The Mammoth Book of Regency Romance (75 page)

A nightmare that would soon be a reality.

Especially if they were kissing behind closed doors. And mere minutes after she’d kissed Roan in the gardens. If only he’d stayed put and remained in the parlour with Jack, he wouldn’t have seen it.

That kiss had been as effective as a punch to the gut.

Jealousy ate at his insides, which was ridiculous. Seeton was obviously the chosen one. Jack seemed content with his choice.

And why not? Lord Seeton was everything a young woman would desire in a mate.

“You don’t like him, do you, Roan?”

Good God, could his friend read minds now?

Roan cleared his throat. “I think he is a typical young English lord.”

“Meaning what, exactly?”

“Meaning he’s confident, self-assured, if not a bit selfish.”

Jack’s lips quirked.

“What?”

“Do you not recall how we were, Roan? We were all those things and more at the age of two and twenty. I am nearly thirty and the thought of marriage is only now starting to look appealing.” He brushed a hand through his hair. “I think the two suit, don’t you?”

“If you mean Seeton and Addy, I would say no, I do not think they suit at all.”

Jack lowered his sword. “Why ever not?”

“For one she is much too young to marry. She only just had her coming out. Are you really so anxious to be rid of her?”

His friend blinked as though he’d slapped him. “Of course not. Addy has spent the past few years at boarding school, so it has been refreshing to have her back home again. You know how it is with women though — if they do not marry soon after their introduction into society, then they’re put on the shelf.”

“She’s just turned eighteen, Jack.”

“She likes him.”

“Perhaps … as a friend. Did you not notice how anxious she was to be free of him last night?”

“She was tired. It was a long day.”

Roan counted to ten …
twice.
“I am certain you have her best interest at heart. Far be it from me to tell you who the best man for Addy would be.”

“Perhaps you wish to be in the running.”

He felt his cheeks turn a little warm. “She is … your sister.”

“Yes, I know,” Jack said with a wolfish grin. “I was only trying to get a rise out of you. Can you imagine you as my brother-in-law?” His eyes went wide, as though he were horrified at the thought. He lifted his rapier. “Come, enough of this marriage talk. On guard.”

Frustrated, Roan parried, and lunged away from the blade. He came back with a vengeance, his frustration of the last few days making him more aggressive than he would normally have been with his friend.

He had Jack up against the wall a second later, the blade inches from his throat.

He heard a gasp from behind him.

Both he and Jack turned to find Addy standing in the doorway. She was beautiful, dressed in a cream and blue print day dress with a low neckline that nicely displayed her full round breasts. Once again his thoughts went the way of the gutter.

Slowly he lowered the blade, and took a step away from Jack, whose brows were furrowed as he looked from Roan to Addy.

Addy’s gaze slid from Roan’s, down his neck, over his chest, and lower to the planes of his abdomen.

If her brother weren’t there, that look would get her more than she bargained for.

Addy’s thighs tightened as she stared at Roan. He had a powerful body; olive skin over muscle and sinew, which shifted with each movement. The high bones of his hips cut deep, as though pointing an arrow downwards. Realizing where she was staring, her eyes darted back to his face. His hair was tied back, allowing her to see the entire length of the burn that started beneath his right eye, covered the better part of his cheek, his neck and his arm. The last two fingers on his hand looked almost melded together.

She could only imagine the pain he had endured. Did his wounds still hurt? she wondered. Or was it the internal wounds that pained him more?

“Good morning, Addy. What are you up to today?” Jack asked, taking a seat and wiping his face with his shirt, which he had flung over a chair.

“I don’t know. What are the two of you doing?”

Jack frowned. “Well, I was considering going into London. Perhaps take a ride through the park.”

“Can I come?”

Roan set his blade aside and quickly donned his shirt. He didn’t make eye contact with her and she wondered what it was he was thinking. Had she shocked him with her kiss last night? Did he think her unseemly? Especially after catching her kissing Lord Seeton right after? Something in his expression said he was not entirely pleased with her. She desperately wanted to set things to rights.

“I don’t see why not. Perhaps Seeton would like to join us?”

Roan’s jaw clenched tight.

“He is busy today,” she blurted, wondering why her brother was so keen to have Stephan join them. “What do you say we all meet in the parlour at eleven o’clock sharp?”

“Very well,” Roan said, walking past her towards the door. How she yearned to reach out and touch him, to tell him exactly how she felt about him.

She watched Roan’s retreating back from the corner of her eye, liking the way the loose shirt hung on his wide shoulders. He looked like he had just come from a tryst, she realized, and her heart quickened, imagining him leaving her chamber after a night of passionate lovemaking.

Jack cleared his throat abruptly after Roan disappeared and Addy gave him her full attention.

“What are you playing at, Addy?”

Her stomach clenched into a tight knot. “What do you mean?”

“Roan is my friend.”

“He is my friend, too.”

Sliding his shirt on, Jack released a deep breath. “He is too old for you.”

“Father was fifteen years older than mother. There is only a ten-year age difference between me and Roan.”

“Oh dear God, you
are
serious.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Bloody hell,” he said, running a hand down his face. “I cannot believe this.”

She straightened her spine and lifted her chin a good inch. “I do not understand what is so difficult to comprehend. Roan is a good man. An exceptional man. And need I remind you that he is your
best
friend?”

“In this we agree, but he is … Roan.” He stared at her, yet she had the feeling he didn’t see her. “Has he touched you?”

The clock on the mantel seemed exceedingly loud all of the sudden. “We kissed.”

“Kissed?” He stood slowly and, shaking his head, walked past her. “I’ll kill him.”

Roan was intensely uncomfortable. Since his accident he rarely ventured out into society, and today was the first time he had walked the streets of London.

He felt the stares of the people they passed by, noticed the way many dropped their gaze when he made eye contact. He saw his own reflection in the mirror every morning, so he knew how startling his appearance was. He didn’t blame others for their morbid curiosity or astonished stares, but he did resent the way people he had considered friends before the accident now wanted nothing to do with him.

And now his best friend was angry with him. He had felt it from the moment Addy walked into the parlour. The way Jack had watched them both, his eyes shifting between them.

When they had met in the parlour, Jack had said very little, and even still, in London, he remained uncommonly quiet. However, Addy was not. She had been chattering throughout the entire ride, and seemed excited to be in the city. When she hesitated by a shop window where a beautiful scarlet gown was displayed, it had been all Roan could do not to walk in and buy it for her. Jack would hardly approve though.

The very thought that his friend found him unworthy to court Addy was gut-wrenching. He could offer just as much, if not more, than Lord Seeton. The young man had much to learn, and he was still so immature, where Roan had seen a good deal of the world, and understood the importance of surrounding oneself with people who were true friends

“Oh, I have heard of this place,” Addy said, stopping in front of an art studio. “I want a shadow portrait of all of us together. It will take but a few minutes.”

“I think it will take more than a few minutes, sister. Do you remember the portrait Aunt Mildred forced us to sit for just before you left for school?”

“But this is a silhouette. It takes very little time. Lady Kelly was telling me all about it at her ball. There is nowhere else we need to be, right?”

Jack glanced at Roan. He nodded, and Jack shrugged.

An older woman met them at the doorway.

“We would like a shade of the three of us,” Addy said, a wide smile on her face.

“How long will it take?” Jack asked, already looking impatient.

“Actually, it takes very little time for a shadow painting, sir. The sitting takes mere minutes, and the picture itself will be ready in an hour’s time.”

“Very well,” Jack agreed.

“Please, come in.” The woman motioned for them to follow her into a small parlour. She arranged three chairs in a row, placing Jack in the first, Addy in the middle, and then Roan in the last.

Next she closed the draperies and lit several large candles, placing the waxy pillars in front of a large screen.

The lady repositioned the lighting several times, and then took a seat on the opposite side of the screen. “Now please try to be as still as possible.”

Roan was left with no choice but to stare straight ahead at Addy’s beautiful auburn curls, the long swan-like neck, the slender shoulders. Gold hoop earrings hung from her ears. He wanted to buy her anything she desired … like the dress in the shopfront window. If she belonged to him, he would never stop spoiling her.

An image of her kissing Seeton came to him again, and he wished it far away.

“You on the left, quit fidgeting,” the woman said, and Addy laughed under her breath, which made Jack and Roan laugh, too.

He was glad they were there, glad that for a few minutes the tension had been lessened and that they were once again relaxed. Friends whom he trusted and loved more than life.

The entire ride home, Addy stared at the shadow portrait and smiled.

“We cut quite dashing figures, do we not, Roan?” Jack said, surprising him.

Roan looked at his friend, glad he was finally talking to him. “Lucky for them, they captured my good side,” he said cheerfully, and Jack grinned.

But Addy frowned at him. “Not everyone sees your scars, Roan. When I look at you, I see … you. The same Roan I have always known. The Roan who will always live here,” she said, placing a hand over her heart. “You are perfect just as you are. Do not let anyone ever make you feel differently.”

He stared at her, shocked by her declaration and sincerity.

Jack’s gaze shifted between them.

“Thank you, Addy,” Roan said, and she pressed her lips together before looking down at the picture again.

“A package for you, my lady. Where shall I put it?”

Addy, who had been sitting in the parlour drinking tea and watching the clock move excruciatingly slowly, looked at the large white box with its pink bow in both excitement and trepidation.

Setting her cup aside, she motioned to the spot beside her. “Right here, Nelly.”

Was this a gift from Seeton? Aside from flowers on their first meeting, he had not been prone to gift-giving, but then again, he seemed to have grown more affectionate since Roan arrived.

Addy slipped the ribbon from the box, and removed the lid. Her breath caught in her throat. It was the scarlet gown she had seen in the shopfront window yesterday.

“How lovely,” Nelly said, and Addy nodded in agreement, her throat tight with emotion. It could only be from one of two people.

“Here is the card,” Nelly said.

With trembling hands, she opened the envelope and pulled the card out. “To Addy … just for being you. Your friend always, Roan.”

Nelly sighed. “How very kind of Lord Drayton. What a lovely man he is.”

“Indeed, he is,” Addy replied, her heart nearly pounding out of her chest.

“He’s always looked upon you as a little sister, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, yes, he has.” But she didn’t want to be looked upon as his little sister any longer, but as someone who was far more important and dear to his heart.

“Have Lord Drayton and my brother returned from their ride yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“Good. Come, Nelly. I need your help.”

Roan and Jack arrived back at the manor and were surprised to find Seeton standing on the veranda, smoking. Seeing them, the younger man dropped the cheroot and crushed it beneath his heel.

“Have you been waiting long?” Jack asked.

“No, I only just arrived.”

“Is Addy not here?”

“Actually, I’ve come to speak with you, My Lord.”

Roan’s stomach clenched.

“Do come in,” Jack said, motioning for him to follow him into the house.

Roan promptly excused himself. He walked in long strides to his chamber, shut the door and closed his eyes.

At this moment, Stephan was asking for Addy’s hand and, knowing Jack, he would heartily agree to the match.

The wheels were set in motion and there was nothing Roan could do to change their course. After all, he was but a family friend. Stephan had been courting Addy for weeks while Roan had been convalescing at his home in Essex. He had no business to be as furious as he was … or so intensely jealous.

The younger man did not deserve her. Stephan had no idea how to make a woman like Addy happy.

Dearest Addy, with her love of the outdoors, her free spirit and outspoken nature.

And those lips — good Lord, those lips — lifting in that coy way, promising things she had no right to.