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“Do you mind?” Leo pulled a cheroot out of his pocket without waiting for a response.
He flicked his wrist, lighting the end. The fragrant smoke spiraled up into the air above their heads, disappearing into the night. They sat in companionable silence for some time, with only the sound of the fountain.
“May I?” she said, holding out her hand for the cheroot.
He gave her an odd look but handed it over, the brush of his fingers against hers sending a tingle down her arm.
Georgina hadn’t indulged in a cheroot since coming to London, and before, she’d only done so to shock whatever gentleman had produced it from his pocket. Ben, ever complicit in her bad behavior, had taught her one day when she was fifteen. Maybe sixteen. It had become a small bit of rebellion to steal cheroots from her father’s study.
She took a short puff, blowing out a series of perfect smoke rings.
A sound came from Leo, sifting beneath her skirts like a wisp of the cheroot smoke, winding its way up her silken clad legs, identical to the sound he’d made when his head had been between her thighs.
“Quite a trick.” Taking the cheroot from her, he drew in the smoke then leaned over and caught his mouth against hers, blowing the smoke gently between her lips before breaking away.
Georgina immediately formed her mouth into an ‘O’ and blew another perfect ring of smoke into the night air. She turned with a wiggle of her brows to find his gaze fixed on her. “I have many talents.”
Tossing the cheroot, he ground it beneath his heel and reached for her before Georgina had a chance to move away. Fingers wrapping around the back of her neck, Leo pulled her close, mouth slanting against hers with exquisite tenderness.
“I still remember,” he whispered against her lips, “the first time I saw you. Powder blue silk, your dangerously low neckline edged in Belgian lace. I kept waiting for a nipple to pop out.”
“I wasn’t sure you even noticed I had a bosom.”
“I noticed everything about you. The way the silk of your gown rustled when you moved. The sound of your accent flattening every lovely word you spoke. Your scent, like something wild growing in the forest.”
“I told you.” Heat wafted off his body. “It is only soap.”
“I couldn’t take my eyes from you. I still can’t.” Leo leaned back, eyes shining with something that looked very much like anguish before he jerked his head away.
“Leo—”
“But as much as I...enjoy you.” His voice grew brittle. “The challenge is ingainingthe shiny bauble, not necessarily in keeping it.”
Georgina’s heart tightened painfully. “I see.” There wasn’t even so much as a tremor in her voice as he flayed her open and compared her to a damned trinket. She could be proud of that, at the very least.
“The problem is,” his voice grew icy, “I find myself unable to choose onlyonebauble.”
“Oh, there you are.” As if on cue, a giggling feminine voice sounded from the other side of the fountain. “I confess, Leo. When you asked me to wait for you in your office, I hadn’t thought you meant to be so long.” The woman’s red hair shone like copper as she came closer to the lantern at Leo’s feet.
Lady Dunley.
A whoosh of air left Georgina’s lungs. Well, she had wanted an answer.
Stand your ground, Georgie.
How she wished her grandmother was here now, preferably with some sort of firearm. As a matter of fact, Lady Dunley reminded Georgina of one of those red squirrels Grandmother had despised so much.
“Who is this?” Lady Dunley peered at Georgina. “Oh, you’re that American girl, aren’t you? The one married to Masterson.” Another twitter. “Whatever are you doing out here?”
“Lady Masterson was asking about her husband’s markers,” Leo said smoothly. “I’ve told her that it is a matter for gentlemen to discuss.”
Georgina snorted in derision even as her heart was torn apart. “Yes. Gentlemen. Because you are one.”
Lady Dunley’s delicate nose wrinkled at Georgina. “I would have thought after so much time, that dreadful sound would have lessened. Quaint, I suppose you would call it.”
If I had a damned acorn, I’d toss it at her.
“Lady Dunley,” Leo said quietly. “I need a word with Lady Masterson. If you would return inside, I’ll be along directly.” He shifted in Georgina’s direction, the handsome lines of his face pulled tight.
