Page 63 of When a Duke Loves a Woman
“How did you know what you felt for her was love?”
The man looked completely baffled. “I just knew. Not falling in love with your mistress, are you? That’d be deuced inconvenient.”
“Presently I don’t have a mistress, haven’t had one since Lavinia and I became betrothed.” Which might explain this need he had regarding Gillie. He couldn’t deny that he wanted to bed her—desperately. Yet there was more to his desire than just experiencing the physical, than just lust. “If you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere else I need to be.”
It was uncanny, the way she became aware of him when he strode through the door. She watched as he made his way to an empty table in the back where there were more shadows. She allowed the dimness there because she was well aware some of her customers preferred a bit of anonymity. Some were lawbreakers, she had no doubt of that, but their transgressions were petty. Sometimes men and women needed someplace to meet that offered some semblance of privacy.
“Ah, the handsome devil is back,” Polly said, her smile far too wide, her eyes too bright. “I’m looking forward to—”
“I’ll see to him, Polly,” she stated, already pouring the whisky she was certain he’d want, then deciding to pour one for herself as well.
Polly’s face fell. “I can see to it.”
“Some blokes over there are in need of more drink.”
“They’re bricklayers, still coated in dust.”
“They’re honest laborers. And they pay as they drink.”
“I reckon Handsome would, too.”
“His drink is on the house.”
“Got your eye on him, Gillie?”
Ignoring the question, she moved out from behind the bar, wondering why it was that her step had a lightness to it or why it warmed her to the core that his gaze never wandered from her, not even when another one of her serving girls was standing by his table with her hip jutting out provocatively and a good deal of her bosom exposed. She let her girls wear what they wanted because gents tended to slip them extra coins if they enjoyed being served by them—and a bit of flesh always made them enjoy the service more.
Her heart gave a little lurch when he stood as she approached. The gents who frequented this place didn’t get to their feet when she neared, as it wasn’t a courtesy they bestowed on workers. It astounded her how much it pleased her that he’d extended such politeness toward her. “I have his drink, Lily.”
She didn’t miss the disappointed look the girl cast her way, had a feeling Lily would have given Thorne her name, directions to her lodgings, and a peek beneath her skirts. She set the tumbler before him. His eyes glistened with humor.
“Are both for me?” he asked.
“No.”
“Good.” Reaching around he pulled out a chair for her, another polite gesture she wasn’t accustomed to receiving. It wasn’t a good thing to have him spoiling her like this, treating her as though she were special. She might take it into her head that she was. Still, with a measure of grace, she accepted the courtesy.
When they were settled, he lifted his glass. “To a night without incident.”
They both sipped. He closed his eyes, licked his lips. “Why is your whisky so good?”
“It’s excellent quality.”
“I drink excellent quality elsewhere. No, it has something to do with yours specifically, your presence. You simply make it taste better.”
“You’re mad.”
“Perhaps.”
“Shouldn’t you be at your club?”
“I was at my club. I was bored. Your brother was there, by the way.”
“Mick?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “He always wanted a membership. I suspect he spends a great deal of time there.”
“The gent I was with hypothesized that the Duke of Hedley is his father.”
She kept her face impassive.
