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Dear Lord.
Not Rafe.
He grabbed hold of her hands. “Please tell me you didn’t change into this gown to impress my brother.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Your Grace.” She extricated her hands from his grasp and gave one final tug to the ends of his cravat. “There. You’re presentable.”
He wasn’t presentable. He was a raging beast. The thought of MissPenny throwing herself away on Rafe made him see red.
He took a deep breath. He could be wrong. “My brother isn’t coming to the ball tonight.”
“Not coming—why?” Dismay in her eyes, quickly followed by nonchalance. “That is, why should I care?”
Damn it. He’d been right. She’d changed into this seductive red silk gown for Rafe.
It was written all over her face, though she strove to hide it.
“You shouldn’t care, MissPenny.”Please don’t care.Not for Rafe.
“I don’t.” She tossed her head and one ringlet fell into her eyes. She blew it away with an exasperated breath.
He rose to his feet. “Rafe’s not attending the ball. I don’t know where he is. We had an argument today and there’s no way he wants to be in the same room with me.”
“Oh.” The one syllable saying so much. She’d been waiting for Rafe, watching for him, she was...
“You’re in love with my brother,” he said.
“Absolutely not,” she huffed. “I told you, he visited my uncle sometimes. And I’ve read about him in the papers. That is all.”
“He took an interest in you?”
“He may have taken a passing interest.”
Drew nodded. “He takes an interest in every pretty girl he meets. I’ll wager he plucked a rose from his lapel and promised to marry you someday.”
Her eyes clouded over. “Something like that.”
“And you took his words literally.” Now he was beginning to understand. Vulnerable young girl meets handsome rake. An obsession blooms.
“He was kind to me at a time in my life when I felt very much alone,” she said.
He saw it very clearly. She was infatuated with his brother because of some episode in her past that had meant less than nothing to Rafe, and everything to her.
It was a tale as old as time.
It made Drew want to slam his fist into the shed wall.
“Please listen to me very carefully, MissPenny.”
By the mutinous tilt of her chin, he could tell that she wouldn’t listen, but he had to say the words anyway. “The Rafe you think you know only exists in your mind and your heart. You’ve fabricated him from lonely girlish longings. He would chew you up and spit you out. He would crush you and leave you ruined. He’s done it before.”
“None of this is any concern to me,” she said breezily. “I’ve no idea why you’re speaking of it.”
“Admit that you changed into this red gown for Rafe.”
“I’ll admit nothing of the sort.”
He closed his eyes for a heartbeat. He had to fight this surge of protectiveness, the need to warn her. She wasn’t his problem. She could throw away her virtue if she wanted to and it was no concern of his.
