Page 51 of To Ruin a Rake

She gasped as he swept her away and off the dance floor. She had neither the time nor the wherewithal to object before she was propelled through the French doors and out into the darkness beyond.

He swung her about to face him.

“How dare you!” she squawked, indignant at his high-handed manner.

“Have you seen yourself in a mirror lately, Harriett?” he said in a voice like rich, dark velvet. “You’ve changed. You’ve become something quite other than what I remember from our first few encounters. Against my better judgment, I find myself intrigued.”

She laughed, and was startled at the breathless, husky sound. “I’m sure I have no idea what you mean.”

“That night at the Penworth ball, you were...how shall I say it to best convey the impact of that moment? You were mysterious. Sensual. Delectable. And you continue to reveal new, hitherto hidden aspects that tempt and fascinate me.”

Tempt and fascinate? “This from the man who once mistook me for a lowly servant,” she snapped, lading her words with scorn.

“Ah, but that was before you showed me the real you. I have decided what to do with you, Harriett, now that I know the truth.”

Her heart hammered away at its cage, sending tendrils of both panic and desire throughout her body as he moved closer.

“You’ve put me on my ear and unbalanced the scales of our happy little war,” he teased, reaching out and capturing one of her hands. With his thumb, he traced a lazy circle on the back of it.

“Stop that,” she said, ashamed to hear her voice trembling as he followed the path of his thumb with his lips. “Stop it at once.”

“Stop desiring you? Never.”

“This is not the real me!” She tugged, to no avail. “The clothes may be different, but I’m the same person you’ve known from the start—the do-good prude, the kitchen maid, the drudge!”

He raised a brow, and a sinful smile stole across his lips. “How can I ever look at you and see ‘Drudge Dunhaven’ ever again?”

She tried to back away, but could not so long as he held her hand. “I know what you are on about. This is nothing more than another attempt to unsettle me and make me leave the Hospital.”

“Why were you flirting with John?” he said, pulling her closer so he could look down into her eyes.

Her head reeled at his sudden change of both subject and tone. His voice had grown deeper, with a dangerous edge to it. “I was not—”

“You were.”

“I was not!” she gasped, jerking free. Rather than flee, however, she stood her ground, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing her run away.

“Then pray tell me what you thought you were doing? First Russell, then John...are you by chance trying to make me jealous?”

Harriett blinked in surprise as his words made her feel all funny inside. “I was attempting to remain in his good graces, if you must know. He’d just promised a rather large donation to the Hospital—and then you showed up and began pushing me out of the conversation.”

“You don’t need his money,” he growled.

“It’s not for me. It’s for the Hospital!”

“John never give

s a gift without expecting something in return.”

“Fine.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “Then we’ll have to name the new building after him, won’t we?”

His eyes widened. “Just how the hell much did he offer you?”

“He committed two thousand pounds before several witnesses—to the Hospital.”

“Bloody hell, woman!” he exploded. “No man gives a sum like that without expecting his bed warmed for it!”

Horrified, she gaped at him for a moment. “He’s a married man! Married to one of my friends, in fact. Even if he weren’t, I am appalled that you would even suggest I might engage in an illicit liaison for money like some common dockside strumpet!”

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