Page 118 of Wicked Highland Heroes

Erroll pulled back the tapestry and stepped from the alcove. “Miss Crenshaw.”

She joined him, glanced in the direction of his father’s library, then looked up at him. His mouth went dry. Her cheeks were still flushed with the remnants of pleasure. She was stunning. His cock throbbed again. He was going to make her a very rich widow before he’d had a chance to truly take a husband’s pleasure.

“They will know…” she said, and Erroll feared she might be right. Unless…

“They already believe it is true,” he said.

“Believing we have been intimate and finding out we dallied while they waited a few feet away is quite another.”

That was true, and the distinction that might get him shot. He shrugged. “Do we care what they think?”

Her brows snapped down. “I am not a woman who allows a man to tumble her anywhere.”

“Not any man, love. Me. That is a point I will be very particular about.”

“That doesn’t make it any better,” she retorted.

He grasped her elbow and started down the hallway. “Of course it makes it better. Our parents can’t fault a man for finding his future bride irresistible.”

“They would never believe that, and even if they did, it is unseemly.”

It certainly was and he wanted to do it again, so answered honestly, “What else would anyone expect from me?”

“I told you, I will not live that sort of life, my lord.”

He wasn’t sure what she meant by ‘that sort of life.’ Miss Eve Crenshaw was clearly a passionate woman, and she was going to have a devil of a time hiding that fact from him after the way she’d reacted to his touch.

“You are overwrought, Miss Crenshaw, and not thinking clearly. There is a vast difference between unseemly and completely dissolute. I promised to be a decent husband, but that doesn’t mean I have any intention of becoming a saint.”

“You, sir,” she said as he opened the door, “are anything but a saint.”

Her words rang through the room and all eyes turned on her. Silence reigned for a long moment before his mother said, “Come in, Erroll. Miss Crenshaw, come sit with me.” She patted the place beside her on the sofa. Miss Crenshaw didn’t move and Erroll gave her a gentle push. She kept going and reached the couch, then sat beside his mother.

“I assume everything is settled,” his father said.

“It is,” Erroll replied.

“Good, then Miss Crenshaw need only sign the contract and the Registrar will complete the forms.”

Shock rolled over Erroll.

“Registrar?” Eve shot to her feet. “You—” her eyes cut to the stranger, then she whirled toward their fathers “—him? He is a Registrar? But that-that means we are to be married now?” She faced Erroll. “You knew.” Her words dripped with accusation.

“No,” he stated flatly. “I am as surprised as you.”

“You expect me to believe that you sat here and didn’t ask who the gentleman was?” she demanded.

“You did the same. My father ordered me to sit and be quiet.” Erroll saw the hurt in her eyes, and his mind snapped from limbo. He quickly added, “I understood that we were to attend church tomorrow to hear the reading of the first of the banns.”

Her brow furrowed and he could see that she, too, knew they were to attend church tomorrow. Eve still stared, but her expression had gone blank. Was she deciding whether or not he had manipulated her? He had, but not as badly as she might think. He’d seen the way Somerset looked at her sister—not to mention Grace Crenshaw’s reaction to him—and realized the viscount had fallen in love with her. Erroll suspected Eve had observed the same and wouldn’t marry a man who preferred her sister, which meant Eve had no choice but to marry him.

“You have both missed the mark,” the marquess said.

Apprehension coiled in Erroll’s gut. “Would you mind explaining, sir?”

“Technically, you are already married,” Tolland answered. “The promise of marriage along with an intimate relationship constitutes a legal marriage.”

Good God. So his lie that he had taken Eve’s virginity is what had done him in?