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“Care to let me prove your opinion of me wrong tonight, Lady Elkins?” He offered her his hand.
This is our game.
It had started years ago, and it seemed the game was not yet over. After their first dance together, she had vowed not to dance with him again, knowing she did not want to fall prey to a rake.
“Dance with me?” he said softly.
“I am afraid I am engaged for this dance, Your Grace.” Sophia lifted her glass to her lips, busying herself with her drink, hoping it would help her sudden parchedness.
“You always say that,” he murmured with a playful smile.
“Yet you keep asking.”
“And I will continue to do so.” He winked at her with the words.
How dare he!?
Despite the thought, Sophia could feel that stirring deep within her gut. It was a temptation to place her hand in his and give in.
No. I must not do it!
“Jeremy,” Lord Thorne said at his side. “We must see to our drinks.”
“Yes, we must. Until next time, Lady Elkins.” The Duke bowed to Sophia and then acknowledged Rachel too. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Lady Rumpton.”
As the two gentlemen wandered off, Sophia followed the Duke with her eyes. She soon saw she was not the only one. Rachel let her eyes follow him too. Once they were out of earshot and had disappeared behind a sea of tailcoats and silk gowns, Rachel sighed dramatically.
“Well, the tension between the two of you is palpable indeed.”
“Tension? What tension?” Sophia asked, playing with the glass in her hands.
“I know you are new to the idea of a lover, my friend.” Rachel turned and whispered in her ear, so they were not overheard. “Yet allow me to illuminate one matter. When a pair feel a mutual attraction for each other, there is this…tension.Longing looks, flirtation and bickering, not to mention blushes.”
“I did not blush!” Sophia insisted. In answer, Rachel merely gestured to her cheeks with gloved fingers. “That is merely the effect of the wine.”
“It is a fair lie, but it is not a believable one.” Rachel turned her eyes to follow the Duke once again. “If you ask me, Sophia, I think you have found your first lover.”
“I have still not agreed to this idea. Besides, even if I did, the Duke would not be the gentleman to take to my bed.” Sophia spoke with insistence, though her eyes lingered on the Duke. She looked from the broadness of his shoulders to the snug fit of his tailcoat around his biceps. She could have moaned at the sight, but she kept her lips clamped together.
“Why not?” Rachel asked. “Is he not the perfect man for the task? He is a known rake; therefore, he would not speak of it, and your secret would be safe. What is more, he is handsome, almost divinely so.”
“You mean infuriatingly so.”
“Ha! That simply speaks of your attraction to him.” Rachel turned to face Sophia and chinked their glasses. “Let us make a toast to him.”
“To him? Why?”
“Because if you do take him as your first lover, then from his reputation, something tells me it would be a memorable night for you.” As Rachel knocked back her drink, Sophia took a small sip and let her eyes dart to the Duke across the room.
It would never work. He never spends a night with a lady he knows.
She had observed this in him over the years. Therefore, even if she suggested the idea, he would clearly keep her at arms’ length. Yet there was something that lingered within Sophia, tempted by the idea.
Could it be a memorable night?
