Page 33 of Miss Kimble Bites Back

“And Mr. Kimble’s, too. Thank you for your consideration, sister dear.” He glanced at his guests. “Well, this has been an eventful morning.”

“Indeed,” Kimble murmured.

Although the last thing he wanted was for Gabby to leave, he didn’t want to press his luck with Cordelia’s anxiety. His sister was changing in her company, though and so rapidly, he didn’t want anything to go wrong.

“The morning visit isn’t over yet, little brother” Cordelia said firmly.

Sebastian was surprised but pleased by her asserting her authority over him. “Well, then, we gentlemen should leave you to plan out the next shock for us in secrecy, I suppose,” he said, scratching his head.

Cordelia laughed, a sound he’d not heard in a very long time. “Oh, why don’t you both join us, Sebastian? I’m sure you’ve said all you needed to Mr. Kimble this morning.”

“Yes, please join us, your grace, and cousin,” Gabby agreed, smiling at them in a way that warmed Sebastian’s heart to be included.

“All right,” he promised, watching as Cordelia approached Kimble again and asked him a question about his time in Town.

“I like her,” Gabby whispered, sneaking up to stand close. “She’s so funny.”

“She used to be,” he murmured, keeping an eye on Cordelia and Kimble a moment longer, but then he turned to Gabby. “She’s more herself around you than with others who have known her for years.”

“Perhaps it is because I know no different?”

“That could be true,” he agreed, but it did not explain Bennett Kimble, or Cordie touching his arm, which she was already doing again. He could put a stop to it, but he had noticed it was only Cordelia touching the fellow, not the other way round. “Or it could simply be because you are entirely likable.”

“That is not it,” Gabby countered with a laugh. “If I was entirely likable, I’d have gentlemen eating out of my hand this season.”

He didn’t want to ask, but he couldn’t stop himself. “No luck with Brookes, then?”

“No.” Her expression grew sour. “It seems I have a rival for his affections, and one that I never expected, too.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. What will you do?”

Gabby shrugged. “What can I do? I cannot make anyone love me.”

Sebastian bit his lip. Gabby was easy to love. Brookes was an even greater fool than Sebastian had believed. “You could always begin a nasty rumor about your rival.”

“Tempting, except that I liked her very much,” Gabby protested.

“Ah, well, if you were desperate for a marriage with him, you could always seduce him?”

She looked up at him steadily. “I would not do that with him or anyone just to have a ring on my finger.”

“No?” Sebastian felt a smile twitch his lips. “Recently, I’ve given thought to the merits of abduction and seduction.”

Gabby laughed. “Have you?”

“It would be a way to circumvent a rival and secure the match of our dreams.”

Gabby’s face clouded with worry. “Perhaps it might, if I were desperate.”

“And you’re not?”

“I don’t think so,” she said, looking up with a quick smile. “I wouldn’t want to force a man into a marriage with me. I’d like him to like me. For myself.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” He glanced up and noticed Cordelia and Kimble had moved toward the front of the house and were standing very close with their back toward them, talking quietly together. “But I’m sure it wouldn’t be a hardship to be married to you.”

He sensed rather than saw Gabby take a tiny step toward him. “You’re too kind,” she whispered.

“And you are too tempting for your own good,” he admitted, glancing her way—and then, unwisely perhaps, given they were not alone, he stole a quick, soundless kiss.