Page 39 of The Seduction of an English Scoundrel

Chloe stepped around him, throwing Jane a sympathetic look. “I would run from him and not look back, were I you.”

“The lady is here only to protect your virtue,” he said in a stony voice. “Do not ever insult her again.”

“Well, it’s true, Grayson,” Chloe rushed on, her shoulders lifting. “Jane is a decent young lady, and she has no idea what will become of her once you decide—”

“That will be enough, Chloe.” His blue eyes burned like coals.

“It’s true,” she said stubbornly.

Jane shook her head, sorry for them both, and stared down at the floor. “Please stop this, the pair of you. You’re too angry to talk in a reasonable manner.”

“Run from him, Jane,” Chloe whispered, wiping the back of her gloved hand across her cheek.

His face darkened. Jane had the feeling he was just as upset as his sister, but had no idea what to do. A pair of Titan tempers. “You have really pushed me to the limit this time,” he muttered.

“I am sorry, Jane,” Chloe said, touching Jane’s hand. “Sorry that I insulted you and even more so that somehow you have fallen into my brother’s clutches.”

“Chloe!” he roared.

She darted around him and plunged down the narrow flight of steps, her footsteps echoing against the stone walls of the pavilion, Grayson staring after her in such bewilderment Jane would have felt sorry for him had he handled the situation better.

Chapter 9

Grayson raked his hand through his fair hair, looking a little sheepish in the aftermath of the confrontation. “Well, what a scene that was,” he said in a weak attempt at a joke. “Do you young women realize what an effort it is to keep you out of trouble?”

“As easy as it is for men like you to lead us there?”

He frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all.”

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Are you actually defending the hellion?”

“I don’t know.” She bit her lip, aching to tell him what a bully he had been.

“You are,” he said, utterly astonished. “Aren’t you?”

“All right,” Jane said, frowning back at him. “I suppose I am.”

He looked genuinely baffled. “Why?”

She swept past him to the stairs. She was flattered that he actually cared what she thought, although she was the worst person in the world to ask for an honest opinion.

“You were rather hard on Chloe, don’t you think?” she said over her shoulder. “All that nonsense about my being here only to protect her virtue, and you with your threats to banish her. You scared the wits out of all three of us.”

He stepped toward her, his large frame warm and pleasantly intimidating in the shadows. He was angry at her now, too, only this anger was controlled. “Forgive me, Jane,” he said coolly, “for trying to protect my own sister from bringing disgrace upon herself.”

“I still think you could have handled the matter with a trifle more tact,” she said. She was determined to hold her ground, as shaky as that ground appeared to be. Then she hesitated, the lost look in his eyes touching her heart. How could one fault a man trying to be both mother and father to his siblings and failing miserably at the task?

“I’m worried about her, Jane,” he admitted. “I was so close to her before our father died, and ever since then, I feel as if I don’t even know who she is.”

“Perhaps she feels the same way,” Jane said.

“What do you mean?”

“Perhaps she does not understand herself either, Grayson. Perhaps you should allow her a little more freedom.”

A frown shadowed his angular features. “Jane, I think it’s you who doesn’t understand.” He took her chin in his hand and tilted her face back to his, his thumb stroking the underside of her jaw. “Would you have been caught on a couch kissing a man you barely knew?”