Rescued By The Earl's Vows

She stared at him. For a moment he thought she might tell him the whole story. She shook her head. ‘Circumstances beyond my control.’

The worry in her eyes gave him pause. She wasn’t the sort to worry. She was the sort to solve a problem. Case in point, her visiting him at his office and her arrival at his house tonight. A most irritating sort of a woman. The managing kind. Yet for some reason her expression of anxiety still troubled him. Hester, his first wife, had done things she wasn’t supposed to just because someone told her she couldn’t. Lady Tess, however, seemed to have a purpose behind her mad starts. For some reason far beyond rational thought, he wanted to uncover that purpose.

Rider brought in the tea tray. His eyebrows climbed to his hairline when he saw this new version of Jaimie’s guest. He put the tray down with a decided bang. Cups and saucers rattled ominously.

Jaimie glared at his butler, but the man was right. This situation was completely improper and had to stop. And it would as soon as he’d solved the problem that had brought her to his door. ‘Sit down. Have a cup of tea.’

‘I can’t stay long. Someone might go into my room and find Mims there instead of me.’ But she did sit.

To his surprise, he liked the sight of her sitting in front of his teapot.

She gave him a startled look when he sat next to her rather than opposite. Dammit, she really was an innocent. If she had gone to any other man’s house at such a late hour she might have discovered herself in serious difficulty.

He waited until she had poured the tea, had drunk it and eaten a biscuit. ‘Perhaps you would like to tell me exactly what circumstances have changed?’

She put down her cup. ‘Things are moving more quickly than I anticipated. Freeps may be able to put me in touch with someone I need to speak to. Urgently.’

‘Then why not say so before? My messenger could have asked him for this other person’s directions. Why are you being so dashed secretive?’

‘Some secrets are not mine to tell.’

He stilled, instinct honing in not on the words, but the softening of her voice and the sadness in her expression.

‘A man?’ he asked, his voice icy. He should have seen this coming. This was just the sort of romantic idiocy Hester would have engaged in.

She swallowed, looking torn. He didn’t care what came out of her mouth, a man was involved. And she was dragging him into the mess. Hester had played him for a fool more than once, and in the end it had caused her death. But he had learned his lesson far too well.

He stood up and carried the tea tray to his desk. ‘I’m sorry, there is nothing more I can do. I will pass along the information regarding Freeps when my messenger returns and that will be an end to it. It is time for you to leave.’

When he turned back, she had risen. The look of betrayal in her remarkable brown eyes stopped him short. Against his better judgement, he gentled his tone. ‘I cannot assist you in some sort of clandestine relationship, Lady Tess.’

Her gaze slid away. ‘It is no such thing, I swear it! I cannot imagine why would you think so.’

He prowled towards her. ‘Can you not?’ Then he must make her understand. Give her a lecture of the avuncular sort. Point out the error of her ways, and the possible consequences...

But as he gazed into her lovely face, the words he sought escaped him.

She lifted her chin, gazing up at him with a tiny frown on her brow. Without another thought, he leaned closer and brushed his lips across the silk of her luscious mouth. Tasted the lush plump curve that had been a temptation from first sight.

Her lips parted on a gasp of shock, but she did not draw back. If anything, she leaned a little closer.

He firmed the kiss, lingering over the soft sweet pressure of her mouth on his, feeling her body soften, hesitant and trembling, but eager. She made a small sound low in her throat, half moan, half something he couldn’t name. He stroked a finger down her cheek, tasted her sigh.

He flicked his tongue along her bottom lip, a tiny little sip of innocence that was only a beginning.

Innocent.

He broke away, stifling a curse. What the devil was he thinking? The woman was far too alluring for her own good was what he was thinking.

She gazed at him wide-eyed. Her tongue touched her bottom lip in a brief exploration, as if she, too, could not quite believe what had occurred.

Should not have occurred.

‘That is why you should not come to a gentleman’s lodgings in the middle of the night. It could lead to something...untoward.’ He kept his tone cool, but damn it all, his blood was running hot. And his breathing was nowhere as steady as it should have been. ‘When my messenger returns I will give you the information you asked me to acquire. At that point I wash my hands of the whole business.’

With seeming difficulty, she regained control of her breathing. Good. He hoped she was suffering from the same sort of discomfort he was. Embarrassment, mostly.

Her shoulders straightened. ‘I expected better behaviour from a gentleman.’

Typical. Now she was blaming him, as if he had invited her here. He glared at her. ‘You should not go to any man’s house without a chaperon if you place a smidgeon of value on your reputation.’

She turned her face away from him. ‘Well I certainly won’t do it again, will I?’

Dear God, was she going to cry? Guilt assailed him. Dammit, she was the one in the wrong, not him. But grudgingly, he found himself saying, ‘Tell me who it is you actually seek, and I will decide whether or not to assist you further.’ What the hell was he getting involved in?

She paused in picking up her cloak and threw him a glance of dislike. He gritted his teeth against the desire to apologise for his brusqueness.

‘The friend from my childhood I spoke of at the masquerade.’ Fury sparked in her eyes when he curled his lip. ‘He is a friend. Nothing more.’ Her hands clasped together at her waist, her knuckles showing white. ‘He is in a position to assist me with a small problem.’

Hell and damnation. His horrified gaze went straight to her waist. ‘What problem?’

She flushed. ‘You are horrible, you know that? And it is none of your business. I simply need to find him.’

If she wasn’t being so mysterious, he wouldn’t be jumping to conclusions. He frowned. Perhaps she feared some sort of blackmail? A letter written to a lover? Something given away that did not belong to her?

Keeping such secrets always ended in disaster. ‘You should ask for help from your cousin.’

‘I cannot.’

This friend obviously meant a great deal to her if she was prepared to take such risks. Perhaps it was a friendship as she said, or perhaps it was more. He suspected the latter despite her denials. Clearly, though, she was not going to tell him anything more unless he could find a chink in her armour. ‘What is the worst your cousin is likely to do, if you tell him? Send you to his aunt in Yorkshire?’

Her spine stiffened. ‘Did you have to mention her?’

Trying to make her see sense was getting him nowhere. He couldn’t think why he was bothering. ‘I will send you a note the moment I have the information you seek.’

‘No. My cousin will wonder...’

Now she cared about the proprieties. He smiled a grim smile. ‘And now you know the reason your family tries to protect you.’

She coloured, no doubt recalling their kiss.

‘Well then, what engagement do you have tomorrow night?’ he asked.

She looked startled.

‘I am invited to all the best places, you know.’ He swallowed the urge to chuckle at her look of chagrin. ‘I promise you, I will be discreet.’

‘We are to attend Lady Bloomfield’s musicale tomorrow evening.’