has not married since.” There, that was vague enough, considering her parents had never married.
Leo straightened at once, stepping back, all predatory actions halted. “I’m so sorry. I just assumed…I am sorry,” he apologized, his face reddened slightly.
“It’s fine,” she assured him.
“Would you care to—” he began, but a footman appeared a few feet away and coughed politely.
“Yes?” Leo growled through gritted teeth, forcing himself away from her.
“Mr. Leighton has arrived and is asking after his daughter and his…motorcar.” The footman waited patiently, eyes fixed pointedly at the ground, his face stoic.
“Thank you, Will. We shall come inside directly,” Leo announced, and just like that their temporary chaperone was gone.
Leo leaned in and cupped her cheek, his thumb tracing her lips as he studied her. Ivy’s heartbeat skittered madly. I should pull away, but, Lord, his touch makes me feel on fire in the most wonderful way…
“He’s going to be angry with me. That Hudson was new.” She tried not to think about how much the Hudson had cost. If they couldn’t repair the damage…It was so easy to forget how much money her father had. She knew logically she need not worry, but still, worry she did.
“Do not fret, Miss Leighton. My mechanic will have it repaired.” Leo’s voice was gentle, soothing. “Motorcars break down. The bloody things are unpredictable. If your father is upset, it won’t be because of anything you’ve done.”
“Yes, but—”
Without so much as another word, he bent his head. When their mouths were an inch apart, he captured her gaze, and something wild and hot passed between them as he slanted his mouth over hers. All worries and fears were destroyed in the wake of pleasure and fire.
Heat and light burned through at that single kiss, like tender sparks shooting through the night over a healthy fire. A little moan escaped her as he teased her mouth open with his tongue. One of his hands grasped her hip, holding her firm between him and the tree as he pressed against her. The heady aroma of autumn leaves, leather, and sandalwood sent her senses spinning.
With gentle kisses and a wicked tongue, he taught her all the ways she’d longed to kiss. It was the sort of kiss the upstairs maids whispered about, the kind that made a woman lose her head…and her heart.
This is a terrible idea. I should stop him…but…The will to break the kiss faded like morning mist. Once upon a time, there had been nothing more she had wanted in her life, a kiss from her sunny-haired prince. But she’d changed; she’d grown up and a man’s kiss shouldn’t have been so potent that it cast a spell over her. Yet, Leo’s kiss was exactly that, a spell that bound her to him in a way she feared would break her heart.
He nipped her lips, and she felt his mouth curve into a smile against hers before he finally drew back. His eyes were dark with passion, and his breathing was rough and warm against her face. Their bodies were so close, the intimacy making her feel like there was nothing outside of them in that moment.
“Why do I have the feeling you are going to be trouble, Miss Leighton?” Leo chuckled, suddenly drawing a fingertip down her nose and tapping it lightly, the way he had so often all those years ago.
“Trouble?” she echoed faintly. Still shaken by her first kiss and the shivery warmth spreading through her limbs, she dared not move for fear of falling. Love was dangerous; love ruined a woman’s dreams. And Leo was the one man who could tempt her into falling in love.
“Oh yes. Just when I have everything planned, you come along and remind me of why I used to be so wicked.” He bent, feathered one last kiss to her lips before he took her arm in his and escorted her back to the house.
