In The Prince's Bed (9 page)

“I spoke to Mother aboutusthis morning.”

“What did she say?” Her hope was tempered by a healthy dose of cynicism. A stubborn look crossed his face. “Mother didn’t understand why we’re in such a hurry to settle things. Why we can’t wait until she’s not ill.”

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Katherine ignored her roiling stomach.
Stay the course
, Alec had said. Clearly he’d been right—Sydney would never defy his mother without serious prodding. “Then you must explain it to her better. Because in two weeks—”

“All right, all right,” he grumbled. “But why can’t you… well… spend time with me while you’re waiting? Instead of with that devil Iversley?”

“I don’t know why you call him a devil.” She drew on a glove with studied nonchalance. “He seems perfectly nice to me.”

He grabbed her arm as if to shake her. “The man’s a blackguard if ever there was one. And if you think for one moment that he’s interested in marriage—”

“Good afternoon, Miss Merivale,” said a steely voice from the doorway. Glancing up to find Alec watching them, she quickly withdrew her arm fromSydney’s grip. Alec scowled atSydneybefore his brooding gaze settled on her, hot and intense, drying the breath in her throat. As he swept it down her, she swallowed, suddenly conscious of how worn and out-of-fashion her favorite riding habit must seem to a man of his worldly sophistication. But judging from the admiring gleam in his eye, he found nothing wanting. “You look very pretty this afternoon. That color suits you.”

“Thank you, Lord Iversley. How nice of you to say so.” She shotSydneya cold glance. “
Some
men do not approve of my choice of colors.”

Sydneyflushed. “Or perhaps those men are simply too engrossed in more important matters to think up pretty flatteries for you.”

From behind Alec, Mama scowled first at Katherine, then atSydney. “Important matters? I hope you’re not talking about poetry. Fashion is far more important than any silly old poem.”

Sydneysearched Katherine’s face. “You don’t think so, do you, Kit?”

“Of course not. But I’m afraid that doesn’t change anything.” She flashed Alec a brilliant smile. “I was just telling Sir Sydney that I can’t attend his poetry reading at the Freeman Assembly Rooms this afternoon.”

“I shall be quite lost without you there,”Sydneysaid, ignoring Alec entirely. “And people will think it strange that I’m dedicating a poem to the most important woman in my life, yet she hasn’t bothered to attend.”

“You mean your mother won’t be there, either?” Katherine said sweetly. The stricken look onSydney’s face made her instantly curse her quick tongue.

“I didn’t tell Mother about it,” he said. “I wanted to be with you instead.”

She sucked in a breath.Sydneyhad actually chosen her over his mother? No, more likely he’d thought he could better bring his mother round to his way of thinking if she weren’t exposed to Katherine and her vulgar family too much.

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“Miss Merivale,” Alec interrupted from the doorway, “if we don’t leave now, the park will be too crowded for riding.”

Grateful for the earl’s intervention, she said toSydney, “I must go.”

“Must you?” The mute appeal on his face made pain clench in her gut. Was she being too cruel, too demanding?

Mother didn’t understand why we’re in such a hurry.

She stiffened. Sometimes one had to demand what one deserved. Lord knew she deservedSydney, after all the years she’d waited for him. “I’m afraid I must.”

“Shall I stop by this evening to let you know how it went?” he asked hopefully. On impulse, she reached out and squeezed his arm. “If you wish.”

Mama chirped, “I’ll see you out, Sir Sydney.”

Sydneyhesitated, but clearly recognized that he was outnumbered. With a bow, he murmured, “Good day, Katherine.” Then, sweeping wordlessly past Alec,Sydneyheaded off down the hall with Mama. Alec called after him, “Good day, Lovelace. Enjoy your poetry reading.”

Katherine glared at Alec. “Must you rub it in?” She drew on her other glove. “The poor man is distraught enough as it is.”

“And no wonder,” Alec drawled as he strolled toward her. “He has to stay inside a moldy assembly room on this brilliant spring day while we’re out riding.”

She chewed on her lower lip, unable to shake her guilt at woundingSydney. Her mother reappeared in the doorway. “Katherine loves to ride. At home, I’m always having to send somebody out to the heath to find her.”

Alec gazed warmly at Katherine. “Then you won’t mind if we ride at St. James’s Park instead of Rotten Row. I understand it’s prettier and not so busy this time of year.”

“Oh, Katherine loves all sorts of parks.” Mama shot her a stern look. “Tell his lordship how you like parks, my dear.”

After Mama’s lecture this morning about how lucky Katherine was to have the attentions of a man as lofty as the Earl of Iversley, she was in no mood to start a row. “Yes, I do like parks. St. James’s will be fine.”

“You see?” her mother put in, mollified. “She won’t care where you ride, my lord. You take her wherever you please.”

An odd smile played over Alec’s lips as he swept Katherine with a smoldering look. “Certainly, madam. I shall be pleased to take your daughter… anywhere.”

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Mama went on babbling about her daughter’s excellent riding and other accomplishments, but Katherine paid no attention. Why had he given a perfectly ordinary word like “take” such a wicked intonation? How did he manage to imbue every word with a naughtier meaning? And that possessive way he stared at her, as if he couldn’t wait to get his hands on her again…

A delicious shock of excitement trilled along her nerves, and she scowled. He said and did these things to provoke her. Or seduce her.

Goodness knew he looked handsome enough to tempt any woman, especially in that azure coat that made his eyes glitter lake blue in the sunny parlor. And those buckskin riding breeches and military long boots… must they fit him so well, lovingly outlining every well-wrought muscle in his—

Yanking her gaze back to his face, she found him watching her with thinly veiled satisfaction. When he had the audacity to wink at her as her mother chattered on, she couldn’t prevent a blush. This was a dangerous game she played, spending time with a rascal merely to entice the man she wanted. She’d always disapproved of girls who engaged in such antics, but she couldn’t deny the effectiveness.Sydneyhad never before been so determined to have her company. And she’d turned him down. He’d looked so stricken, poor thing, when she’d refused to go to his reading. A hollow fear settled in her belly. Had she gone too far? Might she loseSydneyentirely if she persisted?

She just couldn’t.

“Mama,” she broke in, “I left my pink shawl upstairs. Would you fetch it?”

“Of course, dear heart. Can’t have you catching a chill, can we?”

Alec went on alert the instant Katherine banished her mother. He’d already guessed something was up with his wily wife-to-be, but now he suspected he knew what it was. So he wasn’t surprised when she faced him as soon as her mother left, and said, “Instead of riding in St. James’s Park, might we ride over to—”

“No.”

She gaped at him. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

“You were going to ask if we could ride over to attend Lovelace’s reading. And the answer is no.”

With typical forthrightness, she didn’t attempt to deny it. “But we could ride in the park afterward. And the Freeman Assembly Rooms are only a mile away.”

“I don’t care how close they are. We’re not going there.”

She glared at him. “Why not?”

Because he remembered how she’d looked a few moments ago—wearing her heart on her sleeve while that ass Lovelace begged her to go with him. And because the odd disquiet surging through Alec at the sight was as unwelcome as it was unfamiliar. “You agreed to spend the afternoon with me, not him. And I
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mean to have my afternoon.”

His leashed temper must have shown in his face, for she swallowed. “We’re supposed to makeSydney jealous, and he can only get jealous if he seesustogether.”

“He sawushere together, and he knows we’re going riding together.” He flashed her a taunting smile.

“I’m sure his imagination will do the rest.”

The willful wench set her shoulders stubbornly. “This scheme was meant to help me snagSydney. But if you’re going to turn it into some sort of competition, then I’ll end it now.”

He stepped closer. She was bluffing. Nothing had changed between her and Sydney last night, or she wouldn’t have chosen Alec over her inattentive suitor today. Surely she realized that if she abandoned the scheme too early, her blastedSydneywould return to his old ways. But did he dare risk that she wasn’t bluffing? When he could just as easily turn this to his advantage? A slow smile curved up his lips. “All right, we’ll go to your precious poet’s reading. But if I have to endure a drafty hall and bad verse, you have to promise me some reward for it.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “What sort of reward?”

With a glance toward the open doorway, he lowered his voice. “A kiss.”

Her breath quickened as she dropped her gaze. “We agreed to no kissing.”

“We also agreed to no discussion ofSydney, yet you expect me to spend the afternoon watching you swoon over his verse.”

“I do not swoon,” she said with a petulant frown.

“That will make the afternoon only marginally better. So what’s it to be? A kiss in exchange for the poetry reading? Or no kiss and a pleasant afternoon’s ride through St. James’s Park?”

He could see her weighing her options, but he suspected she would choose the kiss. This reading was clearly important to Lovelace—she wouldn’t risk alienating him, thank God. Ever since last night, Alec had burned to touch her again, to taste her luscious mouth and feel those trembling arms clinging to his neck as her rose water scent engulfed him. Now he’d have his chance.

“Very well.” Approaching him with more boldness than sense, Katherine lifted her face. “Take your cursed ‘reward’ and let’s go.”

Foolish female. If she believed she could get around him that easily, she was in for a surprise. Alec wasn’t about to let her play with him and escape unscathed.

With a chuckle he clasped her chin, taking a moment to relish the fine softness of her skin. Then he ran his thumb over her lower lip with a sensuous stroke. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I start to kiss you, you hear your mother on the stairs, and it’s over before it even begins.” He dropped his hand. “Not a chance, sweetheart. I’ll choose when, where, and how to take my kiss.”

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The flash of alarm in her face settled into annoyance quick enough. “As you wish, Alexander the Great. So when will that be?”

“I’ll let you know.” He grinned, then bent his head until his mouth hovered so close to her ear that he could smell the rose water in her hair. “But don’t worry, my demanding Miss Merivale—I promise not to bring you home without one.”

She jumped back so quickly that she nearly tripped over the tea table, and the becoming blush staining her cheeks told him all he needed to know. She wanted him to kiss her, whether she’d admit it or not. Donning her I’m-a-proper-miss-and-don’t-you-forget-it expression, she turned toward the door. “Then we might as well go. If we leave now, we’ll have just enough time to make it.”

“Make what?” her mother demanded from the doorway, the requested pink shawl trailing from her arm. Panic leaped instantly in Katherine’s face. Her eyes cast Alec a silent appeal he was sorely tempted to ignore. But that wouldn’t gain him anything.

He flashed her mother a cordial smile. “Make a…er… present. I was just telling your daughter about the gift I had made up for you at the Soho Bazaar.”

“Really?” A girlish smile lit Mrs. Merivale’s features.

Actually, he’d had it made up for Katherine, but under the circumstances…

Reaching into his coat pocket, he drew out a painted fan. “The man was painting scenes by request, so I thought of what you said last night about enjoyingLondonballs and…
voilà
.” With a little flourish, he offered it to her.

“Why, Lord Iversley, how thoughtful of you.” She examined the sticks with a mercenary eye. “Carved ivory, very nice. It must have cost you a pretty penny.”

Thank God the woman didn’t know ivory from bone.

Mrs. Merivale opened the fan, then frowned. “But the couple is dancing alone on a balcony.” She peered at it. “I
think
they’re dancing. I can’t quite—”

“There was no time to paint more than two figures,” Alec put in hastily, hoping she wouldn’t notice until later that the couple was kissing. “But I’m sure every fellow who dances with you wishes he had you all to himself.”

Mrs. Merivale laughed her raucous laugh and told him he was a shameless flirt, but at least no more questions ensued about their destination.

The shawl was proffered and refused by Katherine, who said she’d decided against it. Moments later they headed down the steps with a maidservant to serve as a chaperone. Fortunately, he’d used some of his meager funds to hire an extra pony. By God, this courtship business got more expensive by the hour.

“That fan wasn’t intended for my mother, was it?” Katherine whispered, as they descended the stairs. Pleased that she’d figured it out, he cast her a look of mock outrage. “Are you accusing me of lying?”

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“I’m accusing you of doing whatever suits your wicked purposes.” But a small smile graced her lush lips, sending a hot rush of need straight to his loins.

“You were the only one to benefit from it.”

“True.” Her smile broadening, she squeezed his arm. “Thank you, not only for agreeing to take me to the reading, but for hiding it from Mama.”