Geek Girls Don't Date Dukes (24 page)

his way into the back garden. He peered through the

windows of the house.

People milled about, dressed in their lesser finery for

a smaller gathering. But even the poorest- dressed among

them still shone like a polished gem. They chatted and

laughed easily, the cares of the world as foreign to them

as the colonies.

Bitterness lodged in the back of his throat. He

coughed quietly, then resumed searching for her.

His efforts were rewarded only a moment later. Leah

followed Lady Chesterfield into the room, a delicate

smile on her face. A footman took her wrap, revealing

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her creamy shoulders and smooth arms, framed as they

were by the delicate ivory lace of her dress. She laughed

at something Lady Chesterfield said, tilting her head

back in abandon, revealing the slender column he’d

love to kiss.

Lord, she was beautiful.

He curled his fingers into a fist as he fought the urge

to go to her. He was nothing to her, nothing at all. She

was here for the duke. And he was only here to see that

she remained unharmed by Prachett or his men.

They couldn’t know that this glittering debutante was

the maid from Granville House, could they?

The rain had stopped, but the air was cold, thick, and

damp. Music started in the house, the plaintive sound of

a pianoforte, seeming to echo the strain in his chest.

He slapped his hand against the brick.

Thinking of her was such foolishness. Why perpetuate

a fantasy?

Avery turned and looked through the window once

more. She stood at the back of the room, a polite smile

on her face as addressed the gentleman next to her. His

stomach dropped. The gentleman next to her was none

other than his employer. The man she seemed deter-

mined to catch.

Jealousy roared through Avery. He dug his fingers

into the brick, gritting his teeth so hard they ached. He

could not tear his gaze away from the couple.

Why should he care? Granville was a gentleman,

despite his age, and would make an exemplary match for

Miss Ramsey. He’d always been kind to Avery. So why

did Avery want nothing more than to rip her away from

the duke’s side?

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The song ended, and a polite smattering of applause

sounded.

He spent nearly an hour by the bush in the back

garden, growing more and more angry as Leah remained

by the duke’s side. Avery’s employer took a glass of

ratafia from a passing servant and offered it to her. A cold

wind kissed Avery’s burning skin, but it did nothing to

cool his rage at the sight of the duke’s hand brushing

Leah’s. She blushed, smiling down at the glass in her

gloved hands.

Damn it.

It should be Avery she smiled at, Avery touching her.

He snarled as he ripped the bush beside him out of the

ground, spraying damp earth in all directions.

When the haze lifted, he realized his hands were cut

and bleeding. The holly’s sharp edges had punished his

impetuous actions with aplomb—

and the Waterson’s

poor gardener would have an apoplexy.

He knelt in the damp earth, replacing the battered

bush as best he could. Would his rages ever be controlled?

Would he ever be the master of his own mind and body?

He flexed his sore palms, ignoring the trickles of blood

that dripped to the ground below. His gaze locked on the

group inside. The duke had moved to another part of the

room. He stood by the front door, but where was Leah?

Avery’s heart raced as he desperately scanned the

room for her. Where had she gone? He must find her

before someone else did.

The squeak of a nearby door’s hinges chased him

behind the mangled bush. He crouched low. Footsteps

echoed on marble, disappearing only a moment later.

Someone descending the stairs into the garden?

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Maintaining his crouch and ignoring his protesting

muscles, Avery ran alongside the manor toward

the back garden. He had a feeling that the person

wandering there alone just may be the woman he’d

been searching for.

He bolted for a stone statue of a Greek warrior and

knelt in the shadows cast by the lights of the manor’s

windows. His breath caught in his throat as the clouds

moved past the moon, shining soft light down on her.

Her gown glowed, almost as if she were a celestial

being. Her hair, a golden tumble of curls and braids,

absorbed the moonlight, mesmerizing him. She shivered,

rubbing her gloved hand on her bare upper arm. The

longing seated deep in his chest intensified so much that

he stood, intending to run to her. The aching pain in his

body returned to remind him why that was impossible,

but his heavy breath did not go unnoticed.

Leah turned abruptly, bright eyes wary. “Hello? Is

somebody out here?”

Blast
and
damn
. He stayed in the shadows, willing her to go back into the house, to remain in the safety of

company. He could not go to her, not here.

“I know you’re out here. I can hear you breathing.”

Her voice came louder as she drew closer. He flattened

his back against the statue’s legs. She must not find him

here. She must not…

“Avery?”

His eyes flew open. There she was, the woman of his

dreams, the one who haunted his waking hours. The one

he could not touch, not under any circumstances. His

one lapse would have to last him a lifetime.

“Miss Ramsey,” he croaked. Clearing his throat,

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he tried again. “Miss Ramsey. You must return to the

house. You are not safe here.”

“Avery, are you okay?” She reached out for him, but

he dodged her hand, making sure to stay in darkness. “I

can’t really see you, but you don’t sound all that good.”

“I am well. Please return to the house.”
Please, because

I long to draw you in my arms, to make you my own. But

you are so much more, need so much more than I can give. I’ve
endangered you.

She propped her hands on her hips, giving him a cross

look. “Bullshit. Get over here where I can see you.”

He shook his head. Maddening, infuriating, beautiful

woman. “I cannot be seen. I do not have permission to

be here. Return to the house. It is not safe for a female

to wander outside alone.”

“I’m not alone,” she whispered, joining him in

shadow. “You’re here with me.”

He turned away, though her words warmed him with

violent hope. She must not see his face.

“You’ll be missed.”

She laughed softly. “I don’t care.”

He kept watch out of the corner of his eye. She stared

at his face, squinting through the darkness. The moment

her eyes adjusted to the dimness and she realized his

injuries, horror painted her features and stabbed his heart.

“Oh my God,” she whispered, stepping close to him.

“You…you’ve been…”

“My dear Miss Ram,” Lady Chesterfield called from

the balcony. “Where have you got to, dear child?”

Leah tossed a look over her shoulder, and he took

advantage of her distraction to look his fill. The delicate

lace of her gown only hinted at her womanly charms, but

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the innocent décolletage flamed his interest as much as a

daring gown would have. The ivory color only accented

her porcelain skin, pinkened her lips and cheeks, and set

off her golden hair to perfection. She was as close to an

angel on earth as had ever lived, and she deserved the

best man life could offer her.

“That’s me,” Leah griped as she turned back to him.

“We had to pick a name so nobody could connect the

dots to the maid at Granville House.”

He stifled his sigh of relief.

“Miss Ram?” Footsteps echoed on the marbles steps

to the garden.

“Go,” he said quietly, and though it cost him dearly,

he gently pushed her toward the house. She stumbled

from the darkness as he melted backward.

Lady Chesterfield’s cry was nothing if not glad. “My

dear, there you are. Lord Granville is searching high and

low for you. Come, we mustn’t keep him waiting.”

Avery watched from the cover of the statue as Lady

Chesterfield and Leah disappeared into the house. His

chest burned with an intense ache he couldn’t place, but

he knew its cause.

He could not speak with her again. It was much too

painful. He’d only brought trouble on her. He’d keep

watch from afar and count himself blessed that he had

met her at all.

i

“What a naughty girl to disappear in the middle of a

performance,” Lady Chesterfield clucked as she pulled

Leah back toward the house. “I declare it is as if you’ve

no interest in His Grace at all.”

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“That’s not it, Lady Chesterfield,” Leah protested

lamely. “I just had a headache and needed a little air,

that’s all.”

“Well, we must return before his interest wanes.

Good heavens, did you injure yourself?”

Leah looked over her shoulder where Lady Chesterfield

was mopping at a blood spot on the shoulder of her

beautiful gown. The same shoulder where Avery had

touched only a second ago. What had happened to him?

“It was just a bug bite that I scratched too hard,” she

said as Lady Chesterfield fussed. “It’s not bad, I promise.”

“You must be more careful, dear.” Lady Chesterfield

removed her own shawl and placed it over Leah’s now-

spotted dress. “Now, we must find His Grace.”

Lady Chesterfield’s winning smile and wink couldn’t

remove Leah’s uncertainty. God, she wanted nothing

more than to run out there and check on Avery. His

face had seemed swollen, discolored even. It was so hard

to see in the shadows, which he’d probably planned.

She rubbed the shoulder he’d just touched. That was his

blood. He’d been hurt and refused to show her.

“Miss Ram.” His Grace’s voice melted over her like

warm butter. Distracted for a moment, she turned to

him. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he sounded a

lot like her grandfather would if Pawpaw had a British

accent. “I trust you are well.”

Leah opened her mouth to answer, but Lady

Chesterfield beat her to it. “Of course she is, Your Grace.

I was just telling my dear niece about your new phaeton.

It sounds lovely.”

If Leah didn’t know better, she could have sworn

Lady Chesterfield had just fluttered her lashes at the

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duke. Leah stared harder. Nope, no question. Definite

lash fluttering.

The duke laughed softly. “Yes, Miss Ram. I fear I

have been frightfully rude in boring your aunt with

such talk.”

“Rubbish, dear Duke.” Lady Chesterfield tapped his

arm flirtily with her fan. “I have been most entertained.”

An extended silence fell. Leah glanced first at Lady

Chesterfield, whose cheeks held high spots of color,

then over to the duke, who was looking directly at

the baroness.

Well, damn.

Leah cleared her throat gently. “If you’ll excuse me,

I think I’d like some lemonade before the music starts

up again.”

“Oh, Miss Ram, I would love to take you and your

charming guardian for a ride through the park tomorrow

if you are both amenable.”

Leah tossed a wan glance at Lady Chesterfield, whose

eagerly nodding head reminded her of those creepy tree

spirits from
Princess
Mononoke
. She’d had nightmares for months after watching that movie.

“I’d be glad to,” she said quietly.

“Of course you may go, dearest. But I am afraid I have

a prior engagement, so I will be unable to join you.”

The duke’s face fell almost imperceptibly. “I see.

Well, Miss Ram, we are to be a pair. I look forward to it

then. I shall come ’round and fetch you on the morrow.”

Taking Lady Chesterfield’s hand, he bowed low over it,

brushing her gloved knuckles with a light kiss. He repeated

the gesture with Leah, who winced a little at the intimate

contact. It was like hugging someone else’s grandpa.

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“I bid you good evening.” He smiled at them again

as he stood.

“Good evening.” Leah returned the expression despite