Page 34 of Gentlemen Prefer Heiresses
“He would make you miserable.”
She didn’t want to discuss Lord Benson or his suitability. “I didn’t think you were coming.”
“I changed my mind.”
“I do wish I’d known. I’d have saved a dance for you. As it is, my card is full.”
“When is your waltz with Lord Manville?”
Although she had told him at the Twin Dragons that Manville had claimed a dance, she hadn’t specified it would be a waltz. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of asking how he knew the particulars, although secretly she was rather pleased he’d gone to the trouble to find out. “Next actually. I must find him.”
“He’s in the card room where he was foolish enough to wager away his waltz with you.”
It was ridiculous how giddy his words made her because she suspected she knew the answer to the question she was on the verge of asking. “To whom did he lose the wager?”
“Me.” He held out his gloved hand.
She placed her hand in his. “I do hope you didn’t cheat.”
His fingers closing around hers, he gave her a sultry grin. “You’d be disappointed if I didn’t.”
She would have been. Shame on her.
Just as the orchestra started the next tune, he led her onto the dance floor. Once she was secure in his arms, gliding over the polished wood, she asked, “Did you really cheat?”
“I always cheat when the wager involves something I don’t wish to lose.”
“You wanted to dance with me.”
“It’s the only reason I’m here.”
“I wasn’t certain we’d have any more adventures.”
“One small one—in a room filled with people—can’t hurt. Besides I wanted to ensure you were all right.” His gaze held hers, intently searching, as though he sought to uncover all the secrets held in her heart and soul. “Last night shouldn’t have happened. I feared this morning you might have awoken with regrets.”
Difficult to awaken when she hadn’t slept. “No regrets. Although you could have called on me to get your answers.”
“My parents are turning out to be terrible chaperones. I believe I mentioned earlier the safety of a room filled with people.”
Glancing around, keeping her voice low, she dared to ask, “Do you have regrets?”
“Nary a one. But I’m not the one seeking marriage.”
No, he wasn’t, while she was. “Do you know what I find most fascinating? Outwardly nothing about me changed. No one looking at me seems to have a clue regarding the naughty things I’ve done.”
“And inwardly?”
His eyes held concern. She wanted to see him smile, hear him laugh. “There are some changes. How could there not be? A person can’t unknow what she knows. I look at my suitors tonight, at each dance partner, and imagine far more intimate encounters.”
His fingers jerked around hers, tightened. His brow furrowed. “What exactly do you imagine?”
“Different things.”
“Do they please you?”
“Well, I’m certainly not going to imagine something that wouldn’t please me.” She chuckled. “Don’t look so disgruntled. None can compare to you.”
He shook his head, relaxed his face. “But I want them to. For you, I want them to be better than me.”
