Page 21 of Her Magnificent Mistake
But Rupertwasn’tbeing polite.
Because Rupert was staring. At Allie.
Hawk’s confused gaze turned to his niece. Her cheeks had pinked and she dropped her gaze to Rupert’s chest, although he caught a hint of blue under her lashes as she risked a peek at the newcomer.
Good God, she was acting addled!
“It is so nice to meet you, my lord,” she whispered, offering a little curtsey.
“Rupe!” Rupert blurted, lurching forward to grasp her hand. “Call me Rupe—Rupert! Call me anything ye want!” He was speaking too loud, eyes too wide, as he pumped Allie’s hand up and down as though attempting to rekindle a fire with a bellows.
The young woman’s cheeks managed to turn even pinker…but still there was that smile.
Marcia, who’d released her brother and stepped away from him, now slid her arm through Hawk’s. “Oh dear,” she murmured under her breath.
Hawk wasn’t sure if he responded. He was too busy glorifying in the feel of her once more.Marcia.There was nothing like her.Not even the wind in his hair and the smell of the gorse could compare to?—
“Do ye like plants, Miss Hawthorne?” Rupert was asking, leading Allie to her place at the table. “I love plants! I love all flora. Did ye ken that the common rhododendron contains all the parts necessary for sexual reproduction, including a pistil, which includes an ovary?”
Hawk, who’d been in the middle of holding Marcia’s chair for her, swallowed his groan and turned a shocked gaze to the future Duke of Peasgoode, who he suspected was attempting to woo his niece through naughty plant facts.
Not a winning formula.
But instead of being shocked or titillated, Allie’s expression showed only genuine interest. “I didnotknow that, Lord—Rupert. However, I do know rather a lot about the male parts of flowers, such as the stamens, where the pollen is produced to fertilize the plant. I have a particular interest in male organs.”
Bloody hell, was she flirtingback?
In a dazed sort of shock, Hawk realized that Marcia had been settled for some time, and half-stepped, half-stumbled to his own chair beside hers, watching the—the—courtshipplaying out across the table.
Had Allie finally met someone who rivaled her mental library of useless and inappropriate knowledge?
Rupert beamed as he almost fell onto his seat, his rapt gaze never leaving Allie. “Oh,brava! I cannae wait for ye to show me the rhododendron, so we might dissect one together! Would you like to play with the stamens, as you are such an aficionado of the male sex mechanics?”
Apparently so.
As McMackinacker—apparently relieved of his valet-ing duties for the evening—stepped forward to serve, Hawk found himself exchanging an amused smile with Marcia, as if they were both in on a hidden joke. “How…unexpected,” he murmured.
“I am just pleased he will be distracted,” she murmured right back.
And Hawk didn’t have time to wonder what she meant, because in the next moment he felt her slippered foot press against his. The contact was slight, but he sucked in a breath, jaw tightening as he stared down at his soup.
“I have missed you,” Marcia breathed in a voice that could be barely heard.
But he heard her.
Of course he heard her.
Hawk swallowed his groan and reached for his spoon. “I’ve missed ye too,” he admitted in a voice low enough his niece wouldn’t hear, even if shehadbeen paying attention.
I’ve missed ye more than ye’ll even ken. More than ye’d guess.
Marcia sipped at her own soup, but didn’t remove her foot. Nay, she began tomoveit, so the edge of her slipper slid toward his ankle in a strange caress he felt all the way up his thigh.
Christ. What was she—was this truly happening?
Had she really changed so much that she would try to—to what?Seducehim at dinner after a decade apart?
Inside his trousers, his cock hardened.
