Watching Garrett with the boys, Alex felt the rest of her chill toward him melt. Of all the facets to Garrett’s personality, this could prove his most dangerous, for she had a weakness for children.
“I come.” Will toddled over to Alex and raised his hands to be lifted.
Charmed, Alex laughed and bent to scoop up the little boy. “Of course. We wouldn’t leave you with the boring adults when there are kittens to be seen.”
“I am this many,” Will thrust two fingers into her face.
“Gus brought a pony,” Beau said. “He’s going to let me ride him.”
“Lucky you. Gus taught me to ride when I was a girl.” She followed Beau to the door, turning back to smile at Kit and Brandon. “I promise to return quickly, as dinner is already abysmally late, and I’m sure you’re all…ah, ready to eat.” Her eyes snapped to Garrett’s and a flush stole up her cheeks at the knowing gleam in his eyes. She spun around and hastened from the room.
She had meant to say they were all hungry, but the word had stuck in her throat. Damn Garrett for making her trip over a simple word that now harbored a whole new wealth of meaning. It was bad enough that she couldn’t think around Garrett; now she couldn’t talk.
The man was turning her into a mute idiot. There would have to be a new set of rules, which of course, Garrett would break. She huffed out a breath, but seeing Beau skipping ahead of her, she paused. What she needed were reinforcements, someone else to enforce the rules. She had the perfect pair to do so. And the plan required little thinking and no words. Perfect for a mute idiot.
Chapter Twenty
SHE’LL do,” Kit said when Alexandra and the boys had disappeared.
Garrett had been admiring the tantalizing sway of Alexandra’s skirts and the way Will’s arm slipped so naturally around her neck. Lucky boy. At his sister’s words, he turned and narrowed his eyes. “Dare I ask what you mean by that?”
Kit lowered herself down on the sofa, neatened her skirts, and rested her hands on her extended stomach. “What do you think, Garrett? You’re an intelligent man when sober, which thankfully you are.” Kit was unmoved by his warning look. “You’ve been sequestered here, all alone with a young woman, without chaperones, and what do you expect me to say? You are lucky she appears to be a lovely, intelligent, and forgiving young woman. You could do much worse.”
“Much worse for what?” he asked exasperated.
“For a wife,” Kit said, raising her voice to match his.
Stunned, he gaped at her. A wife? He was not getting married, not now, not ever. “What are you talking about? She is here to assist me with finding out who the hell is trying to murder me. She is the only link to this plot. I thought Brandon explained the situation to you.” He wasn’t about to admit to his sister that he had other motives for keeping Alex, not when they could force him to the very altar to which Kit appeared intent on directing him.
“I see,” Kit said. “Do you kiss all your assistants? How does that go with Stewart?”
Brandon coughed and strode over to the decanter when Garrett shot him a dirty look.
“It’s not like that.”
“Oh, then what is it like? Why were you kissing her?”
“Because…because I like kissing her!” Hell and damnation that was the wrong answer.
Brandon rolled his eyes and poured himself a drink. He lifted it in a toast to Garrett. “To a man with a death wish.”
“Will you shut up?” he barked.
“What did you expect would come of this?” Kit asked. “Your reputation is black as sin. Hers will be darkened by mere proximity. The poor girl won’t weather the siege of wagging tongues. That’s if the tongues have not started flapping already. What have you said to the neighbors?”
“Nothing. I’ve said nothing,” he muttered, Kit’s words falling like hail stones, bruising him with the hard, cold truth.
“You’ve seen no one?”
Garrett opened his mouth and then closed it. Keyes. Damn the man.
“That would be a…?”
“We might have run into Keyes,” he admitted with reluctance.
“Might have?” Kit raised a delicate brow.
“All right. We did.” He sighed. “We ran into him while he was out hunting. At the time, I thought I was his target.”
A stunned silence met his words. Brandon lowered his drink and narrowed his eyes. “Do you think he might be behind the attacks on you? He’d have cause, being angry over your purchasing his land.”
“He’s still hot under the collar about that. But he’s not our man.” He waved his hand dismissively. “He’s a coward and an idiot. It would take bravery, brains, and the wherewithal to get off his backside long enough to engineer the plan. Keyes is not our man.”
“At least there’s one name to cross off your list of enemies.” Kit said dryly. “If you had kept your trousers buttoned, that list would be considerably shorter. I warned you—”
“Bran, can’t you do something with your wife? As usual, she’s venturing into areas that are none of her damn business.”
Brandon laughed. “When she speaks the truth, my hands are tied.”
“Keyes may not have brains, but he does possess a tongue,” Kit went on. “I’m sure he has wasted no time wagging it to further blacken your name and Alexandra’s along with it.”
“Oh, Christ.” Garrett dropped onto the sofa beside Kit. “Will you stop quaffing that brandy,” he snapped at Brandon. “I’m the one trying to salvage my neck here.” He planted his elbows on his knees and cradled his head in his hands.
He knew Alexandra was an innocent. Knew he should have kept his hands off her. But he had convinced himself otherwise. That she was different. A woman who made her own choices and damned the consequences. Some risks are worth taking. But she was the daughter of a viscount and that stamped her marriage material—never mistress potential, pretend or otherwise. I won’t be your mistress. The finality of her words reverberated and Garrett cursed.
What the hell was wrong with him?
He jerked at the feel of a hand rubbing his back. He lifted his head and turned a baleful look on Kit. He was surprised to find her eyes warm with sympathy.
“I think you already have,” she murmured.
“What? I have what?” He raised his hands in supplication.
“Saved your neck,” she said and smiled. After a moment, she continued. “And as you say, Lady Alexandra will help you once we return to London. I have brought gowns for her to choose from, and I have arranged for a seamstress to come here to make the necessary alterations. I know it is safe here, but you can’t hole up here forever. We need to catch this man before it is too late.”
“What’s to guarantee the bastard will accept Hammond’s invitation?” Garrett said, echoing Alex’s concern with their plan. “He’s probably hiding in his lair, waiting to receive news of my untimely demise.”
“He has a point there.” Brandon nodded. “That’s what I would be doing.”
Kit glared at Brandon. “We’ll have to bait him, make the invitation too tantalizing for him to refuse. We’ll also hire men to provide protection for Garrett while he’s in town. And the bastard wouldn’t dare commit murder at a ball before three hundred witnesses.”
“I thought I was the bait?” Garrett said.
“No, you’re the target,” Brandon replied.
“Can I hit him if he speaks again?” Garrett turned to Kit.
“Please do.” She narrowed her eyes on her husband. “The invitation should be to a coveted event. An engagement ball should do it. One announcing your betrothal to Lady Alexandra.”
“What? We’re back to that?” Garrett stood up. “I should have—”
“It’s the only way you can squire Lady Alexandra anywhere without tongues wagging and brows raised.” Kit cut him off. “Don’t think Keyes hasn’t already started them flapping. You’re a bachelor, not to mention a rake with a reputation black as sin and—”
“Stop!” G
arrett held up his hand. “You’re treading on ground you’ve already stomped on earlier.”
“This is a good plan. And she’s perfect for you. Aside from this nasty plot on your life, you look the best I’ve seen you in two years. You’re sober, more handsome than ever, and barking at me and snarling at Brandon. You’re kissing a woman and, to use your words, liking it.” She grinned. “She’s doing something right if she’s dragged you back from the brink of self-destruction. From your indulgent ritual of suicidal inebriation, from—”
“Point taken. Stop hammering it home; the pounding is killing my head.”
“It took a great deal of courage for her to confront you about the plot on your life. She also agreed to help in finding these men, even after she believed she had given you all the information she had. And, she didn’t strangle you when she clearly had a right to after you led her to believe I was your mistress, of all the deceitful—”
“All right!” Garrett rubbed his temple. “I understand. I’m a bloody scoundrel, responsible for ruining the reputation of an innocent paragon of virtue.”
“The former sounds right, but considering she was kissing you back, I’ll allow the latter point to be moot.”
Surprised, Garrett stared at Kit and seeing her eyes light with a teasing sparkle, he grinned. He had forgotten that part. Alex was kissing him back, even after she laid out her list of infernal rules. He hated rules. Not touching her? It was like holding the tide from the shore.
Kit was right, but what she didn’t know, couldn’t know, was Alex’s incredible passion and her response to him. She came alive in his arms. And when he held her close, he felt complete. He didn’t deserve her, but he wanted her…and she wanted him. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if they got married. Then she would be legally his.
To touch, to kiss, to have.
Forever.
He chewed on the idea and found it didn’t choke him. He was still breathing, and he felt…good.
He eyed his friend. Brandon had years of this marriage business under him and he looked none the worse for wear. Come to think of it, the man walked around with a smug look on his face, like he knew the secret to a life worth living. Hell, Garrett deserved to know that secret.
He looked up to see Brandon and Kit watching him with knowing amusement. When he realized he had been pacing a wide swath in the carpet, he stopped. “All right, I’ll do it. So what’s next? Posting the banns and whatnot?”
Kit blinked and Brandon paused in lifting his brandy snifter to his lips.
“I’m glad you’ve arrived at a sensible a decision, but haven’t you forgotten something?” Kit said wryly.
“What? What now?” He glanced between them, baffled. He had the woman, he had the will, he had Kit’s approval, and to hell with his stepfather’s. And they had a plan to identify his would-be murderer so he might have a future.
What else was there?
Brandon coughed, and this time it was Kit who glared at him. She then spoke to Garrett as if he were a child who had forgotten rudimentary mathematics. “My dear brother, there is one small but rather pertinent detail you need to consider. To men, it may be a pesky inconvenience, but to women, it is the first step toward winning their hand.” When he still looked blank, she threw up her arms in disgust. “You have to propose first, you idiot!”
Hell. He had forgotten about proposing. He frowned as he contemplated asking Alexandra for her hand. That could be a problem. Brandon had said Alexandra had already turned down several proposals during her Season. Well, Garrett’s mind was made up.
Alex was marrying him.
He looked at Kit. “What do I have to do to get her to say yes?”
Brandon exploded. “Christ. Once upon a time, you were en route to seducing half the women of London. Have two years of celibacy truly rendered you a damn eunuch?” He shook his head. “I tried to talk you out of buying that commission. I tried.”
“Ignore my idiot husband. There will be no seducing of anyone. Do you understand me?” Kit’s eyes narrowed on Garrett. “This is about courtship, not seduction.”
“What’s the difference?” Garrett asked.
Brandon laughed.
“Brandon, my love,” Kit spoke through gritted teeth. “Will you collect Alexandra and the boys? I fear I’m getting weak with hunger, and when that happens, I lose all patience.”
Concerned, Brandon set his glass down. “Do…do you want me to get you some bread or something?”
“No, just the boys. I’ll be fine. Thank you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, quite. Thank you, just go.” She smiled sweetly at him.
Brandon eyed her warily, his eyes dipping to her bulging stomach before he departed, glancing back once or twice in indecision.
Garrett frowned. If marriage could reduce him to that sort of puddle of water, he might have to reconsider matters.
Kit placed her hands over her stomach and drew a deep breath. “Garrett, listen to me. Courtship is about taking the time to get to know one another better. Considering you’ve progressed to the kissing stage, you must be making strides in that area. Continue to be your charming self, treat her with decency and respect, stay sober, and of course, forsake all other women. And Garrett, can you refrain from taking her to bed before you’ve—”
“Kit, have a care for my head. You’re hammering your point home again. Your first line was enough. I can handle the rest.”
“It’s the handling part I’m worried about,” Kit said dryly.
“Don’t give it a thought,” he said. “I mean that literally, Kit. You need to let me take care of matters from here on.”
“You’ll do fine,” Kit said. “Now help me up. Once I plant myself, I’m stuck.”
Garrett grinned and walked over to link hands with her. With a quick tug, he hauled her to her feet. “We wouldn’t want you growing roots.”
“Very funny.” She pressed her hands to her back. “However, you do need to feed me now or I won’t remain as pleasant and understanding as I have been.”
“You’ve been the soul of understanding.”
“Yes, well, I did have Brandon pack his pistols. My brother taught me when negotiating any transaction, one needs to plan for all possible contingencies.”
“That’s my girl.” He smiled. She reminded him of another formidable young woman. He offered his arm to escort her out, his mind already drifting to Alexandra. To courting Alexandra.
He frowned. His flattery was rusty, she had tossed his offer of a new mount back in his face, and she had refused all her other suitors. If he continued down the same path, he really would be whispering Champion’s name in his sleep.
However, as Kit had reminded him, when negotiating any transaction, one needed to plan for all contingencies. Should Alex refuse him, he’d simply kiss her senseless, toss her over Champion’s saddle, and they could be at Gretna Green in no time.
Chapter Twenty-one
THAT evening Alex sat before the dressing table in her bedchamber, staring into the mirror as she drew her brush through her hair. Her thoughts shifted back and forth between her reunion with Gus and meeting Garrett’s sister. Both made her smile.
Gus had never looked better. He was healthy, robust, and…sober. When she had spotted him framed in the stable door, time had traveled backward. Before she knew her feet were moving, she had launched herself into his open-armed embrace. Returning Gus to his old self was the greatest gift Garrett could have given her. This gift was priceless, or it had been until Gus had opened his mouth.
He had wasted little time in telling her she was still too damn scrawny and what the bloody hell had she been thinking to travel here alone with Kendall without waiting for the Warrens’ arrival. He had more to say, but it had faded to background chatter, her resentment drowning it out. She had forgotten how often his thick head had butted up against hers.
While Gus appeared to be her outspoken cross to bear, Kristen appeared to be Garrett’s. A docile, bidd
able thing. She scoffed at the image, for it was the antithesis of the woman, and Alex thanked God for it. However, Garrett had been honest about one thing in regard to his sister. Kristen loved him. It was another mark in Garrett’s favor. For only a man deserving of it would gain this woman’s affections.
The man certainly had a way about him. And he had behaved the perfect gentleman tonight.
Gone was the teasing rake who flirted with her and stole kisses. Not that she missed those, she hastily added, but she couldn’t help but cast suspicious glances his way. Under the watchful eye of his sister and Brandon, he behaved impeccably, and like his nephews, she found herself falling under his spell.
She planted her elbows on the dressing table, dropped her head into her hands, and sighed.
She was in trouble.
Her heart was pulling her in a direction she wasn’t free to go.
Her uncle had seen to that.
She lifted her head, and her reflection swam in her blurry-eyed gaze. Gus was right. What had she been thinking traveling here alone with Garrett? She was not free to follow her heart or her passions, for nothing serious could ever come of them. She tossed her brush onto the table and sat back with a sigh. A knock on the door had her jumping. She whirled to stare at the door separating her room from Garrett’s. He wouldn’t dare enter. Not since his sister and Brandon’s arrival.
The knock came again. She gnawed on her lower lip. This was ridiculous. She could handle him. She closed her eyes. No touching. There would be no handling of anyone. She opened her eyes, swept to her feet, and crossed the room.
In one smooth motion, she flung open the door. “What do you want?”
Garrett smiled, ignoring the bite in her tone. He had discarded his jacket and stood in his linen shirt, minus cravat. The top buttons gaped open. She stared at the bare expanse of his throat and cursed the leap in her pulse. He looked so casual and unbearably handsome, a curl of black hair falling over his forehead and his gray eyes bright with amusement. Heart thundering, she drank him in, until his smile turned into a frown.
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