Page 15 of The Duke Says I Do
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A smile lengthened Granville’s lips, as he dug around the small storeroom looking for an apron for his unexpected guest. He’d smiled a lot today. And he wasn’t a man given to constant levity. Especially during these last months, when gossip had raged about his failed betrothal to Juliet Frain.
Given this was his second broken engagement in scandalous circumstances – both thanks to that bastard, the Duke of Evesham – his political future was now in question. People asked themselves whether a man with such a chaotic romantic history was capable of running the country. Sometimes even he acknowledged a doubt or two. His judgment was faulty when it came to choosing his duchess. Could he be trusted in other areas?
Today he’d been too busy for soul-searching. It was something of a relief.
Odd to think that the cause of his newly buoyant spirits was Portia Frain, a woman he’d always dismissed as a sentimental hen-wit. Yet recent events proved that she was far from a fluttering nincompoop. And by God, she was beautiful. She took his breath away – which had never happened before.
Juliet was lovely, a perfect cool blonde to set off the Granville emeralds. But Portia was something more. She possessed so much vitality that light shone out of her.
If anyone in England needed a light in the darkness, it was his Grace, the Duke of Granville. Since his marriage plans had foundered, life had turned rather bleak. He supposed it was inevitable that Portia’s zest drew him like a magnet drew iron filings.
It meant nothing more than that.
After all, she didn’t like him. Nor had she responded when he’d said that he found her stimulating company. It was depressing quite how much that had stung.
He looked down at Jupiter who had followed him into the storeroom. The brown eyes were bright with devotion. “It’s been a strange day, my friend. And likely to become more so.”
Worse than talking to a dog, he’d brought a gently bred lady to his house without a chaperone. If anyone found out, he’d have to marry the chit.
He frowned at the dog. “Why doesn’t that send me screaming down the street?”
Jupiter didn’t answer. He didn’t have to.
When Granville emerged with a thick leather apron, Lady Portia was standing where he’d left her. “This should help to keep you dry.”
The sound of his voice made her jump and blush. Her exquisitely clear skin revealed every emotion. How had he failed to notice that before? Today this woman who had hovered on the edge of his awareness for so long seemed a stranger. An alluring, intriguing stranger who sparked too many forbidden desires.
For a charged moment, she stared at Granville as if she’d never seen him before, then she blinked and broke the odd connection. “Th…thank you,” she stammered, accepting the apron with an unsteady hand. She’d taken off her gloves while he was in the storeroom.
Lady Portia wasn’t a woman who stammered. Her coolness through the day’s dramas had impressed him. When Jim threatened her, she’d hardly turned a hair.
Was she also caught in the grip of attraction? Then a less appealing explanation occurred to him.
He straightened. All day, he’d shown a lamentable tendency to lean toward her. “Lady Portia, I assure you that if you’re afraid to be alone with me, there’s no need. I’m aware of thebehavior becoming to a gentleman.” Whatever secret impulses that gentleman might harbor.
She was back staring at him as if he’d appeared from nowhere. “You sound all ducal again.”
He frowned. “How the devil else do you expect me to sound?”
His frustration made Jupiter’s ears twitch. Folding her arms, she regarded him with displeasure. “That’s how you talked to me when we danced. As if you were Napoleon and I was an unpromising recruit.”
Startled, he drew back. “That can’t be true.”
“Believe me, it is. It’s how Juliet talks to me, too.”
“I’m sure I was polite.”
Her shiver was unnecessarily theatrical. “I’m sure you were, too. But not warm. Definitely not warm.”
If only she knew how warm he felt right now. As well as the heat her presence aroused, a different heat prickled at the back of his neck. Discomfort. “I’m sorry. No wonder you don’t like me.”
“You’ve been fairly human all day.” She paused. “When we’ve been alone for hours. I’m not frightened of you. You’re considered the most upright man in England. Anyway, I’m not a fool. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t be here. Good Lord, if I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t leave Jupiter in your care.”
He supposed trust provided some recompense for her dislike. Although given the ideas rocketing through his mind, she should be warier of his intentions.
“I just wanted to assure you that you’re safe,” he said stiffly. He hadn’t much liked her snide reference to his pristine reputation.
