‘I’m not suggesting I tackle any smugglers. I am not that foolhardy, but I can still be an asset to you socially—unless you lied to me about that, as well.’ If he had, if the real Seb was not the awkward, insightful and honourable man she had believed him to be, then her heart would be broken in two.
‘I am not that good a liar. You saw the real me before all this started, otherwise you would still be none the wiser.’ He said this with the calm confidence of a man who lived in the shadows and dealt with this sort of thing as a matter of course. Perhaps he was truly shy. And perhaps he wasn’t. Clarissa really didn’t know this man stood before her at all.
The noisy sound of male voices in the hallway beyond signalled the end of the billiards as one by one they tumbled out of the door. Both held their breath as the voices receded back in the direction of the drawing room. Clarissa was about to speak when he stayed her with his hand. Only then did she hear the soft sound of approaching footsteps on the carpet outside. Footsteps his trained ear had been supremely aware of. Good heavens, she was out of her depth.
‘I’m not drinking any more of that cheap muck.’ The slurring voice of Lord Regis punctuated the strained silence. ‘Gives me wind.’
‘There’s cognac in the decanter. Port, too.’ At the sound of Penhurst’s voice, both Seb and Clarissa’s eyes shot to the crystal set on his desk complete with three glasses. Three, not one. In a few moments they would be caught snooping and then heaven only knew what would happen.
Seb gestured to the still-open window and Clarissa shook her head. Even if she could get to it in time, he would still be discovered and then all the trust he had built up with their vile host would be gone. There had to be a more satisfactory way of explaining their unauthorised presence here. In the dark.
Only one sprang to mind. Before she thought better of it, she lunged and grabbed him by the lapels and then pushed him back onto the shiny new chesterfield before quickly scrambling onto his lap. For good measure, she tugged one sleeve to hang off her shoulder while grabbing frantically for the hair comb which held the bulk of her coiffure in place. She felt Seb’s sharp intake of breath as the door knob began to turn and pressed her lips soundly against his.
