Page 37 of Miss Kimble Bites Back

Daisy’s hands flew to cover her lips. “Then what are you doing still standing here with me for? Go get him.”

She would love to do just that—except Mamble had turned away and was heading out of the ballroom. He couldn’t be leaving!

Fearing he’d misunderstood her glance toward Lord Brookes, she turned to Daisy quickly. “I have to talk to him. Cover for me?”

Daisy frowned. “Cover what?”

“My disappearance from the ballroom, for as long as you possibly can. If Bennett asks, tell them I’ve torn a hem, and it might take a while to have it mended.”

“All right.” Daisy grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingers. “Good luck.”

Gabby glanced down at her hem, winced as if noticing it was damaged, and then hurried from the room, leaving Daisy to explain to her guardian where she’d gone.

Mamble was moving slowly down the hall, and she followed without hesitation. When he slipped into a chamber, she hastened to join him. He stood in what looked like a private study and was entirely alone. Gabby shut the door softly behind her and locked it for good measure.

Mamble’s head cocked to one side, clearly hearing her arrival.

Gabby moved toward the duke. “Your grace,” she said, but her voice sounded odd to her ears. Husky and breathless and very unlike her own.

“I’m not interested,” he drawled. “Go back where you came from, madam.”

Gabby was not to be deterred by his instant dismissal. He assumed she was someone else again. She knew just what to say to begin this conversation. “I’m not a maid, my lord, but someone who wishes to say how ardently I admire you.”

“Is that so?” He spun around, and his expression of pleasure gave her courage to continue.

“Yes.” There was no point in hiding the truth. They were alone together again, and she was too bold. But she really liked him, and it was too late to turn back her feelings. “Your grace, I wish to tell you that from the first we met, I have longed to know you better.”

There was silence for a long moment, and then he folded his arms across his chest and regarded her sternly. “I believe you said almost the exact same thing about someone else not so long ago.”

Gabby nodded. They were recreating their very first conversation. Only this time, she hoped for a far different outcome. “I did, and yes, I knew you were not Lord Brookes when I walked through that door tonight.”

“And there are still a thousand reasons why I am grateful to be spared that fate,” the Duke of Mamble said, then his eyes narrowed at her. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. You are the only gentleman on my mind,” she admitted with a shy smile.

He kept a distance, finger tapping his lips. “You once looked at a man with a title as if he was something to bite into, too.”

“I did no such thing,” she protested again, fighting a smile. “And the way you stared at me tonight was quite provocative. One would think you want to devour me.”

He drew closer. “I do. Were you really surprised I would stare at you tonight?” He looked her up and down and then smiled at her in the very same way he had the first time they’d met. He kept undressing her with his eyes, and Gabby enjoyed the sensation of heat his scrutiny provided. “You’re a rather tasty morsel, Gabby. I am very tempted to take a bite of you tonight.”

Gabby’s face blazed hot, as did the rest of her. She understood better now all that it could mean between a man and a woman to talk this way. She easily imagined Mamble’s teeth grazing her neck and his kisses making her moan out loud.

She was better prepared for an encounter with him now than she had been at the beginning of their acquaintance. The duke was outrageously bold and knew how to say just the right thing to turn her head and yet he did nothing improper beyond that in public. Underneath all his bluster, he followed the rules of polite society. He had not rushed her into his arms but teased her until she had wanted to be. How could she not have fallen for such a man? “Will you say such things when we’re engaged?”

His lips curved into a smile. “I imagine I would. I gather, we are of the same mind about the possibilities between us at last. If you were not, you still have a chance to run. I would understand.”

“I don’t want to run away from you,” she whispered.

His hand rose to cup her face. “I heard you’ve become my defender, attempting to right the wrong the gossiping hoard have against me. A kitten with claws soon to become a dragon of the ton, perhaps.”

“I had to say something in your defense. You’re not the man they describe,” she whispered. “You are good.”

“Not always good and neither are you,” he warned. His bare palm was so warm against her cheek that she leaned into his touch. “You followed me for a kiss, didn’t you?”

“I followed you because…Yes, I want,” she began, and would have said more, except Mamble pressed his thumb over her lips.

“Gabby mine.”