Page 42 of One Night with a Rake

When he fell in love with Anne, their whirlwind courtship was all sonnets and nosegays. She was the perfect match for him. Everyone said so.

With Georgette, it had been a whirlwind too, but of the more destructive sort—invading whorehouses and incessant argument. No wonder he hadn’t recognized love when it came in that jumbled-up guise.

It was so different with Georgette. Earthier. More honest and more convoluted at the same time.

He breathed in Georgette’s wrapper again and his ribs ached as if a blade had slipped past to pierce his heart.

Damn.

If that wasn’t love, what the hell was it?

***

Lady Caroline Colton’s slim fingers danced over the Broadwood grand’s ivories. Most of those in attendance were in raptures over the brilliant, sensitive performance, but Georgette wasn’t at all happy to be sitting in Sir Martin Daventry’s packed music room. Her parents had insisted she allow Nathaniel to escort her to this exclusive pre-Season event, but she didn’t have to like it.

“Royalty always champions the arts, you know,” her mother had argued when she protested that she had a tin ear. “You must be seen to enjoy the finer things.”

Even though Georgette had little ear for music, Lady Caroline’s playing certainly constituted a fine thing. But Lady Caroline’s brother, also known as the handsome lout in the chair next to Georgette, did not.

At least, thank heaven, she thought with a sniff, my eyes are no longer puffy.

She’d cried her last secret tear over Nathaniel Colton. Of course, it helped that she avoided him as much as she could. She didn’t meet his gaze when they sat across from each other at her parents’ dining table. When he approached, she found a reason to drift to another part of the room. If she couldn’t move without delivering a direct cut and occasioning comment, she simply ignored him and imagined that she shifted away from him inside her clothes.

She would not occupy the same space, breathe the same air as that insufferable man.

On several occasions, she considered going to her father and asking the marquis to send Nathaniel packing, especially since his family had returned to London. The excuse that he’d be rattling around in an empty town house was now moot.

But if her father asked her why she didn’t want Nathaniel around, she couldn’t very well admit he’d diddled her to within an inch of her life and she didn’t trust herself to be alone with him for more than two blinks.

And she certainly couldn’t tell her father that Nate had broken her heart.

Her heart was supposed to be spoken for. Negotiations with the duke’s factor were proceeding swimmingly. Her mother was all but certain the upcoming ball would turn into a celebration of a royal betrothal.

She didn’t want to disappoint her parents. She was already too disappointed in herself to bear more.

Still, she couldn’t help but notice bits and pieces of the man in the seat next to her. His long legs, which claimed her attention despite being at the edge of her peripheral vision, were crossed at the knee. She knew after seeing him in that open banyan that they were dusted with the same dark brown hair as his tousled head.

He was the restless sort and rarely let sixteen bars of music go by without shifting on his seat or uncrossing and then recrossing his legs. His hands were folded on his lap, his long fingers laced together—to keep them still during the concert, she suspected.

She was feeling a bit squirmish herself. Lady Caro’s slim fingers were exceedingly talented on the keys. But when she sneaked a glimpse at Nate’s long, square-nailed ones, it was hard not to relive how very talented they were as well.

It was a relief when the final Bach étude was over and the company rose to its feet in thunderous applause. Almost as one, the first row of the audience surged forward to congratulate Lady Caroline on her performance.

“I need to see to Caro for a bit.” Nathaniel leaned toward Georgette. “She becomes overwhelmed by this sort of thing. Will you be all right on your own for a little while?”

“Take your time.” She rolled her eyes at him. “I was perfectly all right before you barged back into my life, Nathaniel Colton. Rest assured, my heart will continue to beat if you leave me.”

But it also wouldn’t stop hurting.

He, however, did not need to know that. And he was probably right about his sister.

Even as a child, Caro had been high-strung and easily upset when she received too much attention, even of the positive sort. Dainty, shy, and strikingly beautiful, Lady Caroline brought out the best protective instincts in the men around her. She was like a gossamer veil that might tear at the slightest puff of wind.

Georgette was not cut from such fine cloth.

Sturdy, that’s me. Like stiff bombazine.

She turned on her heel and headed for the buffet table spread out in the adjoining room. Perhaps if her hands were occupied with holding a cup of punch, she’d feel less like using them to strangle Nate.