Page 134 of Wicked Highland Heroes

“All young men have wild moments. But you and I, even your mother, we’re of a tamer breed than Grace.”

Eve laughed. “She had to have gotten it from somewhere.”

“From somewhere,” he repeated in a cold voice that caused her to look sharply at him, but he seemed not to notice and stared straight ahead.

*****

Eve stopped short in the doorway of Lord Rushton’s bedchamber. The letter from his attorney lay open on the desk where he sat absorbed in work—the note from his mistress on top. Her heart pounded.

“Hello, Eve,” he said without turning from his writing.

“We missed you at tea,” she said stupidly.

“Forgive me, my dear. I had some business to attend.” He continued writing.

Did the business he referred to include a reply to his mistress to tell her he couldn’t wait to see her? Eve felt her nerve slip. “I am interrupting,” she said. “I will return later.”

“No need. What did you want to see me about?” He returned the pen to the blotter, then blew on the paper for an instant and folded it, before picking up another document and scanning its contents.

“Your mother is planning a trip to Tobermory tomorrow after lunch. She suggested a bit of shopping. I…” She’d started the lie and had to finish it. “I wanted to be certain you did not mind.”

“Of course not.” He flashed a heart-stopping smile. “The shopkeepers know me. They will extend credit for anything you like.”

“I don’t plan to make many purchases,” she said. “I am going more for the pleasure of the trip.”

“Do not hesitate to purchase anything you like.”

“Thank you. I might make a few purchases for the trip to the mainland your mother is planning next week. Oh, my lord, I didn’t tell you, Lord Somerset offered for her hand.”

He paused in reading and lifted his gaze to meet hers. “I thought he might.”

“You knew?”

“I noticed in Belfast that he seemed to care for her,” the earl said. “I believe she cares for him as well.”

“You think she cares for him?” Eve hadn’t considered that possibility.

“I have some experience in dealing with women who are interested in a man.”

Did that mean he had realized her interest in him, perhaps even before she had? But she suddenly knew the answer. “You knew I wouldn’t marry him,” she murmured.

“Lord Somerset?” He shrugged. “You refused his offer of marriage long before I came along. You made no secret that you didn’t want to marry him.”

“So when you told me that you would step aside if I preferred him you knew I wouldn’t do it.”

“You did give me scare when you told me you would rather marry him.”

“A scare?” she repeated, then said, “Ahh, you feared you would be stuck with Grace.”

“That was a concern.”

And there it was. His fervor to secure her hand was what it had been all along: a way to avoid the worse of the evils.

“What’s this about a trip to the mainland?” he asked. “Next week, did you say?”

“Yes,” Eve said absently. “Your mother hopes it will give Grace time to reflect on Lord Somerset’s offer before they return to England.”

“Has her sights set on someone higher up the chain, does she?”