Page 7 of Seduction of a Widow

Including you? he wanted to ask, but said, “So true. Have you ever been aboard a ship, my lady?”

“In fact, I have sailed on a warship,” Lady Carr said.

That surprised him. They reached the refreshments room and he stepped aside and allowed them to enter first. He scanned the crowded room and spotted two empty seats near the hearth. “If you would like to sit”—he nodded at the seats—”I will fetch champagne.”

“Perfect,” the baroness said. “Shall we, Leslie?”

She angled her head. “Of course.”

They headed toward the seats and he weaved through the crowd to the table to find a servant setting out more glasses.

“I’ll have a glass filled in just a moment, sir,” the young man said.

“Two glasses, please,” Evan said. “And no need to rush.”

The lad pulled a bottle of champagne from a box.

A man stepped up beside Evan. “So, it is you, MacLaren.”

Garthland.

Evan canted his head in acknowledgement. “My lord.”

“I am surprised you have time to attend parties. Do you not have a ship to capture somewhere?”

Evan turned a cool smile on the man. “Rest easy, my lord. I shall soon be back on the seas protecting your shipping interests.” Within a fortnight, in fact. He had to admit excitement at the prospect of seeing America. Evan snapped from his thoughts, aware that Garthland had spoken.

“I beg your pardon?” Evan said.

Garthland’s face reddened. “You forget yourself.”

From the corner of his eye, Evan noticed the servant had filled three glasses. He picked up two and faced the viscount. Evan gave a slight bow, said, “My lord,” then turned and headed for the women.

He spotted Lord Barnton with the women. There was no mistaking the purposeful way he towered over them in their seats. Baroness Trent stared up at him in amusement. Lady Carr, however, had murder in her eyes. Evan rounded three men and brushed past a group of ladies, then continued toward the ladies.

“…fortunate nothing happened,” Barnton was saying as Evan neared them.

Lady Carr’s eyes shifted past the earl to him. Barnton looked over his shoulder and locked gazes with him. Amused condescension sparked in the man’s eyes.

Evan reached them. “My lord,” he said, then turned to the women. “Your champagne, ladies.” He handed them each a glass.

“How fortunate that you are acquainted with MacLaren,” Barnton said. “Perhaps he will regale you with the story of how he took the Zeus.”

“He took the ship without losing a single man,” Lady Carr said.

Evan stilled. There was no mistaking her sickeningly sweet tone.

The earl’s mouth thinned. Her barb had hit its mark. He smiled coolly at her. “You and Mr. MacLaren have something in common.”

She arched a perfect brow and sipped her champagne.

“You both got very lucky…once.”

Heat flashed through Evan. He opened his mouth to reply, but Lady Carr said, “Really, my lord, it has been a month, and you are still angry?” She gave a low laugh that sent a message straight to Evan’s cock. “I really thought you a more gracious loser.”

Loser?

Fury flashed in the earl’s eyes.