Page 50 of The Siren of Sussex

Across the room, the counterpane on her ladyship’s four-poster bed had been pulled back invitingly. And on a table nearby, a cut-crystal decanter and two glasses stood at the ready.

A flicker of uneasiness went through him. It was followed by a feeling of grim resignation. Calling on Lady Heatherton was never a pleasant proposition. But today it appeared it was going to be even less so. “Your evening dress, my lady.”

“Bring it to me.” The viscountess emerged from her dressing room, clad in an embroidered silk wrap and—he suspected—little else. Her feet were bare, her blond hair hanging loose about her shoulders. She padded to the table by the bed and unstopped the crystal decanter.

Ahmad put the dress box down on the silk-covered settee. “Would you like me to take it out?”

“The dress?” She laughed softly to herself. “Yes. Why not?”

Removing the lid of the box, he liberated the gown from its tissue paper wrappings and held it up for her perusal. He was quite proud of how it had come out. It was simple and elegant. A masterwork of seams and stitchery, made to showcase her figure rather than to camouflage it in a sea of fabric and furbelows.

She cast it an absent glance. And then she looked again. An expression of appreciation briefly warmed her coldly beautiful face. “Splendid,” she said. “I expected nothing less.”

“I’m glad you approve.” He draped the gown carefully over the tufted back of the settee. “Will you be trying it on today?”

“Not at the moment. I have other plans for us.” She poured out two drinks. “Come. I insist you join me for a glass of brandy.”

Ahmad stilled. Regarding her from across the candlelit room, he felt very much like a lone traveler who had reached a pivotal crossroads. An intersection he’d suspected was coming from the first time they’d met.

All that remained was to choose his path.

It would have been easy to accept her invitation. To drink with her, and thereby avoid souring their business relationship.

But he was no fool.

A drink wouldn’t be the end of this. It would only be the beginning.

“I beg you would excuse me, ma’am,” he said.

“I will not excuse you. My husband has gone to Berkshire for the remainder of the week, and I am completely at my leisure. You have no cause to refuse me.”

Ahmad didn’t move.

Her smile hardened. “You cannot claim you don’t drink, for I have it on good authority that you do.”

His brows lifted infinitesimally.

“Crebbs has been making inquiries. She’s rather protective of me.” Lady Heatherton crossed the room to join him, both glasses in her hands. She held one out to him. “I’m told you don’t adhere to any of that religious nonsense that so many of your people insist upon. Indeed, Crebbs informs me that you once worked in the most scandalous place imaginable. It seems you have no scruples at all, outside of those attached to ladies’ fashion.”

He silently took the glass from her.

She brought her own glass to her lips and drank deeply. “I trust you haven’t forgotten everything about your culture. Lady Godwin claims that Indian men are well versed in the art of love. You have sacred texts, don’t you? Books with lewd figures drawn in them. It’s all very titillating. And now that I know you’ve worked in a—”

He set down his drink, untouched, on a nearby table, next to an arrangement of flowers. The glass made an audible clink against the inlaid malachite.

Lady Heatherton broke off. “You’re being very uncivil.”

“If I am, I must beg your pardon.”

She advanced upon him. “You must have known what I had in mind. I made no secret of my interest, and you took no great pains to disguise yours.” Her hand lifted to touch his chest. “If it’s my husband that concerns you—”

He backed out of her reach. “You’ve mistaken me.”

Her hand fell to her side, fingers clenching into a fist. “I bloody well haven’t. There’s no mistaking the way you touched me. Do you expect me to believe that, through all these fittings, you’ve been thinking of nothing but sewing?”

“It’s why you hired me.” It was the same thing he’d told her countless times before. Reminding her that theirs was a business relationship, not a personal one. Certainly not a romantic one.

“I did hire you, didn’t I?” Her eyes glittered. “Take care that you don’t offend me.”