Page 84 of Ruthless with a Rogue
“Oh, silly me!I left my reticule upstairs.You two get settled in the carriage.I will join you shortly.”Aunt Mellie spun in a swirl of maroon skirts and headed back up the stairs.
Livy frowned at her aunt’s back.That had been a bit contrived.Especially given their discussion the other day.Meddling.Livy couldn’t say she hated it.Thank you, Aunt Mellie, for being the world’s best-worst chaperone.
She turned back to Derek and fought for something to say.Visions of their night together after the theater raced through her mind, and she flicked open her fan, fluttering it rapidly.
A smile tilted Derek’s lips, sly and knowing.She absently rubbed her collarbone, and his smile faltered as his gaze tracked the movement.
“I noticed that you always go without a necklace,” he said, his voice rough.Rich.Sliding over her.
She shivered.
He cleared his throat and thrust the box he was holding at her.“I thought tonight was an occasion that required one.”He looked away, studying the small entryway with unwarranted interest.“I know it’s the height of impropriety, but I’ve never been one to follow the rules.”
Pulling the ribbon, she opened the flat square box.She inhaled sharply at the sight that greeted her.Ivory pearls shimmered in the candlelight, strung together by swirling silver loops that resembled figure eights.A large teardrop pearl rested at the center of the necklace, with two smaller teardrop pearls on either side before transitioning to single round pearls interconnected by the silver swirling loops.
She looked up at him.His gaze was still fixed on the corner of the entryway.
“Derek,” she said softly and waited for him to meet her stare.His eyes clashed with hers, vulnerability glinting in the warm light of the candles.“It’s exquisite.”
His gaze darted away briefly before flicking back to her.“I happened across it when I was out escorting the dowager.”His voice held a note of nonchalance, but he hadn’t masked the strain, the way his words came out faster than usual, lacking his usual sardonic drawl.“The silver pieces connecting the pearls… They reminded me of…”
Of the infinity symbol.That’s exactly what they looked like.
He cleared his throat, a darker pink dotting his cheekbones.“Mathematics and whatnot.”
And her.
The unspoken words hung in the air between them.He looked away again, and he pulled on his cravat.His mathematical cravat.He was so endearingly uncomfortable.Just like the other night.She closed the box with a snap and rushed forward.She threw her arms around his neck, rose to her tiptoes, and squeezed him tightly.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He froze, his entire body taut.As tough and impenetrable as pottery when clay met with fire, yet with the potential to crack.Easing back slightly, arms on his shoulders, she studied him.He stood there, eyes locked on something over her shoulder, nostrils flaring, his arms imprisoned at his side, not returning her embrace.Refusing to?Unable to?
She thought back to the night in his study, when they had shared the stories of their parents.He had lost his mother as a child and, essentially, his father at the same time.Had he not felt the comfort of another’s embrace since he was a child?
Leaning back into him, she brought her arms up around his neck and rested her cheek against his chest.She squeezed him gently, rubbing her cheek against him.
“Thank you, Derek.”
His chest fell against her cheek as he finally released a heavy breath, some of the ice in his body melting and softening.A hand hesitantly pressed against her back as he returned her embrace in an awkward semblance of a hug.She smiled against him.It was the most wonderful hug she’d ever received.And she would be more than happy to help him practice.
Reluctantly, she stepped away from him and looked down at the box in her hands.She opened it again, admiring the necklace as she traced the center teardrop pearl.It was breathtaking.
He stepped forward and reached for the necklace.“May I?”
She dipped her chin.
He stepped behind her, lacing the necklace around her neck, the cold of the silver and pearls a shock against her heated skin.He leaned over her, bringing with him the smell of clean linen and a hint of lemon and leather.His warm breath puffed against her skin as his fingers skimmed her neck, and she couldn’t stop herself from arching into it.His thumb lightly traced the cord of her neck.
“Oh, goodness, I had the worst trouble locating that reticule.”Aunt Mellie’s voice echoed from the top of the stairs.
Livy jumped away from Derek, her hand coming to rest on her throat.Not her throat.Her necklace.Her gaze lifted to Derek’s, and his moss-green gaze engulfed her, just like moss did stone.
“Sometimes I’m afraid I can be just as absentminded as Johnn-O.”Her aunt’s tinkling laughter filled the entryway.She smiled at them both and directed her attention to Derek.“That is Lord Forester, my brother, I mean.”
Derek flashed a roguish smile at Aunt Mellie, and she tittered.He turned his grin on Livy.“Are you ready, Miss Forester?Tonight is your victory march.”
She grinned as they made their way to the carriage.It was, wasn’t it?
