Intentions of the Earl (Scandalous Sisters, Book 1)

by Rose Gordon

  Andrew’s lips twisted at his friend’s none-too-subtle implication that if any harm—scandal or otherwise—were to fall upon Brooke, Alex expected him to do the right thing. He swallowed. He couldn’t back out now. He’d gone too far and too much was at stake. He’d just have to ask forgiveness later.

  Chapter 16

  Mama had not been the only one to check on Brooke before retiring for bed. Both of her sisters had come, too.

  Between the three of them, she was showered with more sympathy than she'd received in her entire life. All of them said they were sorry about what happened, they hadn’t expected the earl to treat her that way, and how horrid they thought Lady Olivia was.

  Brooke agreed wholeheartedly with Lady Olivia being horrid. Even if she had reasons for it, like Alex believed. That was no excuse. She was as much of a snake as Gateway, Brooke was sure of it. She was almost certain all those complaints and the like were just an act to cover up her true self.

  As for the earl losing interest in her and tossing her aside for Lady Olivia, well, that was a different matter. She had a plan. She was going to win him back, and in such a way that Lady Olivia would have to go find another helpless soul to tether herself to. Andrew Black, Earl of Townson belonged to Brooke.

  Brooke didn’t tell her sisters or Mama of her plan when they came to visit. She wasn’t sure they’d approve. Madison might not say anything, but Liberty and Mama would go into hysterics. They’d probably even be appalled at the idea of her flirting so outrageously in order to claim the man she loved. Loved? Could she? Is that why she hurt so badly when she saw him and Lady Olivia together? Is that why she had that hurting, angry, empty feeling in her chest? She would have to examine this more deeply later, because for now she had to get ready to go downstairs and break her fast.

  All the way down the stairs, she couldn’t help but hope he was in the breakfast room and would dine with her. She walked to the grand staircase. Why did this man stir these feelings? Were they truly feelings of love? How could they be? How could she love him so soon? The two of them had only spent a few afternoons together. But those afternoons had been so magical to her. She’d felt differently when Andrew had touched or kissed her than she had when any of the other London gentlemen had. Did that mean she loved him though?

  Or were her feelings just an intense amount of jealousy? She was jealous of Lady Olivia. She knew she was—there was no point in denying it. If she wasn’t jealous, she would not be trying to win him. But that didn’t mean she loved him.

  She stuck to her newfound decision for all of ten seconds, because when she walked into the breakfast room her decision wavered. Immensely.

  Andrew was sitting at the end of the long table, his startling blue eyes trained on the door. When she walked in, he jumped up and, with a bone-melting smile, asked her to join him.

  After Brooke filled her plate at the sidebar, she sat down next to Andrew, her skin growing warmer.

  “I trust you slept well,” he said casually.

  “I did. And you?” she asked lightly, wishing they could avoid trivial small talk.

  “Yes. I spoke to Alex last night,” he told her, his lips twitching a little, like he knew a secret he wasn’t going to share. “He has agreed to go with us following breakfast to look over the grounds.”

  Brooke smiled brightly. She had to start thinking of what she was going to do and say during the tour to get his attention back. “I’m glad you remembered your offer,” she said shortly.

  “I would never forget a promise I made to such a fine lady as you,” he replied. His voice had taken on a silky tone.

  “Good. See that you are able to keep all your promises in the future,” she shot back sternly. Her wounded feelings were not forgotten just because he remembered the promise he had made to her.

  “I wanted to take you to dinner last night. I never made such a proclamation to Lady Olivia, but she had me trapped. I would not like to have embarrassed her by pointing out before all of those people that I had not indicated a wish for her company at dinner,” he said apologetically.

  His words brought Brooke up short. That was precisely what Alex had told her. Andrew’s honor would not allow others to be embarrassed, nor would he himself purposely embarrass anyone else. She had believed it for the most part last night, but it made her feel much better to hear Andrew say it. But just to be sure she asked, “Are you telling me you have no interest whatsoever in Lady Olivia?”

  “None,” he said simply, looking straight into her eyes as he said it.

  “I am happy to hear that.” And she was, too. Actually, relieved was a better description.

  “Now that we have that settled, are you ready to embark on our tour?”

  Brooke gestured to her plate where she still had half a pear slice sitting there, beckoning for her to eat it. “I should like to finish my pear then we may be on our way.”

  “All right, you finish your breakfast and I’ll go locate Alex. He finished eating before you came down. He’s most likely in the library reading,” he said as he got up from the table.

  “Where shall I meet you?”

  “Just stay here. We’ll be back in a matter of minutes.”

  Once he had left, she finished her pear slice, and dreamed about their tour. Would he try anything? He hadn’t tried to push his leg against hers during breakfast the way he had done previously, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try anything while they were on their tour. Would he try to kiss her on the tour?

  She sat there with a little smile playing on her lips because she had decided yes; he was going to kiss her again. She would see to it that he tried. She was also going to make sure he didn’t get his kiss, at least not right away.

  Brooke woke from her whimsical trance when footfalls grew louder from the hallway. That must be them. They have returned, and now they could go on their tour.

  Nobody else in the room seemed aware of Brooke’s excitement, but several heads turned in her direction when they heard her gasp at the sight of the group that entered the breakfast room.

  Alex walked in first, his face contorted in a way that made clear his irritation.

  Following him was Andrew, Lady Olivia clutching his arm as if she were clinging onto a lifeline she'd been tossed while drowning in the Thames.

  “A tour you say,” Lady Olivia cooed. “I should like to join you. Please allow me this great pleasure. I need only break my fast, nothing more, and then I shall be ready to go.” Her words were directed at Andrew, but her smug smile was directed straight at Brooke.

  Andrew walked her over to the sideboard to help her with her plate. “All right,” he agreed, a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice.

  Alex sat down next to Brooke. “I’m just as displeased by these developments as you are,” he mumbled and made a sour face.

  Brooke took pleasure in his statement. Nobody liked to soak in their misery alone.

  The four of them sat in silence. Brooke was scowling. Alex looked annoyed. Andrew’s face was getting more rigid with each passing second. Lady Olivia was the only one who seemed to be enjoying the situation. Of course that was because she was the center of everyone’s attention.

  When Lady Olivia had finally taken her last bite and wiped her mouth for what seemed like the fiftieth time, she announced, “That was most excellent. I am now refreshed enough to go about our tour.”

  “You ate enough to be refreshed to walk to the nearest village and back without needing any more refreshment,” Brooke mumbled under her breath.

  Alex heard her and chuckled.

  Brooke flushed, but neither Andrew nor Lady Olivia gave any indication of hearing what she'd said.

  Andrew stood first. “Alex, I forgot something in your library, would you mind helping me locate it before we go?”

  “Is it that important that we find it right now?” Alex asked impatiently.

  “Yes, it's of the utmost importance. It will take no longer than a few moments.”

  “All r
ight. If you’ll excuse us, ladies. We shall return momentarily,” Alex said irritably as he stood.

  They were gone only a few minutes then came back in and strolled over to where the ladies were sitting. “If the two of you are ready, we are ready to escort you about,” Andrew said cheerfully.

  “Absolutely,” Brooke said stiffly. She stood and moved toward Andrew as quickly as she could. When she reached his side before Lady Olivia, she clutched his arm and shot her a triumphant smile.

  “I would like to escort you, Lady Olivia,” Alex said gently. “If that’s agreeable with you, of course.”

  Lady Olivia's face contorted in a way that suggested she'd just bitten a lemon. “I would like that very much, Mr. Banks,” she said waspishly.

  As soon as Lady Olivia took Alex’s proffered arm, Alex reached into his coat pocket. Taking out his pocket watch, he flipped it open and nodded, then looked straight at Andrew.

  “Shall we go to the conservatory first?” Andrew asked with a pointed look at Alex.

  “Oh, I adore flowers,” Lady Olivia chimed in with her ear piercing voice.

  “Very well,” Alex said. “Let’s be off.”

  The group started to make its way to the conservatory with Andrew so fast he nearly caused Brooke to stumble face-first onto the lawn.

  “Why are we walking like Satan is on our heels?” Brooke asked breathlessly.

  “Because she is.”

  Brooke couldn’t help it—she let out a giggle. “That is most ungentlemanly, likening Lady Olivia to Satan.”

  “As far as I am concerned, that’s a fair comparison. I asked Alex to keep her busy so we could have a little time without her and her inane chatter. You don’t mind, do you?” The last asked as a delayed thought.

  “No, not at all. I just feel bad for poor Alex.” And she genuinely did. He was such a nice person, and Lady Olivia was not.

  “Well, you shouldn’t. It was his fault she knew about the tour in the first place. When she ran into us in the hall, ‘poor Alex’ just blurted it right out. He’s giving us only an hour, then he said he would dump her off on us whether we are finished or not.” Andrew scowled.

  “Is that why he made such a show of checking his pocket watch?” Brooke asked.

  “Yes,” Andrew said tersely. “He said in exactly one hour his ‘good friend duties’ would cease to exist and he’d deliver Lady Olivia to us no matter if we were done with our tour or not.”

  She tried not to giggle at the expression on his face as they walked to a large building that was mostly made of large windows acting as the walls and roof. In between sheets of glass there were columns of bricks going from the ground to the roof, encasing the windows. Brooke had never seen such an unusual building up close. She had seen this one yesterday from her bedchamber window. But now that she was closer, she took in the details such as its red brick siding was crumbling a bit with age, and ivy was growing up some of the columns.

  Andrew opened the door and she walked inside. She looked around at all of the flowers that were in bloom. She had never seen so many different kinds in one place before. It was magnificent.

  “Here we are, the conservatory. This is where Alex spends the majority of his time when the weather is disagreeable,” Andrew said as he shut the door behind them.

  “He does? I thought he liked the library,” she said curiously, walking over to some orange flowers.

  “He does,” Andrew agreed. “But he has a fascination with biology, physics and even astronomy. When the weather is bad and he cannot study his plants outside or is stumped with a physics equation, he’ll come here and study the flowers and trees that are housed inside.”

  “How fascinating,” Brooke said, leaning closer to a plant that she thought might actually bear fruit, not flowers.

  “Yes, very.”

  “Do you have a conservatory at your estate?” Brooke asked innocently.

  “No.” Andrew’s body tensed.

  Brooke assumed he stiffened because Lady Olivia and Alex could be heard talking outside.

  “Would you like to see the orangery?”

  “Yes,” Brooke said uneasily. They had barely walked down one row in the conservatory and he was already rushing her off somewhere else. How was she supposed to work her magic?

  At the end of the row was a door. When they walked through it, they entered the orangery. “I hadn’t realized we were so close to the orangery,” she murmured.

  “Yes, they are connected, quite unusual really. The orangery was not always here. About five years ago Alex decided he would like to raise orange and citrus trees, but there was no space. His father wouldn’t allow a new building to be erected. Alex talked him into a compromise. The conservatory was to be split in half. A wall was put in to divide it. That way Alex could use one of the sides to grow his citrus trees.”

  A bench was positioned on the opposite side of the orangery, and without a word, Brooke started to walk over to it. Her hand was still on Andrew’s forearm, forcing him to walk toward the bench along with her. “I should like to sit a few minutes,” she said when they arrived at the bench.

  Andrew waited while Brooke took a seat on the bench first. When she was seated and rearranged her skirts around her, he sat down and left only a few short inches between them.

  Brooke pretended not to notice how close they were already and swung her right leg, even if it were considered unladylike to do so, slowly brushing his calf with her bright blue skirts with each swing.

  Andrew didn’t move away. He just looked at her. Then slowly, ever so slowly, he moved his leg closer to hers. He kept moving closer until with one of her swings, she made direct contact with his leg. Well, as direct as one can get through a massive amount of fabric fashioned into a skirt.

  Her leg stilled. Heat radiated from his leg all the way through her skirt, petticoats, and stocking. It felt as hot as the iron Mrs. McNaught had used to steam the wrinkles out of their gowns back in Bath. For a moment, they both just looked at each other.

  Andrew’s eyes changed. They were growing darker and more intense. Desire made them take on a new shade of blue. A shade she had only seen once before, in the museum when they were alone in the empty room.

  He leaned closer, so close that his face was less than two inches from hers. His eyes seared into hers and his lips were so close she could almost feel them.

  Brooke’s mind barely registered what was going to happen. The realization he was about to kiss her made her snap out of her lusty trance. This was her chance. She had to be strong. She had to resist. If she didn’t, her plan would come to naught and she would be even more heartbroken than before.

  With shaky legs, Brooke abruptly stood and moved a few feet away to an orange tree that had several ripe oranges hanging on it. “Do you…umm…think that uh…Alex would mind terribly if we…er…I were to eat one of his oranges?” she stammered.

  Andrew was to her side before she even finished her question. One of his bare hands plucked down an orange while the other dug into his pocket. A few seconds later he pulled out a penknife. Wordlessly, he peeled the orange with his knife. In a minute, the rind was gone from the orange and he was breaking it into sections.

  Brooke peeked at his eyes. The look was not gone. He still had the deep look of desire in his eyes. Brooke smiled to herself. It was working. He was going to find her, and only her, irresistible by the end of the day. She would make sure of it, even if it drove her crazy in the process.

  Once Andrew had it all separated, Brooke reached for one of the pieces. Andrew was quicker though and pulled them back. “It would be a pity for you to ruin your gloves by touching the orange,” he said, looking down at her gloves. “I think the better solution is to let me help you eat this. Come, let’s sit back down.”

  They walked back to the bench they had both vacated in haste just a few moments before and regained their seats, sitting just as close as before.

  “Are you ready?” Andrew asked hoarsely.

  “Yes,
” Brooke whispered. Reason told her to put him off a little longer, but her body was screaming something else entirely.

  Andrew took one of the orange slices and gently ran it over her lips—just enough to let the juice from the wedge moisten her lips.

  Brooke’s lips parted a little further and her tongue came out to lick up the juice the orange had left in its trail. Andrew swallowed visibly then shifted on the bench.

  After running the orange around her mouth a second time, he slowly slipped it into her mouth.

  The slice was a bit too large for one bite, and a little stream of juice came out around the corner of her mouth and dripped to her chin. Embarrassed she was making such a mess on her face while eating the orange, her hands flew up to wipe the juice from her chin. But Andrew was quicker. He grabbed her hands, bent closer to her, and whispered, “Allow me.”

  Brooke relaxed her hands in his hold. His left hand came up and wiped the bit off her chin, then he brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked the juice off.

  Brooke’s eyes widened. That was not what she had expected. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but it wasn’t that.

  All thoughts of holding him off vanished when he leaned a little closer. “It seems I missed a spot.” Then, within a blink of an eye, his lips were on the corner of her mouth.

  He nipped the corner playfully before moving over to be dead center on the middle of her lips.

  Brooke’s arms went around Andrew’s neck and her fingers sank into his hair. She twirled her fingers into his black curls, holding his head close to hers. His tongue ran along the seam of her lips. This was new to her, yet it felt so natural. Other men had just tried to shove their tongues inside, but this, this was much better. It felt so good, she gasped.

  Andrew took advantage of her gasp and pushed his tongue past her lips. He ran his tongue along her perfect row of teeth before doing a full exploration of her mouth.

  Brooke had never been one to only observe. Boldly, she slipped her tongue into his mouth and mirrored all his actions. She explored his mouth just as fully as he was exploring hers. She had never been so bold before. She enjoyed this kind of kissing with Andrew.