Page 10 of Seduction of a Widow

She’d said the wrong thing—again.

The heat between them had definitely cooled.

Alice laughed. “Oh, Leslie, you are such a goose. Mr. MacLaren will not wager more than he can afford. He seems a most intelligent gentleman.”

MacLaren looked up from the cards and gifted Alice with a smile—the kind of smile that would heat the life’s blood of a woman in her crypt.

Leslie angled her head in agreement. “I am certain you are right.”

Was she being conciliatory or was she patronizing him? Both. His attention to Alice still pricked her. “I have seen pride bring a man to his knees at the card table.”

He turned back to Leslie, his visage so serious that for a moment he seemed years older. “Such tender concern for me, eh, Lady Carr?”

There was no tenderness or softness in his voice. Had she misread him? Was that seriousness? Or anger?

“I shouldn’t wish to encourage you to any vice,” Leslie said.

He smiled. Not the charming smile he’d given Alice. No, this one held a razor sharp edge. She couldn’t ascertain his emotion as those piercing blue eyes studied her.

“Perhaps we could make this more interesting. More…” His voice trailed off as his gaze lowered.

Was he looking at her breasts?

“Why don’t we play for the honor of your handkerchief?” he said.

“What?” she asked.

“Your handkerchief.”

She looked down and saw that she still held her handkerchief.