Ruin Me Please (39 page)

“If you want to make a fool of yourself go ahead
,
but I
will not be a party.  I will not e
m
barrass Poppy or Hawksley
.
”
S
he plopped down on her window seat with a candid gaze at Chloe.  “I believe that Poppy is in love
.
”
S
he
shrugged
her shoulders.  “M
aybe his intentions are good.”

“How very provoking you are Freya
.
”
Chloe pouted.

Freya
rolled
her eyes.  “What if they are in love? 
What is wrong with that?” she
asked looking pointedly at Chloe.  “Oh by the way,
” Freya
pointed outside.  “The lovebirds you are speaking of are already outside together
in the garden.”  She smiled,
entertain
ing
herself at Chloe’s expense. 
“Do
n’
t
they
look so well together?”
Leaning her forehead against the glass she sighed. 

“Blast!  Why did
n’t you
say something earlier?”  Jumping up
she ran
to the window.  “Oh L
ord
.
”
Chloe groaned.  “This is going to be more difficult than I thought
,
”
s
he
cried
again, ru
n
ning frantically from
the room.

Grabbing her skirts in one hand
,
Chloe
rushed down the stairs and skidded out the door into the garden.  Breathless, she deliberately attempted to look nonchalant as she walke
d
slo
w
ly
around the garden path. 
Rounding the corner, Chloe paused dramatically
.
“Oh
my,”
she
cried
a
ct
ing
surprised to see someone else in the garden.  “I did
n’t
expect to run into anyone this ea
r
ly
.
”

“Good m
orning
,
Chloe
.
  I guess we all had the same idea
.
” Poppy
smiled
wryly at Declan.  “
I’m surprised to see you.  N
or
mally
you do not venture outdoors so
early.”

“I woke up bright and early and thought a
brisk
walk around the garden would be lovely.  It must be all this country air.”
  Chloe smiled
, looking at
Declan as she spoke.

Giving Chloe a cur
ious look, he raised his brows.

Delicately c
learing her
throat,
Chloe
purposely
glanced
up
at him
again.

Declan taking the
subtle
hint
Chloe was throwing his way
,
grin
ned, then
bowed
before excusing himself
.
“Ladies, I be
lieve I will head back indoors.
  I have a few items to take care of before I break my fast.  It has bee
n a pleasure.” 
He tossed a playful wink
at Chloe.

Ch
loe gasped, her mouth dropping open.  She watched
Dec
lan
until he was out of sight
.

After w
atching Declan walk away
,
with a
brittle smile
, Poppy turned to her friend
. 
“What the devil are you up to
,
Chloe?  I was having a perfectly good time with Declan.  A
lone
, I might add.
”

“What the devil are
you
up to?”  Chloe retorted.  “I
saw
you and Hawksley on the stairs
a few
nights ago.  What if it had been Parker or Peyton and not me?”  She paused
, “
You would now be locked in your room
.
  Is that what you want?”

“Why are you making such a big deal about a kiss?”  Poppy
tried to make it sound uni
m
portant, but new she had failed when
a blush spread
across her cheeks.  “It is so unlike you
to be this agitated,” she
said
with
concern
.  “Anyway, Parker has already
threatened to
lock me in my room if I do
n’
t behave.”  Shrugging her shou
l
ders once again.

“What is the matter with you?  How can you be so cavalier?”  Chloe
asked
.
“That was not just a kiss I witnessed
.
”  Chloe blushed, giving Poppy a hard look.  “He was practically ma
k
ing love to you on the stairs,
”
s
he hissed.

“It is
not
as if
you
haven’t been kissed before,” Poppy
reminded
, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance
.
  “You needn’t be so prickly.”

“
Yes
,
a
kiss,
” Chloe agreed.  “His hands were
not
on my
bottom
,” she whispered
, her gaze s
liding uncomfortably away from Poppy
.

“I never realized you were such a prude, Chloe.”   Poppy’s eyes twinkled.

Chloe glared.

“Yes
.
”
Poppy glanced at her friend
, her blue eyes considered her for a moment
.  “I guess it w
as a little more than a kiss.”

“For shame
Poppy
, a
re you trying to compromise yourself?
”
  Chloe asked
gravely.
  “I have never seen you act this way before.  You are not even trying to be discreet
.
  C
ould
you not have chosen a more private setting for your tête-à-tête?”  She was thunderstruck.  “You
might
be ruined forever
.
”

Puzzled by the
fierceness
of Chloe’s emotional outburst, she stated
,
“Chloe dear, you are
being nonsensical.  I did not
plan
anything
, it just happened.  Surely, you believe that I have more imagination than to plan a tête-à-tête on a staircase?”  Poppy, feeling a little amused by Chloe’s outburst laughed and gave a little wave attempting to conceal
her
smile
.
  “
I appreciate
your concern, but I am not planning on doing anything imprudent.”  Poppy smiled at her dear friend.  “Please be
lieve me Chloe;
I have no intention of doing anything that would hurt me or my family
,
” Poppy stressed.  “This is
somehow
different
,
Chloe;
I can feel it in here
.
”
S
he pa
t
ted her chest
emphatically
.  “I know it
with every fiber of my being.”

Linking
their arms and putting
their heads together
, they headed toward the house.  “Let us talk of something more pleasant. 
Please, let us call a truce. 
I could definitely use some choco
late.  Would you care for some?
”

“That is a very good notion.”  Chloe held Poppy’s hand fondly.  “I know you would not purposefully hurt anyone Poppy.  You are one of the kindest people I know.  I only want the best for yo
u.  You know that, do you not?”

“I know you love me
.
”  Poppy turned to
Chloe and hugged her tightly.

“
Well, e
nough of all this gloomy discussion.  Let us discuss the picnic this aftern
oon,” Chloe
said
as they made their way around the garden path seemingly forgetting her earlier co
n
cerns.
  Right
now,
she was more concerned with the clouds in the sky.  “Freya said it looked like it might rain?”

“It always looks lik
e it mi
ght rain.”  Poppy smiled,
peer
ing at the
sky.

As she glanced
towards the house, Poppy noticed Declan watching her. 
H
e
looked
dark
and brooding
, which was surprising because their walk this morning was a pleasant one until Chloe’s untimely interruption
. 

Everything about him
was
interesting to her. 
The fact that he was a genuine human b
e
ing without pretentions, willing to get his hands dirty made him very attractive.  He was
well worth catching and not just b
ecause of his title and wealth.
 
He was a man of pas
sion,
fee
l
ing
s,
arrogan
ce
,
gentleness and he was
sinfully handsome
, to boot.

“I’m famished, Chloe.”  Piper chuckled.  “I believe we should wake Freya so that she can join us for breakfast.”

“Splendid idea.”
Chloe bit her lip.  “I may have already woke Freya.”

“Chloe!” Piper cried in exaxperation.

“What?” Chloe asked.  “I was worried.”  She grinned.

***

Fetching a book from the
shelf,
he grumbled to himself.  Shrugging out of his jacket and waistcoa
t, he tossed them over a chair, then he sat
quietly for a few mome
nts
attempt
ing
to read. 
After a few restless minutes, he looked
down
at his book not even remember
tur
n
ing the pages.  The book he had chosen was dull.  It was definitely not holding his attention.
His thoughts kept straying back to Poppy. 
What was it about
her that drew him?

He rose
from his chair and
slowly walked to the window and looked out.  Poppy and Chloe wer
e still talking in the garden so he watched
the way her blonde curls hung down the el
e
gant curve of her neck, moving in the soft breeze
, caressing her.
 

Closing his eyes
,
he could still smell her sweet sce
nt.  He could still taste her.

She had just finished her
third
S
eason. 
She was well versed in the ways of the
ton
, but she was still an innocent in many ways
.  What was she, maybe twenty? 
He r
an
his hands through his already
rakishly
disheveled hair.
Why was he all
of a
sudden feeling like an old man?

This
had gone wel
l past an innocent flirtation; h
e had made
doubly
sure of that. 
Blast!
  He
had
se
duced her, knowing what the consequences for his actions were.

He normally picked women who knew the rules of the game. 
Before now, it had been for pleasure and n
othing more. 
His black brows slashed heavily across his furrowed brow.  He was dissolute
and felt c
ompletely depraved
, and
now
he felt
old.