Page 13 of Seduction of a Widow

Evan set the deck on the table and looked at her. “Lady Carr and I only met tonight. A stolen kiss is sufficient excitement.”

Was that curiosity that flickered in Lady Carr’s eyes?

“A stolen kiss.” Isabel sent her a sideways look. “Any lady who challenges an earl to a horserace is not a lady to settle for a stolen kiss.” She smiled. “At last not a kiss on the mouth.”

Lady Carr’s expression remained neutral. “Am I to infer that you are proposing stakes of an intimate kind?”

“It would certainly make the game interesting, do you not agree?”

Lady Carr arched a brow. “Only if the players are worth playing with.”

Isabel’s eyes narrowed, then she turned a sultry look on him. “Evan can vouch for my worthiness to apply kisses in just the right ways”—she returned her gaze to Leslie—”and places.”

Lady Carr’s eyes shifted past Evan and Isabel looked over her shoulder. Isabel drew a small gasp, then faced forward again. “Deal, Mr. MacLaren.”

Mr. MacLaren?

A large, sandy haired man stopped at their table and Evan understood her sudden change in mood.

“Good evening, Lord Dunn.” Evan smiled. “Care to join us for a game of Ombre?”

“You have bollocks the size of a horse to dare even speak to my wife,” the viscount snapped.

Evan turned his attention to Lady Carr. “You will have to forgive Viscount Dunn, my lady. He worries about his wife a great deal.”

The viscount’s jaw visibly flexed. “I will no’ let you off so easy this time, you bloody fool.”

Anger tightened Evan’s belly. “Forgive me, my lord.” He didn’t stop there, though he knew he should. “We have discussed this at length.”

“No more of your lies,” the older man shot back.

“I never denied—” Evan broke off and looked at Leslie. She watched, eyes keen with interest.

“Never denied that you bedded my wife,” Dunn finished for him.

Two women sitting in chairs near the hearth glanced their way.

“Really, John,” Isabel said. “Must you make a scene everywhere we go?”

He seized Evan’s jacket and yanked him to his feet. A murmur swept the room as Evan twisted free and took a step back. He’d had enough of the fool’s insults.

“My lord, perhaps you would prefer to step outside with me.” Evan angled his head toward the doors, a few feet away.

“Not again,” Isabel said, but Evan caught the glint of interest in her eyes.

“Return to our room, Isabel,” the viscount ordered.

Leslie swept to her feet and started around the table.

Evan faced her. “Lady Carr, I will not be long.”

Lady Carr reached the viscount’s side. A small group of men sitting at a card table across the room watched them. “Mr. MacLaren, I would like that walk in the garden you promised me,” she said.

“A walk in the garden?” Isabel blurted.

Her husband’s head snapped in her direction. “What do you care if they take a walk in the garden?”

“I do not care,” she said. “I simply thought we were going to play Ombre.”