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So how in the hell did this woman end up gambling and winning and wielding knives with all the bravery of a warrior?
She remained silent for the first half of the dance. He’d anticipated her maybe begging him to keep her secret or at least trying to make excuses, but instead she set her chin firmly while she concentrated on the steps. Every time he tried to catch her eye, she looked away and the blush on her cheeks returned. He was not unaccustomed to women acting coy around him.
This, however, was no act.
“What have you been doing with your time since you arrived in London?” he asked when they ended up standing next to each other while the other dancers moved down the line.
“N-not much.”
“Playing games perhaps?”
Her brows knitted. “I’m not a child.”
No, she wasn’t. Despite her small frame, there was no doubting the woman underneath the blush pink gown. Through the magic of corsets, her breasts were high and obvious, and entirely distracting. He’d already missed a step and he knew this dance well. Hell, he knew every dance well.
Just as he knew breasts. It was not as though he’d never seen a set before in all shapes and sizes. For some reason, though, Lady Demeter’s aroused his curiosity more than the many pairs swelling over gowns right this very moment.
But how would Demeter’s look bared to him, he wondered. How would they be to touch? Would her nipples be responsive? He inhaled deeply and forced his attention forward, on the portly gentleman opposite who sweated so fiercely, Blake feared the dance floor would be slick before long and there would be many a twisted ankle by the end of the night. Either that or the man would have a heart attack here and now and that would certainly put a stop to any thoughts of breasts.
Wouldn’t it?
He stole one last look. Perhaps not. But breasts were not the reason he’d asked her to dance. He wanted to know more. No,neededto know more. Not just to appease his curiosity either. If she spent lots of time at the gaming hell, perhaps she would know something about the owners and their association with his cousin. She might have even seen Foster a time or two. There were several reasons for him to know more of her and none of them were to do with how her nipples might taste or if she would moan when he touched them.
The dance came to an end all too quickly. Somehow, he’d spent the entire time fantasizing about her naked rather than getting to the truth. That needed to stop right this moment.
After he led Lady Demeter off the dance floor, he kept hold of her hand and led her to the back of the room, where a great big cluster of plants provided a little privacy.
She yanked her hand from his. “Y-you cannot just drag me about.”
Ah. There it was. That hint of the boy—the woman he’d seen the other night. The knife-wielding hellion. He knew she was there somewhere.
He stepped in front of her before she could escape, blocking her between two huge ferns and his body. “I know it was you.”
“Whatever do you mean?” She stepped to the side and he shadowed her steps.
“The other night. With the knife and the cards.” He lowered his voice. “And the dressing as a boy.”
Her lips parted and he forced his gaze up from them. How had he never noticed how kissable this wallflower was before?
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“I know it was you, my lady. I’m no fool.”
“No, but you are mad.”
“I’m not the one dressing as a member of the opposite sex, getting attacked, and having to be rescued by yours truly.”
“I could have fended them off,” she blurted.
He allowed himself a smug smile. “So you admit it was you.”
Her shoulders dropped. “Fine. It was me. But you cannot tell a soul.”
“Oh I won’t. But I want to know everything. Every little detail as to how you spend your time at Pidgeon’s and exactly why a young, wealthy lady such as yourself would do such a thing.”
“Everything?” she echoed, as though he was asking her to bare her very soul to him.
He nodded, unable to keep the grin from his face. He wouldn’t mind her baring her soul to him, somehow. He had a suspicion there was so much more to Lady Demeter Fallon than suffering the ravages of hearing loss and an ability to cling to walls.
