Page 4 of The Duke Who Dared Me
Too much scotchand babies did not mix well.Nor paying a social call at only eight in the morning.He wouldn’t have made the effort for anyone but Percy Baxter, the Viscount Musford.
After spending most of the night at White’s and drinking enough scotch to pickle himself, Alistair had hoped for silence, not shrieking or sunlight, and certainly not Verity Baxter before he broke his fast.
“Is there no nurse?”he asked, handing his coat to the footman and shaking off the late January chill.
“Pardon, Your Grace?”
Alistair only grumbled and instead followed the footman inside.Percy’s Belgravia townhouse was modest by Baxter standards, but it suited a man trying to outrun old debts.It took some adjusting to realize they were no longer neighbors.Their ancestral family seats also shared property lines in Kent.
Again, the piercing cry.
He strolled into the morning room, his brows drawn as Verity danced with her nephew in her arms in front of a large bank of windows.The crisp morning light made Alistair regret that fifth glass of scotch.
Once he stepped inside the room, he realized he had made a fatal mistake.The cry was not one of pain or hunger or even aggravation, but it was a gleeful cry as she swung the baby in her arms.
“Can’t you leave him alone?”he snapped just as his godson turned on him with a watery wail so torturous it made his eyeballs ache.
Bloody hell.This was precisely why he avoided such domestic scenes.Give him the House of Lords or a cutthroat business negotiation any day.At least there, when someone made his head pound, it was intentional.
Verity glowered, hushing the small child with a kiss on its bald head.“You came to Briggs Hall, Your Grace, knowing Colin is here.We’ve been blessed with him for five months now.”
“I know my own godson.”
“He knows you as well.Knows well enough he should be afraid.”
“Verity,” he sighed.He pinched his brow.
She only grinned wider.
“Bring him here.”
She looked irritatingly bright and too awake.With a second glance, he gathered she must have spent her morning riding in Hyde Park.Her cheeks were still pink from the cold.
“And risk him crying again?”
She had a point.He could do without the crying or the wave of nausea that followed him home.“Bring him.Here.”
She spun away, her light blue gown spinning out to reveal her riding boots.“Not until you tell me why you are here.Especially at this hour, smelling like you do.”
“I don’t smell,” he countered.
“Alistair.”
Very well, they were skipping over formalities this morning.It’s not like it mattered when they grew up beside one another.He still remembered when she was missing her front teeth.
“I invited him,” her brother announced, striding into the room.He plucked the baby out of Verity’s arms, ignoring her protests, and handed it off to Alistair.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”he asked.
Percy chuckled.“I haven’t figured it out myself if I’m to be honest.”
“You two are impossible.He’s a baby.They’re simple creatures, much like the rest of the male sex.Smile, sing, play.He only wants to explore the world.”
Alistair bopped the baby on the nose.It only earned him a drooly smile.Where was the nurse?Or had they let her go as well?
Percy Baxter was tall, his face rugged and strong and, for a time, was the perfect companion when out on the Town.But after he met Marina three Seasons ago?It was hopeless.The man had fallen in love hard, and the decision to ask her to be his wife was an easy one.Their life after the wedding had been less than perfect, however.
“Verity, bring Colin back to the nursery, please?I need to speak with Alistair alone.”
