An Affair with a Notorious Heiress

by Lorraine Heath

  She rolled back her shoulders, angled her chin, and somehow managed to look down her nose at him. “I can find the lounge myself. You need to return to my sister’s side.”

  The haughty Lady Landsdowne had returned. Damn it all. Why the hell did her actions make him want to kiss her all the more? “Ah, bugger it.”

  Once more he cradled her cheek, only this time he lowered his mouth to hers, relishing the plumpness of her lower lip, the taste of brandy—

  She shoved on his shoulders, and he reluctantly relented, taking two steps back.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  “Giving into temptation and kissing you, obviously.”

  She narrowed her eyes, her lips tightening with disgust. “You’re like all the others, no loyalty, no allegiance. Naught but lies, deception, and false devotion.”

  He didn’t much like being bundled with such an unfavorable lot, liked even less acknowledging that she was well within her right to find fault with him. He was no better than the other two men he’d witnessed with her. “Accept my profuse apologies. I have no excuse for my behavior except to admit that I have been drawn to you from the moment you walked into your parlor and offered me whisky.”

  She appeared even more horrified. “Yet you continued to call upon my sister? You are the worst sort of blackguard. Your courtship of my sister has come to an end. We’ll find a hackney and make our own way home.”

  She brushed by him with righteous indignation. He didn’t blame her, and he knew the next words probably weren’t going to gain any favor with her, but still he grabbed her arm. She swung around, her fist landing with a wallop on his shoulder that he rightfully deserved.

  “I’m not courting your sister.”

  Jerking her arm free of his hold, she glared at him. “I beg your pardon?”

  He heaved a frustrated sigh. “I was never courting her, not seriously. Your uncle asked me to give her attention because he thought it would cause the other lords to take an interest in her.”

  With her hands fisted at her sides, she took a step toward him, and he, for some inexplicable reason, felt compelled to take a step back. Perhaps it was the fury burning in her eyes. “Do you have any idea what this is going to do to her? She thinks you’re her knight in shining armor. She waxes on about your looks, your virtues, your kindness as though you are a god.” She punched him again. “You bastard! You will shatter her heart, and I will be left to pick up the pieces.” She hit him again. “You’re despicable!”

  “I wasn’t giving her that much attention,” he offered ineffectually in his own defense.

  “Why give her any at all? What did my uncle promise you?”

  It seemed rather trite when compared with the possibility of shattering a girl’s heart, and yet he’d gone this far in revealing himself for the scoundrel he was. No sense in holding back now. “Black Diamond for stud.”

  Her ugly and hideous scoff echoed with retribution. “I can promise you that you will never damned well get that. You will fetch Gina from the gaming room, you will escort us home, and once there you will tell her the truth of your dastardly deceit.” She spun on her heel and began marching away from him.

  “Where are you going?”

  She swung back around. “To find a room where I can wait for you. You are correct. I can’t go out onto the gaming floor with a ripped bodice.” She shook her head, and he could make out tears welling in her eyes again. “Damn you!”

  Watching as she stormed away from him, he knew she was right. He was a complete and utter ass. His confession had caused him to lose any chance of obtaining Black Diamond for stud.

  But more, he feared it had cost him Lady Landsdowne.

  Chapter 7

  Rexton had never been more disgusted with himself. While he’d questioned his fake courtship of Gina, Lady Landsdowne had managed to drive home the possible damaging consequences of what he was doing. It had never been his intent to cause Gina any hurt. He’d convinced himself that finding the proper gentleman for her would absolve him of any wrongdoing. It had helped matters because she’d not seemed particularly besotted with him.

  He had to face the reality he’d behaved badly and that behavior had put Lady Landsdowne beyond reach. Not that he had a clear idea regarding what their relationship might have been had he caught her. Her reputation coupled with her desire to return to America indicated anything between them would be short-lived. Although now it wouldn’t exist at all.

  As Rexton approached the roulette table, he noticed Andrew standing beside Gina, talking, laughing, pointing to where she should place her bets. She seemed to be having a jolly good time, and he loathed himself because he was going to ruin her evening.

  “Andrew,” he said quietly, placing his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

  “Rex.” Andrew stepped back, giving him room to get nearer to Gina. “I was just giving Miss Hammersley some tips on wagering.”

  “Lord Andrew is ever so clever,” she said, smiling brightly. “He always seems to win.”

  Especially with the ladies. He wasn’t very discreet with his affairs. Rexton grinned at the chips stacked in front of her. “You seem to have done well for yourself while I was away.”

  “I’m having a marvelous time.” She glanced past him, furrowed her brow. “Where’s Tillie?”

  “Resting in one of the parlors.” He leaned down and whispered, “I wondered if you might like to see something that very few have: a view of the gaming floor from the balcony.”

  She looked over her shoulder and up, a smile spreading across her face, before she turned back to him, her eyes sparkling like emeralds. “You can get me up there?”

  “There are benefits to being related to the owner.”

  “What about my winnings?”

  He signaled to a young man dressed in livery. “Collect Miss Hammersley’s winnings. I’ll pick them up later.”

  “Yes, m’lord.”

  Rexton stepped back, indicating she should follow.

  She touched Andrew’s arm. “Once again, my lord, thank you for keeping me company while your brother was seeing to other matters.”

  He lifted her hand, placed a kiss on her gloved knuckles. “Once again, Miss Hammersley, it was my pleasure.”

  Andrew was an incredible flirt. Rexton might consider him a possible suitor for Gina if his brother hadn’t vowed quite emphatically and on numerous occasions to never marry.

  “Good night, all!” she chirped, waving at the others gathered around the table. He wondered if any of the other gents in attendance might take an interest in courting her. Strange how he took no satisfaction in the thought. He’d wanted to find someone who would appreciate her.

  After offering his arm, he led her away from the roulette wheel.

  “Should we see if Tillie wants to join us?” she asked as they strolled around various tables.

  “I’d prefer to have a few moments alone with you.” If she had pinned her hopes on him as her sister indicated, he wanted to break the news to her gently while giving her a special memory so she might think less harshly of him.

  “It sounds as though I might be in want of a chaperone, that my reputation might be at risk.”

  To his surprise, she wasn’t teasing, but appeared a bit worried. “The people here don’t usually worry about chaperones, and I assure you that I intend to be a perfect gentleman.”

  “I don’t know whether to be grateful or disappointed.” She fluttered her lashes at him teasingly. He was a fool not to be taken in by her amusing mien and lightheartedness. Not bothering to respond, he removed a key from his pocket and used it to unlock the door that led to the offices and some private rooms where the games involved a great deal of money exchanging hands. She preceded him into the darkened hallway.

  “I suspect people get up to some mischief here,” she whispered.

  “They can. This way.” He led her to a set of stairs where the shadows were thicker. He had the ungentlemanly thought that if he brought L
ady Landsdowne here, he’d be taking advantage, his heart would be speeding up with anticipation as they ascended the stairs, his skin would be tingling with desire as he pulled back a curtain and directed her onto the balcony, his entire body would be thrumming with need as he stood behind her and watched as she leaned over to gaze on the floor below.

  What a silly girl she was to come here with a man alone, to not realize she was at his mercy. He had an urge to shake her and warn her that she was taking a risk, that she should never allow a man to get her alone. At the very least a man was going to steal a kiss. He might even ruin her.

  The women with whom he kept company had nothing to lose. This sweet, innocent lass had everything to lose. He didn’t know whether to explain the ways of men to her before or after he bruised her heart.

  “You can see everything, everyone, from here,” she said in wonder. “If I owned this establishment, I believe I’d spend a great deal of my time up here, just looking out over my domain as though I were some emperor or something.”

  “Drake Darling does just that. As did the owner before him.”

  She swung around, leaned back against the waist-high wall, and held his gaze with a challenge that surprised him. “But I don’t think you really brought me up here so I could look out over the floor.”

  Perhaps she wasn’t quite as obtuse regarding the dangers as he’d surmised. “No. That wasn’t my purpose in secreting you away.” He’d expected if he gave her something most people never saw, it would ease his guilt. It didn’t.

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she arched an eyebrow. “If you try something untoward, I will scream.”

  He couldn’t seem to stop himself from grinning. “I’m not going to try something untoward.” Taking a deep breath, he slowly released it. “Miss Hammersley—”

  “Gina,” she interrupted, no doubt wanting to remind him that their relationship had moved beyond the formal, that they were in a courtship where things could be a bit less proper between them. Only they weren’t in a courtship. She just didn’t know it yet. Perhaps he should have waited until he’d returned her to her residence but up here everything seemed less stark.

  “Gina.” Where to go from there? He was unaccustomed to struggling to find the correct words when he was with a lady. But then he’d never been dishonest before. He hated himself at that moment. “You are a lovely girl.” He should simply tell her that he was a cad. “Pretty, charming . . . amiable . . . delightful . . . witty . . . funny . . .” What else?

  “Are you going to list every adjective in your vocabulary?”

  If need be to soften the blow. “I want you to understand, to know, I find you remarkable.”

  “But we do not suit.”

  The air rushed out of him. She stated it as fact, without even a modicum of disappointment reflected in her tone. “You mustn’t take it personally.”

  “Oh, I don’t. Not at all. I’m thrilled you’re drawn to Tillie.”

  If he were standing where she was, he might have fallen over the ledge and onto the floor below. “I beg your pardon?”

  With a laugh, she pointed at her face with her middle and forefinger. “I have eyes, my lord. And they work rather well. It was quite obvious that day in the park you were far more interested in Tillie than you were in me. To be quite honest, I was rather relieved as I knew when we were introduced that your courtship would lead nowhere.”

  He stared at her. No woman had ever rejected him. No woman had ever failed to be attracted to him. “I don’t understand. I’m not an ogre. I’m titled. One day I’ll be a duke. My coffers overflow. I—”

  “You come with some wonderful traits, my lord, but you don’t make my heart sing.” She smiled brightly. “But it is funny you’re striving to convince me now that I should want you when you’re trying to tell me you don’t want me.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want you. It’s that—”

  “You want Tillie.”

  He cleared his throat. “I might have an interest in your sister but . . . what are your objections to me?”

  “For one thing, you are so old. You must be at least a decade older than I.”

  She had a point. Had he not possessed a similar thought when he met her? “What gave away my interest in your sister?”

  “The way you look at her. The heat in your eyes. My God, on more than one occasion, I thought you might burst into flames.” She gave him a gamine smile. “I am not as ignorant or uninformed in the ways of men as Tillie would believe.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Yet you continued to accept my invitations.”

  She nodded quickly. “Yes, so you could spend time in her company. That is why you asked me, isn’t it? Although I don’t quite understand why you continued to pretend to be courting me once you met her. I suppose because Society doesn’t accept her. You can still pretend to court me if you like.”

  How exceedingly generous of her. Moving forward, he leaned down, folded his arms over the railing, and gazed out. “That would be unfair to you. You may have caught the eye of a few gents over the course of our time together.”

  “But Tillie is so lonely, so miserable here.” She moaned softly. “I suppose my marrying is the kindest thing I can do for her.”

  Then England would be rid of her. He’d be rid of her. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see the seriousness in Gina’s expression. “She wouldn’t want you to fall on your sword for her.”

  He knew that. Unequivocally. She would not have others make sacrifices for her. Strange how he found himself contemplating everything he might be willing to give up for her. As though he had any hope of her returning his interest after what he’d done.

  She gave a wistful sigh. “Sometimes things are so complicated. I didn’t notice people glaring at her, but I suppose some were. I suppose that’s why she sought solace away from the main salon.”

  Where these two sisters were concerned, he seemed to be taking all sorts of missteps. “Actually, her bodice got torn.”

  Her head gave a little bob as though the words were foreign to her. “How the devil did that happen? A hem I can understand, but a bodice?”

  “Lord Evanston managed to corner her and take some liberties. I was able to stop him before things went too far.” Although they’d gone further than they should have. The man never should have touched her.

  “The beast!” She slammed her fist into his shoulder. What was it with these American women smacking men about? “Why didn’t you tell me immediately?”

  “She’s unharmed—”

  “She’s not, and you’re a dunderhead if you think any woman would be after having her gown torn by any man at all. Take me to her at once.”

  Spinning around, she was marching away before he realized her intentions. He rushed to catch up. Lady Landsdowne had seemed so strong, so in control, he hadn’t considered she was more shaken than she appeared. Blast it. He should have stayed to comfort her, to offer a shoulder. The thought of her somewhere in tears had his chest tightening. She might be done with him, but he wasn’t yet ready to be done with her.

  She found a room populated with fainting couches. Fortunately no one was there to disturb her as she settled onto one of the plush lounges. Her trembling began anew, and not because she was reliving her encounter with Evanston but rather she was thinking about the kiss that Rexton had bestowed—or had begun to bestow before she’d shoved him away.

  She’d almost given into it, welcomed it, parted her lips to give him full access to her mouth but she’d remembered Gina . . . she couldn’t betray her sister in such a vile manner. Then when he’d confessed he hadn’t been courting Gina at all—his behavior was reprehensible. All because he wanted access to a horse’s cock.

  Tears threatened; she buried her face in her hands. Tears because of the horror she’d endured in the hallway, the yearning that Rexton instilled in her, the heartbreak he was going to bring to Gina. She should have gone to fetch her sister—her torn gown be damned. If he hurt Gina’s tender
feelings before Tillie was close enough to comfort her sister, she was going to make him pay in ways he couldn’t imagine. In ways she couldn’t imagine if she was honest about it because she truly didn’t know how to go about getting even with him. It had been different with Downie. She’d known his excessive pride was his weakness. She had yet to determine any weaknesses on Rexton’s part—other than his desire to possess Black Diamond.

  “Are you all right?”

  At the softly spoken question, Tillie jerked her gaze up to find two ladies who looked remarkably alike staring at her with identical furrowed brows. Their hair was a blond, paler than any she’d ever seen, almost white. Their blue eyes showed true concern. Tillie nodded. “I’m fine, thank you.”

  “You’ve torn your lovely gown,” one of them said as she settled on the lounge, her hip nearly touching Tillie’s. “And you have a scratch on your shoulder. What happened?”

  Her eyes held Tillie’s in an almost trancelike state. She wanted to lie, make an excuse, tell them to go away. Instead she heard herself say, “I was accosted.”

  “Who was the gentleman?” the woman asked with insistence and a tightening of her features.

  “If he accosted her then he was no gentleman now, was he?” the other asked. “Who was the damned bastard? We’ll have him routed out and—”

  “Lord Rexton already saw to him. Quite satisfactorily if I’m honest.”

  “Beat him to a bloody pulp, did he?” she asked with a twinkle in her eye.

  “Close enough.”

  She tilted her head, studied Tillie shrewdly. “If Rex is coming to your defense then you must be Lady Landsdowne. I’ve heard he’s been keeping company with the notorious heiress.”

  “Actually he’s been keeping company with—” She stopped. Gina was going to be mortified that people had noticed him courting her. And then to be tossed over. She couldn’t allow that to happen. The man was going to have to continue to court her sister until someone else was willing to step up to the role.