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After entertaining swathes of society today there had been little time to eat, and the delicate nibbling expected of a Duke’s daughter hardly satisfied one’s empty stomach. Most especially after a night at Almack’s, where the fare was always desperately simple for some reason. Perhaps the patronesses did not want the dancers looking bloated.
“I did not mean to interrupt. I thought—”
“What are you doing here?” she demanded before he finished his sentence, sparing a glance at the open door and spotting her aunt far, far away from the drawing room, sitting on a chair with a book in hand. Aunt Sarah practically threw her sister Cassie and her husband together, and she knew her romantic aunt was attempting the same for her. Alas, she would be disappointed indeed to find out Blake’s only reason for being here was because he’d discovered her secret.
He handed his hat and gloves to the butler who promptly left them alone then took the seat her aunt had previously occupied, as though he owned the place, without waiting for her to sit.
The message was clear.You are not ridding yourself of me so easily.
Letting her shoulders drop, she joined him, choosing the seat farthest away from him. He took an already sliced piece of cake, set it on the plate and carved a generous chunk from it with a fork. “I do not know about you, but I am always starved after a night at Almack’s,” he said before shoving the cake into his mouth and allowing a few crumbs to fall onto his waistcoat.
She allowed herself a little smile. No wonder she loved him. He always did go out of his way to make people comfortable. Perhaps it was simply so he could ingratiate people toward him but she liked to think it was an innate part of him. Taking up her fork, she took a smaller piece of cake and chewed delicately. She stole a glance at him. If she let herself, she could imagine they were a married couple, enjoying a light supper together.
Ridiculous.
Setting down the fork with a clatter so hard that she heard Aunt Sarah release a startled sound, she placed her hands in her lap and sat rigid. She would not let herself get carried away with fantasies.
“What do you want, Blake?”
He set the fork gently down, fixed her with a direct look and said, “You.”
The world stood still. Her heart came to a shuddering halt and she couldn’t remember how to breathe.
“Pardon?” she managed to whisper.
“You,” he repeated and leaned in to take her hand.
Boneless and unable to resist, she let him.
“I want you, Demeter. Ineedyou.” His cerulean gaze dug deep into hers. “And only you.”
***
Demeter’s lips parted then closed then parted again. She wiggled on her seat as crimson splashes reached her cheeks. Blake shouldn’t like it—this whole nervous, unkempt look. A couple of cake crumbs skipped down the bodice of her gown and one lingered on her decolletage. The desire to press a finger to her skin and scoop it up made a hot swirl of need rush through him. Or better yet, he’d press his tongue there, forgoing the need for a finger.
He could have any number of women, in far more fetching gowns than a simple cream day dress, who would look at him with sultry eyes and pouted lips instead of wide innocent eyes and a gaping mouth.
“You need me?” she whispered.
He nodded. “I desire...”You,he wanted to say so he clamped his mouth shut in an attempt to wrangle his brain into some sort of functioning organ.
Not once in his life had he seduced an innocent and he wasn’t going to start now. One did not bed ladies like Demeter. No. One married them. And he had zero desire to do such a thing. Absolutely none.
“Your skills,” he finally managed to say after an interminable silence.
Her brows knitted. “My skills?”
He nodded. This was better. All he had to do was focus on the real reason he was here and ignore that wretched crumb. “You may recall I asked about the comings and goings at the gaming hell.”
“Yes. I did wonder why.”
“My cousin...”
“The one who inherited instead of you.” She gave a tiny shrug. “The whole of Societyistalking about it.”
“Yes,” he said tightly. He didn’t much care what others thought of him. He hadn’t since he’d become an adult, free from his father’s heavy-handed rule. Hell, he had enough savvy investments to keep him going until his father finally left this mortal realm and no need for his aunt’s money, as most people should know. But for some reason, her judgement of him stung. “My cousin is up to something.”
“He seems a pleasant chap, if a little excitable.”
