“A year,” Penny answered, turning back to him. “She’s come a long way already. But she still suffers from terrors at night.”
That made him wince. And suddenly, the six thousand pounds didn’t seem nearly enough. He had more money than he could spend in a lifetime. And another endeavor he was about to embark on. But he never got the chance to say the words as a male voice rumbled behind him.
“You’re back, are you?”
The voice grated behind him and he didn’t need to turn to know it was one of the men from last night. That altercation had ended in a stalemate, he doubted this one would. Luckily his jacket was already off. “I’m back.” He swiveled, placing himself in front of Penny once again. “Inside with you, sweetheart.”
“Sweetheart, is it?” The man sneered. “Who are you to be calling her that?”
Logan recognized him from last night. In the light of the day, he looked even more unkept. Missing teeth, dirty clothes, untrimmed hair jutting out from under his hat.
“Who are you to be asking?” he snarled, standing straighter.
“My lo—” Penny started.
“Just Logan,” he said, interrupting her. This wasn’t about titles, this was about men. And a woman and how these ruffians were going to leave her be.
“Logan,” she said, stepping closer to his back. “There’s no need to respond to this man. He’s just trying to goad you into a fight.”
“I am.” The other man spit on the ground. “This isn’t a place for you. You reek of the West End and you don’t belong here.”
Two other men stepped out from the alley across the street and began crossing over to them.
Logan knew it would be tough to fight three men. Best to eliminate one quickly. With that in mind, he didn’t hesitate, just threw a punch, popping the guy in front of him straight into his nose before the other men had even reached their side of the road.
The guy fell like a pile of bricks as the other two broke into a run barreling toward them. “Inside,” he barked at Penny as he widened his stance.
Then he raised his fists. Let them come. He was ready.
Penny blinked as she watched the two other men jump on Logan, engulfing him under their weight. She had to do something.
She could hear them pummeling his body with their fists.
Reaching down, she grabbed one of the broken pickets laying on the ground.
Logan pushed one of the men off him, bringing a hard fist into the other man’s stomach. The ruffian doubled over with a groan. Penny didn’t hesitate. Raising the picket over her head, she brought down the jagged wood on his back, sending him crashing to the ground.
She gasped as the blow jarred through her body. How did men fight like this? Logan spun and delivered an uppercut to the third man. He went careening back into the street. Then, without a word, Logan grabbed her hand and began pulling her up the stairs.
Wrenching open the door, he was met by Clarissa, once again holding a poker in her hands. “Need this?” she asked, peering over Logan’s shoulder.
He didn’t answer as he moved into the room, still pulling Penny behind him. Once they were both inside, he slammed and bolted the door behind him.
Logan turned to look at her then and that’s when she realized just how many punches he’d taken.
His lip was swollen and split, his cheek red, and there was a gash just over his eye.
“Oh Logan,” she said, reaching up a hand but dropping it again. He’d gotten these wounds defending her and the children.
It made her ache inside to see how he’d put himself in harm’s way and for the first time, she allowed herself to think about what it would be like to have him as her partner.
A man who helped her carry the burden and share in the love of her adopted family. A man who defended them and repaired fences and…her breath caught.
A man who would provide her with a family of her very own in addition to the one she’d already built. But surely, he wouldn’t want her. She wasn’t a lady, she was poor, and she came with an entire cast of little girls to support.
He grimaced. “This place isn’t safe.”
She nodded. “I know. That’s why I accepted your offer tonight.” She didn’t add, despite any hidden consequences. Because she trusted him. She’d worried about his motives at first, but he truly seemed to want to help. She couldn’t deny that after the hits he’d taken.
“Let’s get you cleaned up,” she said, then pulled off her gardening gloves and slid her bare hand into his.
The feel of his rougher palm against her softer one, made tendrils of pleasure dance through her arm, but she ignored them as she led him down the stairs to the kitchen below.
Working quickly, she put water on the stove to heat and got out fresh rags. Once the water heated, she began cleaning the wounds. The cut above his eye still bled, and she gently dabbed at the wound. Rinsing the cloth, she worked down his face, then his neck. “Take off your shirt,” she demanded. She needed to see what had happened to his body.
He complied without a word, gingerly pulling the fabric over his head, wincing as his arm stretched up.
She gasped. Not because of the bruises blooming on his flesh but because he was so…stunning. Hard muscles rippled in waves down his chest, tapering into a narrow waist. A smattering of hair sprinkled across his pectorals and she had the urge to run her hand through it. Feel its texture against her palm. She pressed her hands to her breastbone to keep her heart from beating out of her chest.
Her breath released in short gasps and her body ached with something she couldn’t name as she reached for the rag again and began to cleanse his torso. Even through the cloth, she could feel the dips and ripples of his muscles and her head dipped lower. She knew she was intimately close, but she wanted to feel him, smell him. Penny would like him to wrap his arm about her waist and draw her near.
“Penny,” he growled, low and deep. “We need to talk.”
“Talk?” She swallowed as she answered. “About what?” The inappropriate way I am touching you or the impure thoughts I am having about my skin sliding against yours? Her skin flushed at the very idea.
“About this house.”
Oh. That. Disappointment slid down her spine. “There isn’t much to say. What I can sell it for will not buy me much of anything.”
He brought his hand to her waist and, Lord help her, if he didn’t pull her closer. Just as she’d imagined. Her entire body heated to be so near to his. “There is always a solution.”
She nodded, dropping the cloth in the bowl and spreading her hands out on his shoulders. They were broad and so strong. Her fingers dug into the flesh. Just a bit. Touching him like this felt like he was an anchor in a storm. She’d like to press her cheek onto his perfectly trimmed hair. “Yes. That’s why I agreed to dinner tonight. Surely, I can find some other benefactors.”
His chest rumbled. Had she heard it or felt it? Penny wasn’t certain, though it didn’t matter. It caused her own insides to flit about like butterflies.
“We have an appointment tomorrow. Even though I’ve delivered your funds, we’ll keep it. I’ll send my driver to fetch you and my groundskeeper is going to stay here while you’re gone. He can work on the place and keep an eye on things while you’re away.”
She shook her head. “That’s too much. I can’t—”
“I insist,” he said, then stood. “I’ll be back to pick you up at seven this evening. Everything you’ll need is in the box.”
They were still close, her hands on his shoulders, and his chest slid up her torso. She gasped, her nipples tightening as her fingers dug in even deeper to his skin. Logan’s hand slid around her waist so that her stomach pressed to his. An ache formed deep inside, throbbing between her legs.
Penny had never imagined that a man’s touch would be so…exciting. He didn’t seem like marble now. He was a flesh and blood man radiating heat and virility.
Her chin notched up to look at him and he met her gaze, his golde
n eyes crinkled in thought. “Should Clarissa and the children spend the night at my home?” he asked.
She shook her head. An entire night that close to this man? She couldn’t possibly. Because he was wiping her mind of all her reasonable and sensible thoughts. “The lock is excellent.”
He gave a single nod even as he squeezed her waist again and then let her go. “I shall see you at seven then.”
The cold air that hit her skin made a shiver of disappointment curl her shoulders in. His touch had been like a dream.
His hands had been large and strong and their bodies fit together and… “Seven,” she repeated as he shrugged back into his shirt.
Then he was gone. With a sigh, she started to clean up the kitchen. It had to be four in the afternoon already. She’d need every second she had left to get ready for this evening.
Chapter Five
For the second day in a row, Logan arrived home to a visitor.
Not his idea of fun.
Well, that wasn’t true. Penny had turned out to be a delightful guest, but she was an anomaly. And the carriage parked outside told him that a far different guest awaited him inside.
The Duke of Darlington.
Logan knew he looked awful. His shirt had been torn, his face beaten, and he hadn’t bothered to retie his cravat.
At least Penny had washed off the excess blood.
Damn but that woman had thrown his life into chaos.
To be fair, she’d begged him not to fight. But honestly, how did a two young women and their charges survive without a protector? Penny was likely competent, and she had a way of soothing ruffled male feathers, but that didn’t fend off criminals.
And Clarissa was fierce enough, but the young woman was a slip of a thing who didn’t even wear shoes.
It made him ache to think of them at the world’s mercy. He entered the house and started straight up the stairs to the front sitting room. Sliding open the door, he found the duke lounging on his settee.
“You’re finally home,” Daring’s deep voice rumbled. “You look like shit.”
“Daring,” he said by way of greeting. “How unexpected.”
“Why?” Daring said, waving Logan’s message from this morning. The paper fluttered through the air. “You wrote me.”
Logan stopped. “And? A note of reply would have sufficed.”
Daring chuckled. “I came to tell you that Miss Penny Walter’s presence is required this evening. No getting around it.”
Logan had known that would be true. “Fine. I’ve already made the arrangements.”
“And have you already helped her with her…project?”
“Yes,” he answered cautiously. So many questions tumbled about his thoughts. Like why Daring was so concerned with an orphanage or why he wished for Logan to work with other lords. But the ones involving Penny won out. “Tell me. Who else will be at dinner tonight?”
“Some lords you might know and others you likely won’t.”
Damn the man and his vague answers. “You mentioned prospective partners. Are they for me or for her?”
“Both,” he grinned. “I liked the idea of a charity buy-in so much, I think I’ll make it a requirement for all of them. Which is why she needs to be there.”
Logan shifted. That should have made him happy. If each of the men contributed, Penny could have a much nicer home and be able to take in more orphans. But he hated the idea of these other men spending time with her. It wasn’t jealousy, he told himself. She was far too beautiful; and men, as she’d put it herself, sometimes wanted things in trade for their favors. He’d not allow men like that to hurt her the way they had him. “I can negotiate on her behalf.”
Daring quirked a brow. “The Earl of Gold, negotiating for a poor orphanage?” He rose from his seat. “Forgive my skepticism.”
“I shan’t until you tell me exactly what you mean.” He crossed his arms, refusing to wince even when his ribs ached from his earlier fight. “I have excellent negotiating skills.”
“I’m sure you do.” Daring chuckled. “But you have been known to profit from every endeavor you undertake. Not hoping to turn a profit on Miss Walters too, are you?”
Logan’s head snapped back like he’d been physically hit. “How dare you. Penny and those children need someone to look out—”
Daring’s eyes widened with surprise. “You like her.”
Logan’s jaw clenched. He wasn’t about to admit that to anyone, not even himself. He’d come so close to kissing her today, he’d smelled the fresh mint on her breath, felt the press of her soft curves. But he’d sworn his gifts were favor-free and he’d hold to that. But damn, it had been difficult. He wanted to lose himself in her. “It’s not that.” He lied. “She’s uncommonly pretty.” Now that was the truth. “And she alluded to the fact that there have been other men who have tried to exploit her because of her beauty. Do you know all your potential partners well? How would they treat a vulnerable woman like that?”
Daring ran a hand through his hair, but Logan watched as the other man attempted to grin. “The Earl of Gold has a heart after all.”
He clearly did because the organ stuttered in his chest. Why did those words unsettle him?
They weren’t an insult.
But he supposed he had considered feelings a weakness. He’d loved his father. Look at where that had gotten him. Ruined and sent to Eton by his aunt. The other boys at school had been merciless. But he’d learned how to survive, how to thrive. “What man doesn’t protect a group of children? Girls all of them.”
Daring shook his head. “A great many. I look forward to meeting Miss Penny Walters tonight.” Then Daring curled his lip. “But I’d recommend a bath first.”
He didn’t bother to mention that Penny had already given him a sponge bath. One that would take him days to recover from properly. Her gentle hands on his skin had been exquisite torture. He’d wanted to kiss those hands, her open palms. Hell, he’d wanted to kiss a path from the tip of her pinky finger to her lips. “A bath? I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Unless you’re going for ruffian. To scare the other men away from Miss Walters,” Daring said. “How did you get so beat up anyhow?”
He sighed. “She has some unsavory neighbors. They’ve got ideas about the single woman who lives alone.”
Daring straightened, and a flicker of concern crossed his face. “I’ll be curious to hear her plans to repair such a situation.”
Logan drew in a deep breath. He had some ideas forming too. The problem? None of them meshed with his own goals for the future.
He made a mental note to send another request to a good family to meet him as a prospective suitor. He’d heard Lady Abigail Stewart had completed her first season but had yet to make a match. Her father was a marquess and extremely well-connected. He’d write to him after his bath.
Because he needed to take Penny out of his mind.
Penny stood in front a mirror as she pulled garment after garment out of the box. Her face heated as a silky chemise slipped through her fingers. Had Logan picked this out for her? Or had it just been the modiste? Next came stockings and garters. Not the serviceable fabric she currently wore but fine gauzy material that would be delightful against her skin.
Even more so because she imagined he’d touched them.
Heat flashed across her face. She looked in the mirror to see her bright-red reflection and her normally pearly complexion resembling a beet.
Someone gave a hard knock at the door and then entered without waiting for permission. “Why are you blushing?” Clarissa asked as she flopped on Penny’s bed. Then she gasped as she picked up a stocking. “What is this?”
“Clothing for dinner with a duke.” Penny shook her head. “Logan gave it to me.”
“Logan?” Clarissa arched a brow. “Do you mean the Earl of Goldthwaite?”
Penny felt her cheeks flame again. “I know. He’s an earl and I am the poor purveyor of a ramshackle orphanage. I haven’t forgotten.
”
Clarissa’s shoulder rose up. “Whatever else you can say about him, he doesn’t seem to be giving you these things just to tumble you into his bed.”
Penny snatched the stocking from her charge’s hand. “What do you know about tumbling?”
Truth be told, Penny didn’t know that much about it either.
“I know enough to know that our situation would be far worse if you found yourself carrying a child.”
The very idea of bearing a child made her skin flush but not with embarrassment. Pleasure at the idea of touching Logan’s skin coursed through her. And carrying his child…longing made her ache. She bit her lip as she dropped her head to hide her reaction. “Clarissa,” Penny said sharply. “I am not going to get pregnant.” She drew in a deep, steadying gulp of air. “But it does beg the question. What are his motivations? When I first met him, he didn’t strike me as a man intent upon helping foundlings. In fact, he seemed quite eager to be rid of me that first night. But the past few days…did he change his mind? He doesn’t strike me as a man who usually engages in charity. Why us?”
Clarissa shrugged. “I don’t know. But as long as he does, isn’t that what’s important?”
Penny supposed that was true. Though from the beginning she hadn’t understood his motivations and the why of them bothered her more and more.
Because, somehow, her feelings were starting to become involved. He’d rescued her in more ways than one. And he was so very handsome. When she slid her hands over him earlier to treat his wounds, sparks flew from his skin to hers.
She forced her mind from these thoughts. “Can you help with my hair?”
“Of course.” Clarissa bounced off the bed once again. “But I want to touch all the clothes.”
Penny smiled. “You don’t even like to wear them. Stockings or shoes or corsets.”
Clarissa shrugged. “I don’t like to wear those confining boots. Silk slippers, that might be something different entirely.”
Penny drew in a breath. Was that a dreamy tone to Clarissa’s voice?
Earl of Gold: Lords of Scandal Page 5