AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Instead of taking either of those actions, Lady Nightingale looked up at him, gave him a sheepish smile, lifted a hand, and waved her fingers at him.
“Good evening, Lord Brooks.”
Good evening? That was all she had to say? And while she was sitting on the floor, pressed up against the back of a chair?
Despite his better judgment, Isaac held out a hand. “May I ask what about this spot on the floor has drawn you to it so completely?”
Her hand slipped into his.
A heat stole up his arm at her touch. It filled his chest and caused his stomach to roll as though suddenly filled with flapping, fluttering butterflies. Lady Nightingale stood; since he’d helped her stand, she was much closer to him now than they’d ever been to one another before.
She was tall for a woman, the top of her head coming nearly to his eyebrows. She smelled good, too. A sweet mixture of rosewater and vanilla. Though, it was more likely the vanilla scent was coming from the books filling the room.
“Would you believe me if I told you I got lost on my way to the drawing room?”
“No, my lady,” Isaac said, his own voice sounding harder with each word. “I would not.”
* * *
Of course he wouldn’t believe she’d simply gotten lost. Lord Brooks was nothing if not set against her at all times.
He dropped her hand, and cold air rushed in against her fingers. Now that the connection was lost, she realized how much she’d enjoyed it. Though why, she couldn’t say. It was clear Lord Brooks had offered to help her stand purely because he was a gentleman and had been raised to act honorably. It certainly wasn’t because he was suddenly going soft on her.
He was undeniably handsome, and the shadows of the room only emphasized his broad shoulders, firm jaw...and his scowl. Why must he always scowl at her? She’d seen him smile while at Greenbulls. Just the memory made her stomach flip, and she knew an urge to rub her thumb over his forehead and smooth away the discontent there.
Alice almost laughed aloud at the random thought—and at the surprise she imagined would no doubt replace Lord Brooks’s scowl if she ever tried such a thing.
He must have noticed her suppressed laughter for his head tilted ever so slightly to the side.
“Of a truth,” Lord Brooks continued, placing both his hands behind his back, “I don’t believe youeverget lost. You strike me as the kind of woman who always knows where she is headed and how to get there.”
His assessment of her was astonishing. Shewishedshe was the woman he described.
Alice met his gaze. What did she care what Lord Brooks thought of her? He was determined to find fault in all she did, so why bother trying to be all polite and proper? More still, there was something alluring in his constant authenticity. He disliked her, and he showed it. The other day at Greenbulls, he’d enjoyed the company of his friends, and he’d shown that, too. The few times Alice had interacted with Lord Brooks had been enough to prove him the kind of man who was forthright in all he did.
His honesty of character was something she craved. If only she could be that way herself.
Perhaps, with him, she could be. After all, it wasn’t as though she was going to lower his opinion of her. What did she have to lose?
“Very well,” she said. “If you must know, I came in here to find a moment’s peace.”
He eyed her as though trying to divine if she spoke the truth.
“You danced nearly every set at the assembly not ten days ago. Don’t tell me a small, intimate dinner party is now suddenly too much for you.”
There was a bit of a challenge in his tone, and it sent a thrill shooting through her. “Why, Lord Brooks,” she said with a light laugh. “I had no idea you had been so aware of my path through the ballroom that night.”
Lord Brooks dropped his gaze. Was he embarrassed for her to learn he’d watched her at the assembly? It wasn’t as though she was going to misread his intent; she knew from experience that it was hardnotto keep track of someone you intently disliked.
Still, she wished to put him back at ease. “It was a lovely assembly. Enough dancers to be enjoyable, but not so many that the room was overly packed.”
“With as cold as it has been this winter, I think the room could have been far fuller and it still wouldn’t have turned too hot.”
He had a point. “There are benefits to holding a dance during the winter.”
“But a wintertime dinner partyisn’tto your liking?”
“Please don’t misunderstand,” she said, though she wasn’t at all confident he wouldn’t. Nonetheless, she found she sincerely wished he would hear her out. “Everything tonight has been most pleasing. The food, the company—”
