Seduced (6 page)

“I’m surprised that you joined us tonight, Letitia,” Jack said, his tone amused as he lifted his glass of wine and took a sip.

She gritted her teeth before she turned her face toward his. “I—” she began. But she had no explanation. After all, she had arranged for this invitation so she could confront the very man at her side.

Confrontation wasn’t supposed to involve kisses. Wonderful kisses, unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

“Perhaps you know that War and Claire intend to return to the country in a few weeks,” Jack said calmly. “And you wished to spend time with your cousin since she was gone for so long.”

Letty nodded, happy to have a good explanation for her behavior, even if it was supplied by Jack.

He smiled. “Of course, I’ve never seen you at our Sunday dinners before. Curious.”

Damn him. He was trying to set a trap for her, not make things easier. Scoundrel. Yes, he was a scoundrel. And she refused to be intimidated by him.

Or at least show that he intimidated her.

“Do you normally come here on Sundays? I didn’t know,” she said, hoping she sounded nonchalant when she felt anything but. “
My
Sunday happened to be free this week.”

“I see.” His words were said slowly and the twinkle in his eyes told her that he didn’t believe her.

She pressed her lips together and looked around the table for another conversational companion. There were none to be found. The two men on her left were engaged in conversation with War at the head of the table. The woman across from her was paying attention to the man at her side. And that left Jack.

“Who are all these people?” she asked softly, daring to shoot him a look at last. “Do you usually share supper with so many?”

“No,” he admitted. His voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “They are all
horse people
.”

Letty lifted her brows at the tone in which he said those two words. Like he was discussing something that smelled foul.

“You make them sound awful,” she whispered back.

He smiled and she caught her breath. Why did he have to have such a nice smile? Such a contagious smile? It was maddening. She wanted to hate him.

“They are,” he said. “Dreadfully boring, the lot.”

She shook her head. “But they are how your brother makes his living.”

His smile faltered and became more false. “Hmm. Yes.”

She narrowed her eyes. It seemed Jack didn’t approve of War’s breeding business. She didn’t know why. It was certainly better than living on the street. It had to be.

“War wanted to have discussions with some of them before he and his bride left for the countryside. And so our supper was the sacrificial lamb on the altar of his
business
. But never fear, my lady. Your unexpected appearance at the table makes it bearable for me.”

Letty folded her arms. “I don’t recall being concerned about your wellbeing.”

He laughed. A loud, humor filled sound that for a moment drew all eyes to him. Her cheeks filled with heat at the sudden attention. Especially when she saw Claire’s gaze on her. Her cousin looked surprised and far too interested.

She dropped her gaze back to her plate as Jack said, “No one would ever accuse you of worrying about me.”

A footman came to clear her plate, shooting her a strange look when he saw she hadn’t touched her food. Claire rose to her feet and smiled at War.

“Shall we retire to the parlor where we can be more comfortable as we talk?” she said.

The others began to stand, pairing off to walk together down the short hall to the parlor. As they exited the room, still talking of stallions and breeding and what made a good brood mare, Letty bit her lip.

She had been left with Jack as her escort.

He rose from the table at last and held out an arm. “My lady.”

She stared at the offering, a very strong arm beneath that fine jacket. For a brief, wild moment, she considered not taking it. Not because she didn’t want to walk with him, but because she was afraid to touch him again.

The last time she had, it had ended…well, not poorly. But not as she had expected it would. What if touching him became overwhelming? What if he hustled her into a side room and kissed her again? What if…

“Don’t want to walk with me, Letitia?” he asked, his tone suddenly flat and low.

She jolted from her tangled thoughts and took the arm he still held out. His muscles contracted beneath her fingers and she felt a rush of tingling heat flood through her body, collecting at the most inappropriate places.

“May I ask you a question?” she burst out as he began to guide them into the hallway.

He cast her a side glance. “Of course. Though I may choose not to answer.”

“Do you
enjoy
being a cad?” she snapped.

“Is that your question?” he laughed. “Very direct of you.”

“No, it wasn’t my question,” she huffed, trying to keep her face serene as they entered the parlor behind the others. Claire was looking at her again. She didn’t want Claire to know what she’d done.

She drew her hand from his arm and took a step away from him.

“I
sometimes
enjoy being a cad,” he admitted with another of those strangely attractive grins. He had a dimple. Why was that dimple so eye-catching anyway? She’d seen plenty of men with dimples and never given them a thought. “But why don’t you ask your original question?”

She took a long breath, steadying herself before she spoke. “I have been told that you and your brother were raised on the streets of London,” she began.

His smile fell again and his shoulders stiffened as if he were preparing for an onslaught. “Yes,” he bit out, his tone suddenly curt.

“From what I understand, many from those circumstances are not allowed an education.”

“Oh, I was educated, my lady,” he said, his voice still hard and unwelcoming. “Just not in the way you mean.”

“All right, a traditional education, then. But you are well spoken, Jack—” She bit back a curse. “
Mr. Blackwood
.”

He stared at her a long, charged moment. “You want to know how a street rat like me is able to speak like an educated man?”

He sounded defensive, and she frowned. “I’m not trying to be insulting,” she explained. “I admire
anyone
who raises himself above his beginnings. And I admire intelligence in general. If you don’t want to talk about it, I in no way make demands. I was only curious.”

He tilted his head and swept his gaze over her entire body from head to toe. She shivered, for the act felt intimate, but while a sizzling energy was there, she recognized what Jack was really doing was sizing her up. Judging whether or not she was worthy of the answer to her question, or whether he had to protect himself from her.

A different kind of education, indeed. She didn’t know many men who could see another person so clearly. But then, in Jack’s business, she supposed he had to do so to survive.

She didn’t have to wait long to determine his assessment of her. His face softened a fraction, and he said, “War and I weren’t sent to school. But I knew being clever could save us. I taught myself how to read and later taught my brother. I found I enjoyed it, as did War. We would steal books and read them out loud to each other. They showed us other worlds, other lives. They provided…”

He trailed off, but she knew what he meant. She had felt the same way when it came to the worlds she found in books. That feeling had saved her, especially in the past few years. She whispered, “They provided an escape.”

His brows lifted, as if surprised that she understood.

“Yes.” He cleared his throat and the serious man was gone in that instant, replaced once again by the rogue. “Is that all, my lady?”

She shifted. It
should
have been all. She didn’t want to be intrigued by him, nor get to know him better. And yet she had more questions. She wanted to know how he had become so powerful at such a young age. She wanted to know why his brother had chosen such a different path and why speaking of that path seemed to trouble Jack. She wanted to know what his favorite book was.

But she was saved from making a cake of herself by asking those questions when her cousin appeared at her elbow.

“Hello, you two,” Claire said, slipping an arm around Letty and squeezing gently.

Letty smiled at Claire, as did Jack, and yet she resented the interruption. Which was proof positive that Letty required it.

“Are you having a good time?” Claire asked.

Letty dropped her gaze to the floor, uncertain what answer to give. In truth, she was uncertain of the answer at all.

“At your horse party?” Jack drawled. “It’s boring as hell, Claire, my dear. And you know it.”

Letty caught her breath at his inappropriate answer, but to her surprise, Claire tilted her head and laughed. She leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, “I actually agree. War and I would have preferred having supper just the four or us, but this is his only chance to speak to a few of these people before we leave.”

“I don’t mind,” Letty reassured her.

“Yes she does,” Jack said with a shake of his head. “Thanks to you, Claire, your cousin has been forced to talk to
me
all night unless she wanted to talk about how many hairs are in a mane versus a tail.”

Claire laughed again. “I’m fairly certain that topic has never come up, Jack. Although I would love to see the blank looks on some of these faces if you asked the question.”

Jack’s expression lit up with mischief. “Oh, a challenge. Well, I accept, dear sister.” He turned his attention to Letty. “My lady,” he said, tilting his head. “It has been…well, a surprising pleasure this night. Excuse me.”

He turned on his heel, heading toward the small crowd across the room where War was speaking. Claire shook her head, still laughing as they watched him.

“Will he really ask them such a thing?” Letty asked, her eyes wide.

Claire shrugged. “With Jack you never know. He’s an unpredictable one.”

“Won’t it hurt War’s reputation?” Letty said, frowning.

“Unlikely,” Claire reassured her. “The truth is that as much as Jack disapproves of his brother’s path, he wouldn’t thwart him. Knowing him, he will feel out the group before he decides if he’ll act a fool.”

“Oh.” Letty cast another glance at Jack. He was grinning as he slung an arm around his brother’s neck. It elicited a rare smile from War, and Letty jolted. In that moment they looked very much alike, though War was much taller and had a beard instead of the clean-shaven, angular cheeks of his older brother.

Letty swallowed as she forced herself to look away. “I’m glad we get a moment together,” she said, taking Claire’s hand for a brief squeeze.

“Me too.” Claire motioned her toward the settee and they sat beside each other.

“You look happy,” Letty said. “Peaceful.”

Claire’s gaze became distant as she glanced across the room toward War. “I am,” she said softly. “I was away so long, punishing myself for my decisions. But being with War, being loved so completely for exactly who I am…that is altering. He accepts my past as I accept his.”

“And he loves your daughter,” Letty supplied, thinking of the sweet little girl who slept above stairs right now.

Claire’s face softened. “Yes. Like he was her papa. And Francesca loves him fiercely in return. I am so very lucky. Sometimes I don’t think I deserve to be so lucky.”

Letty drew a breath. “Oh, Claire. No one deserves happiness more than you. You earned it through your suffering.”

Her cousin’s eyes grew misty. “Plenty of people suffer and don’t get a second chance.”

Letty turned her head. Her cousin’s comment felt too close to home. And it seemed Claire realized it for she caught her breath suddenly.

“Oh, Letty, I don’t mean you. I know how difficult it was for you to lose your husband. But I think there is a happy future out there for you.”

Letty found herself taking another surreptitious glance at Jack before she said, “Well, thank you, Claire. I appreciate that. And I hope you’re right. But as I said to the others at your wedding ball, perhaps some of us only have one chance.”

Claire shook her head. “Yes, Audrey told me you said as much, but I can’t believe that is true.”

Claire had been through so much, seen so much, that Letty couldn’t hope to understand. And yet on this topic she felt much the wiser than her worldly cousin. There were secrets Claire didn’t know. Secrets Letty had to keep. Because of that, there was no room for a future that included some great new romance. Or even a comfortable union with someone who could fill her empty days as a friend.

No, in her case, the past most definitely dictated the future. She had come to accept that.

Yet this strange attraction to Jack made things feel so much less certain, so much more confusing. And there was only one person she could speak to about that.

And it wasn’t Claire.

She stood up and Claire followed her to her feet. “You know I adore you, Claire,” she said, hugging her cousin briefly. “But I am beginning to develop a bit of a headache. Would you mind terribly if I begged off the rest of the evening?”

Claire drew back. “Of course not. Letty, I hope I didn’t upset you.”

Letty smiled. “No, dearest.”

Claire looked less than certain at her answer but she continued regardless. “Will you have tea on Wednesday with us? Audrey is hosting and I know all of us would like to see you there.”

“I’d like that. Send me word of what time,” Letty said with a quick nod.

“I will. Good night.”

Letty squeezed her hand and slipped from the room so as not to disturb the party. By Wednesday she hoped to come to her cousins with a clear mind. Certainly if she had the conversation she needed to have, it would be true.