To Tame a Highland Earl (9 page)

He didn’t ask, but placed her in a chair and
left her to go to the refreshment’s table. As he picked up two
glasses at the table, a woman sidled up alongside him and brushed
her hip against his. Eve stared. Good Lord, had the woman actually
rubbed against him? He didn’t react, and for an instant Eve thought
she was mistaken. Then he turned and said something to the woman
Eve couldn’t hear. The woman’s gaze cut to Eve and her cheeks
flushed. She yanked her eyes back to him, chin high, and replied.
The woman spoke so low, Eve waged no one could hear her, but the
flash of anger in her eyes made plain the set down she intended to
serve up.

Lord Rushton’s brows shot up in amusement and
the woman’s hand balled into a fist at her side. Lord Adkins neared
them and she jerked her gaze onto him. She broke into a sudden
dazzling smile, and Eve realized it was a ploy to distract him from
her flash of anger. Lord Adkins fell straight into her trap and
bowed over her hand with a flourish. Her eyes caught on Eve,
narrowed, then shifted back onto Lord Adkins as he
straightened.

“
She looks as if she would
like to scratch his eyes out, does she not?”

Eve started at the female voice beside her
and swung her gaze onto Lady Dorothy Benson. “I beg your
pardon?”

Lady Benson sat on the chair beside hers. “No
need to pretend you didn’t see her little tantrum.” Her gaze
shifted in the direction of the group. “Louisa does not respond
well when a man rebuffs her.”

“
I do not know her,” Eve
said.

“
It is no loss.” She
paused, then added, “He is a fine specimen of masculinity.” Lady
Benson looked at her. “And you are to marry him.”

Eve stiffened. This was the one thing she had
hoped to avoid tonight: direct confrontation with one of Lord
Rushton’s lovers. Eve glanced at Lord Rushton, but his attention
remained on Lord Adkins.

“
You have no cause to be
jealous,” Lady Benson said.

“
I am not jealous,” Eve
blurted.

Amusement danced in her eyes, but she said in
an amiable tone, “You are wise.”

Yes, Eve thought. Wise. For if she allowed
herself to worry about his lovers, she would worry all day—every
day.

“
Louisa simply couldn’t
enjoy her good luck while it lasted,” Lady Benson said. “She got
greedy.”

“
Greedy?” Eve
said.

“
Yes. She thought she could
trap Lord Rushton into marriage.” Eve stiffened and Lady Benson
lifted her brows. “Oh, you are under the impression I think you
trapped him. No. Unlike those who thrive on turning every piece of
gossip against a lady, I find the truth much more
interesting.”

She paused and Eve realized she was waiting
in hopes of hearing more. Eve thanked heaven that Grace’s deception
hadn’t come to light, then realized she might turn this
conversation to her advantage.

“
A case of mistaken
identity,” she said.

Lady Benton’s gaze sharpened. “He mistook you
for your sister.” Eve didn’t reply, letting silence condemn, and
Lady Benton gave a little laugh. “Forgive me for saying so, Miss
Crenshaw, while your sister is perfectly lovely, Erroll would never
have married her.”

Eve stiffened. “I beg your pardon?”

“
Do you honestly think she
would have held his attention?”

“
You know very little of
Grace, my lady—nothing, I daresay.”

“
You may be right, but I
know a great deal about him.” She nodded toward Lord
Rushton.

“
Indeed?” Eve said, and the
lady laughed again.

“
You have no cause to be
jealous of me, Miss Crenshaw. Unlike Louisa, I know how to enjoy a
man—especially a man who enjoys pleasing a woman—and I never make
the cardinal mistake of asking for more than he is willing to give.
That is why Lord Rushton and I have remained friends.”

“
I see,” Eve
said.

Lady Benton studied her. “I don’t think you
do.”

“
Pardon me for saying so,”
Eve said, “but you presume a great deal for a lady who doesn’t know
me or my family.”

“
I don’t have to know you
to recognize your reluctance to marry Rushton. If he preferred your
sister that would be cause for discomfort. However, his interest in
her could have been fleeting at best, so you need not fear that he
will be pining for her while married to you.”

The conversation had taken a strange turn,
and Eve wished mightily for Lord Rushton’s return. As if reading
her mind, his eyes shifted onto her. Amusement curved his lips. He
murmured something to Lord Adkins then, two champagne glasses in
hand, returned to her side.

He handed one glass to Eve, then bowed over
Lady Benton’s hand. “How nice to see you, Lady Benton.” He
straightened. “Would you like some champagne?” He offered her his
glass.

“
No thank you, my lord.”
She rose. “I am, in fact, returning to the ballroom. I promised the
next dance to Lord Townes.” She looked at Eve. “Good evening, Miss
Crenshaw, my lord.”

When she left, Lord Rushton sat down. “Are
you all right, my dear?”

“
Perfectly fine, my lord,
and you?”

“
Never been better.” He
sounded like he meant it.

They drank champagne and exchanged small talk
with other guests until he had finished off three glasses to her
one. By the time they returned to the ballroom, he seemed not to
have been the least bit affected by their short but heated
encounter in the closet. She, however, still felt as if her legs
were made of pudding, and she hadn’t been able to forget his
encounter with the woman in the refreshments room—or the lady she’d
spoken with.

Any woman who married the earl would have to
grow accustomed to, and accept, such encounters. Tonight alone, two
woman had made advances toward him, and only God knew how many
others had approached him before that. Would the advances lessen
once he married? Only if he discouraged them—and he had already
said he wouldn’t.

“
Are you all right, Miss
Crenshaw?”

His voice broke into her thoughts. “Yes,” she
replied. “Just a bit unnerved.”

“
You should have had
another glass of champagne.”

She shot him a reproachful look. “Liquor will
not solve my problem. It was your fault we went in there.”

“
That it was.”

He steered her along the wall and out the
open doors onto the balcony. Her heart jumped into her throat. The
cad was going out of his way to encourage gossip. Cool air washed
over her and she drew in a deep breath.

“
Shall we sit down?” He
nodded to a bench at the bottom of the stairs.

Eve hesitated. They had managed to avoid
detection in the parlor, but the garden was a public place.

“
I cannot kiss you in plain
view of the ballroom,” he said.

Eve jerked her gaze onto his face.

A corner of his mouth lifted. “I thought
perhaps you could use a little fresh air.”

The fact was, she could. What would the
lasting effects be of sitting in the garden with him? Nothing. As
he’d said, they would be in plain sight.

She allowed him to lead her down the three
steps. Movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention to the
nearest garden hedge twenty feet from the mansion. Her heart
jumped. She recognized the hulking figure before it melted back
into the shadows.
Oscar Hinks
. The gravity of her plans hit
full force and she faltered as her foot touched the grass.

Lord Rushton’s arm shot around her waist and
he hugged her to his side. “Miss Crenshaw.”

She startled at the hard muscle that came
into contact with her hip and arm. “I am fine,” she said, though
the breathless note in her voice made her wonder.

“
Come sit down,” he started
toward the bench, still holding her tight, and she realized it was
now or never. If she didn’t get him off to Gretna Green, she never
would.

“
If you don’t mind, my
lord, I would prefer to walk.”

He halted. “A walk?” The words were drawled
with nonchalance, but she knew he was surprised by her
suggestion.

“
The exertion and fresh air
will do me good,” she said. “I haven’t fully recovered from, er,
recent events.”

“
Indeed?” This time,
amusement laced his voice. “And a walk will put you to
rights?”

She flushed with embarrassment and prayed he
couldn’t see the blush she knew followed the heat creeping up her
cheeks. “Fresh air cures many ailments.”

Eve looked up, then regretted meeting his
gaze when his fingers flexed against her waist. A moment of silence
passed. Why did he hesitate? He couldn’t conceive of, much less
suspect, what she had in mind. No, she realized with a jolt of
frustration. He was searching for a reason to decline the
invitation. There could be no denying his arousal when they’d been
jammed into the hidey hole in the parlor. He hadn’t hesitated then.
Why now? Eve shifted so that her breast came in contact with his
chest and pressed closer. It seemed he was suddenly a statue, his
body hard as stone, his hand on her waist an unmoving vice.

“
Shall we, my lord?” she
asked.

“
That depends, my
dear.”

Good Lord, she wasn’t Grace, but she was
worth a walk in the gardens. What did she have to do, strip down to
her shift in order to entice him? He lifted a hand and Eve froze
when he ran a finger down her cheek.

His finger reached her chin and he grasped
it. “Are you carrying a pistol?” She blinked, then narrowed her
eyes. “A lady does not carry a pistol.”

He gave her chin a small squeeze. “A
lady
does not sleep with a pistol under her pillow.”

Ire flashed. “Use some sense. If I intended
to shoot you again, the parlor would have been the place to do
it.”

“
Indeed?”

The amusement in his voice fueled her
frustration. “It isn’t as if I asked you to walk the plank.”

“
Oh, but you did,” he said.
She pulled away, and he released her. “But, as I am a good swimmer,
I am willing to take the plunge.”

The arm that had been pressed close to him
prickled in the cool night air. An odd sense of lightheadedness
gripped her. Warm fingers grasped her hand and Lord Rushton slipped
that hand into the crook of his arm as he started forward. Movement
amongst the hedges’ shadows snapped her back to attention.

She swallowed. Once they left the manicured
gardens and entered the privacy of the shadowed hedges there would
be no stopping Oscar from his assigned duty. Lord Rushton didn’t
stand a chance against the hulking man. At Gretna Green, he would
have no choice this time but to marry Grace, and Eve wouldn’t have
to worry about having him as a husband. No. She would then call him
brother.

She thought she might be sick.

*****

Erroll feared his near painful erection would
cripple him. Since leaving the parlor, he’d barely regained
control. Then the vixen had pressed that lovely breast against his
chest. She’d already witnessed how quickly the blood could rush to
his cock—and his inability to think. She had to know how badly he
wanted her. Her reluctant acquiescence in the small confines of
their hiding place hadn’t fooled him into thinking she would spread
her legs so easily, however. She would have had to be made of stone
not to be aroused when jammed together with him. But after making
it clear she had no intention of marrying him, he hadn’t expected
an invitation to walk with her in the gardens. He strolled forward,
willing his lust into submission with the promise of imminent
satiation.

“
Are you all right,
sir?”

“
Never better,” he
replied.

“
Is your leg well? You seem
to be limping.”

It wasn’t his leg that caused the limp.

“
I am sorry I shot
you.”

At least this time she sounded half
remorseful. “It is a mere flesh wound.”

“
Your limp seems to be
worsening,” she said.

He knew how to remedy that and once they
reached the shadows—Erroll sensed someone behind them.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end
even as a female silky voice at his back said, “A beautiful night
for a walk, don’t you agree, my lord?”

He halted. One surprise a night was enough.
He looked down at Miss Crenshaw. “We should have slaked our lust
the instant the other couple left the parlor.”

Her eyes widened and he nearly laughed.
Perhaps he’d been too direct. With a sigh, Erroll turned her toward
Lady Diana Barrett. Light poured through the open ballroom doors
and illuminated her tall, lithe figure standing in the grass a few
feet from the stairs. Lady Barrett was stunning—or so he’d thought
until two weeks ago when he ended their affair. Her allure
evaporated the instant he realized she was angling for a husband
and had him in her determined sights. What was she up to now? She
had to know it was bad manners to accost them as they were headed
for the gardens.

“
Good evening, Diana,” he
said.

“
My lord,” she said, then
to Miss Crenshaw, “Miss Crenshaw.”

“
Lady Barrett,” Miss
Crenshaw replied.

Diana glided forward. “I understand
congratulations are in order.”

Miss Crenshaw’s fingers tightened around his
arm as Diana stopped a few feet in front of them.

“
I gather you read the
announcement?” Erroll said to Diana.