Redeeming the Deception of Grace (4 page)

"
Yes, and you yourself are nothing of the sort
?
"
s
he asked as her eyebrows rose.

He understood his hypocrisy as she gave him a disbelieving look. No
.
He wasn
'
t any better
.
However,
he
wasn
'
t the one trying to woo
Grace
, attempting to seduce her to his bed, make love to her until the far reaches of the morning
…

What am I thinking
?
H
is mind spun out of control
imagining
Grace
in all those situations with him
.
The air
was
warmer
,
so he pulled on his collar
. 
H
e also fought the urge to loosen his cravat.

His eyes never
left
her twirling body
, and
he physically respond
ed
to her curves
.
Cursing
,
he looked away, willing his body to calm and forbidding his mind to think of
her
tempting
body
pressed against his
.
As he searched for a distraction
,
he noticed
Lady J
a
rvais
watching him with a curious expression on her face before it lit up in an understanding smile.

"
You
'
re jealous.
"
She spoke the words with awe.
She
looked thrilled
.
Ewan felt his stomach drop
.
No, he couldn
'
t be jealous. Could he
?
But admitting
she was correct w
ould require him to acknowledge all the twisting emotions within his gut
,
and he refused to do that
.

No, he was not jealous
.
Annoyed
,
certainly. Straightening his collar
,
he
faced
Lady J
a
rvais
.
"
I am nothing of the sort
.
"

Glancing back at
the dance floor
,
he saw
Grace
give
Shiply
a flirtatious smile
.  His insides burned with a jealous rage.
Perhaps he was jea
l
ous, although he would never admit it out loud. Ever
.

"
You are so. It
'
s written across your face, clear as day
,
"
Lady Jarvais
remarked, still marveling.
"
You know, I saw this coming
,
"
s
he added
,
with an arrogant grin full of trouble. The way she tilted her chin reminded him of
Grace
.

"
You most certainly did not, because it is not happening. I
'
m not jealous
!
"
He glanced up and muttered,
"
Especially of that arrogant
c
ad
,
Shiply
.
"

A
fter a moment he added,
"
Lady Grace
has far more sense than to fall for the likes of that sort
.
"
He huffed, hoping he sounded more convincing than he felt.

"
Ah, and you
'
d be far better for her than Shiply.
"
Lady Jarvais
'
s green eyes twinkled as
s
he challenged his claim.

"
Of course
.
A
nyone
would
,
"
h
e replied with little patience
.
H
adn
'
t
he already said as much?

"
Good
.
T
hen
I trust you to make sure she
'
ll be safe.
"
She watched hi
m
expectantly.

"
Excuse me?
"
H
e looked at
her
as if
she had lost all sense. What could she mean
?
As an available gentleman
,
he
couldn
'
t act as
chaperon, nor would he want to, but
Lady Jarvais
knew that. Trepidation seeped into his
chest as
he watched
Lady Jarvais
grin.

"
Yes,
Lord Jarvais
is gone for business on our
c
ountry
e
state in Sussex
.
He won
'
t be back until a week before the Kringle Ball
.
Her brothers are all busy with their own families
.
T
here
are
only us two who can look out for poor
Grace
.
"

With a touch of her fan on his shoulder
,
she continued
,
"
I won
'
t be able to be everywhere at once
,
so I
'
m enlisting your help.
As a longtime family friend who has
Grace
'
s best interests at heart, I trust you to make sure she is safe from this unsavory
Shiply
character
.
"
She said
'
Shiply
'
with mock terror as she widened her grin, not enough to mock him openly, but enough to issue a challenge
—
a challenge he was sure to take on
,
regardless of how his head told him to walk away
.

Ewan watched
Lady Jarvais
'
s face, trying to determine if she
was
in earnest or if she w
as
trying to ferret out a reaction
to
affirm her suspicions
.
Could she be serious
?
Keep an eye on
Grace
?
Although it wouldn
'
t be difficult
—
he had always kept an eye on her
—
the thought of deliberately watching her flirt with Shiply
,
or anyone else for that matter, set his stomach on edge
.
However, if his present state of emotional upheaval
remained
cons
tant,
he would find himself watching her
,
regardless
.
H
e might as well have a good reason for his actions
.

Better to live in denial for a bit longer
,
he decided
.

"
Fine, I
'
ll help
.
B
ut don
'
t expect me to be gentle about it. She
'
s far
too
headstrong for her own good
.
A
nd you
…
"
h
e glared at her
,
knowing it would fall short
"
…
m
ust tell her that I am responsible for her as well, so she won
'
t fight my help or interference should it be required
.
"
Ewan nodded and
folded
his arms across his chest
,
causing the fabric of his evening coat to tense across his shoulders
.

Hearing a
collective
feminine sigh
,
he
looked over
to see a few older widows
trac
ing
his body with their eyes
,
clearly giving their imaginations free rein.
Ewan favored them w
ith a wink
and
suppressed a laugh when the eldest tossed him a wink in return
.
He turned
away before he invited more trouble than he needed
and
returned his attention to
Lady Jarvais
.
She cast a glance heavenward before she gave him an impatient look that told him she had seen his antics and was unimpressed.

"
La, of course
,
dear
.
I
'
ll take care of it
,
"
s
he
cooed as she walked away without a care
,
leaving a brooding Ewan behind.

He was losing his touch
.
T
wo
women in one evening
,
and
neither
had been
affected in the least by his famous stare-down
.
Flirting with the widows didn
'
t count. He
'
d have to practice, especially if he w
as
to be
protecting
Grace
from a possible seduction by Shiply.

At least now he could easily explain his intervention with
Grace
'
s affairs
.
Perhaps the sudden onslaught of bedroom fantasies where
Grace
was concerned would subside
.
Odd
for them to start;
he
'
d never had this problem before. What was it? He had never been the jealous sort
.

After adjusting his collar once more
,
he nodded to
Lady Jarvais
,
who had paused and was watching him
.
He took his leave, picking a spot from which he could watch
Grace
the rest of the evening, trying not to wonder what she would look like wearing nothing but that delicious smile.

Chapter Two

Grace
tried not to stare at the masculine glory that was less than a foot away from her
.
Though the cotillion didn
'
t afford much time for speaking,
when t
hey had engaged in conversation
,
she found herself grinning with delight
.
Shiply
.
Why had she never met him before
?

As if reading her mind
,
he spoke
.
"
You
'
re most likely wondering where I
'
ve been
.
"
He cast her a mischievous grin that warmed her insides
.

"
Of course! I don
'
t remember ever seeing you before.
"
She smiled as he moved with her in the dance. And certainly she would remember if she had
.
S
he
would remember anyone who could distract her from Ewan.

"
That
'
s because you haven
'
t
.
I left my beloved England about three years ago and have toured the wonders of Italy,
Holland
,
Denmark.
"

The dance s
eparated
them, after a moment he continued.

"
It was delightful. So much culture
.
"
His eyes were fixed ahead as if remembering the sights, reliving the memories
.

Grace
loved the way his eyes squinted when he was deep in thought; the effect was decidedly enticing
.
E
verything about Shiply attracted her
.
It was a beloved distraction from her prickly temperament around Ewan
.

She found herself enjoying the conversation immensely because it was far less work than trying to constantly one-up her partner. As the dance finished
,
he escorted her from the dance floor.

"
What was your favorite place you visited
?
"
Grace
asked with acute curiosity
.

A grin turned up the corner of his lips slightly.
"
Holland
.
All the dykes, windmills and the tulips…
my.
"
He paused
.
"
The
tulips were astounding
.
Fields and fields of colors that seemed to run off into the sunset.
"
His eyes were distant for a moment before he turned her once again
and
smil
ed
.

Grace
tried to imagine the sight.
"
It sounds magnificent.
"
She
sigh
ed, wishing she could see it for herself.

"
It was, but I
'
ve seen far more beautiful sights. Especially recently.
"
His eyes held a smoldering quality she
'
d seen before
in
Ewan when he was teasing, but the effect was
far less pronounced in Lord Shiply
.

Her cheeks burned at his implication.
She glanced down at her sage green gown and brushed imaginary lines from it while her cheeks cooled
.

A moment passed
while she gathered her wits
,
and
she glanced up at her companion.
"
La, you are a bit of a rogue aren
'
t you
,
Lord Shiply?
"
She offered a smile
, hoping
she was flirting properly.

"
I
'
ll let you decide
,
Lady Grace
.
Perhaps you need some more time to make your decision?
"
h
e asked, eyebrows raised.
"
Would a
walk
in Hyde Park be acceptable in helping you determine whether I
'
m of the good sort
?
"
h
e asked
,
revealing the playful nature
Grace
had suspected.

"
I believe that will be acceptable, if I must
,
"
Grace
replied
,
thrilled he
was making
an effort to see her again
.
Perhaps he was truly her rescuer, the one who could finally take her heart away from the unsuspecting Ewan.

His eyes darkened as he spoke in honeyed tones.
"
Oh, yes
,
Lady Grace
, you must. I insist
.
"
Grace
didn
'
t have a chance to respond before he straightened, backed up slightly, bowed
,
and left.

Grace
watched his retreating form with a smile
.
A few other debutant
e
s watched him pass by with longing expressions. With a deep breath
,
Grace
began to turn
,
only to walk into a hard
,
broad chest
.

W
arm hands grip
ped
her upper arms and
held
her steady
, averting an otherwise certain tumble backward
.
Her heart leaped for a moment at the intimate contact
.
Even with gloves covering the large masculine hands
,
the
touch sent shivers of delight through her
.
W
ithout
looking up
,
she knew who held her captive. Before she realize
d
what she was doing
,
she inhaled deeply the scent of
warmed
cinnamon that came from his body, the scent she had associated with him since their first waltz
.

When he didn
'
t release her
,
she risked a glance up into Ewan
'
s face
.
His blue eyes darkened and burned her insides with their heated desire
.
Grace
searched
them
, looking for a trace of authenticity to the blatant desire within their depths
.
But
before she could allow
herself
to hope, she forced herself to take a step back out of his embrace.

Ewan
'
s hands
quickly
dropped from her arms, as if scalded by touching her
.
With a slight shake of his head
,
he
said impatiently,
"
You
should
stay away from him
.
"

His words shattered
her traitorous heart
'
s wild beating
.
Ewan
'
s scolding tone caused her to once
again erect
the walls around her heart
.

Grace
reverted into her usual banter with Ewan before he suspected her fevered emotions
.
She
tilted her chin up and prepared to
battle.
Of all the arrogant things to say
!
Why should he care whom she danced with? He had never minded before
.

She knew better than to suspect his intervention to come from any sort of jealousy
.
Why did he have to meddle in her lif
e?
Why couldn
'
t he simply leave her alone
?
P
erhaps then she could forget him, his scent
,
and the feel of his hands
,
long gone but still tingling on her flesh.
The very thought of his hands touching her caused her to take a deep breath
,
but she forced herself to recover quickly
.

A moment later
,
she raised an eyebrow.
"
Oh? And why
,
pray tell
?
"
She placed one gloved hand over her hip and barely resisted the urge to smack him with her fan.

With a snort that implied his disgust with her question
,
he shook his head slightly before offering her a patronizing look. Angry,
Grace
balled her fists
.
Oh
,
why did he provoke such strong reactions from her
?

"
Because he
'
s a rake
,
"
Ewan stated confidently, as if that answered her question with complete clarity
.

Unamused,
Grace
offered a patronizing look of her own.
"
Well that
'
s calling the kettle black
,
if I ever heard it.
"
Her
annoyance was evident in her
tone
,
and she
waited
for a more intelligent answer from Ewan.

"
He
'
s a bad rake, the worst sort
,
"
h
e stated again, his expression conveying irritation that she hadn
'
t gleaned that information from him the first time.
H
is gaze softened and
grew
concerned.

H
er belly stir
red
slightly
,
but she steeled herself against the traitorous reaction
.
He had no reason to meddle in her life
"
And you
'
re a patron saint?
"

"
Compared to him, yes.
"
Ewan nodded,
clearly pleased
that she had
finally
understood
.

"
I find that hard to believe
,
"
Grace
mumbled.

"
Believe it
,
"
Ewan responded confidently.

"
And how would you know?
"
Grace
asked
,
exasperated with the topic.

****

Ewan locked eyes with
Grace
, sensing a battle
.
Why was she so stubborn
?
He was trying to protect her
!
Of all the ungrateful, selfish, mesmerizing…
Oh
,
why did she have to look at him like that? Her eyes were narrowed and flashing fire
.

After nearly knocking her over
,
his body still hadn
'
t recovered from the close contact
.
Her scent reminded him of the heady
fragrance
of hothouse roses and citrus trees
.
Her soft flesh had burned through the fabric of his gloves in a way that left him straining against his desire to lean down and taste her lips
.
When she had looked up with exaggerated slow mo
vements
,
he felt as if the music in the background leading others in dance was rather punctuating their own private moment
.
The soft green of her eyes had changed and burned with a shocking desire that left him trembling with fear when he saw himself reflected
in
her clear eyes
.