Married By Midnight(31)
She began to wonder how much longer she could behave virtuously. This powerful sexual pull was growing stronger each day. Was it even worth the fight? They would be married in a week regardless and would consummate the marriage at that time. What difference would a few days make if they chose to consummate it earlier? Why not steal some pleasure for herself until he left? Lord knows she had gone long enough without. But could she manage it? How would she survive if she fell more deeply in love with him and then he deserted her afterward without a care? As the contract said he would.
When at last he entered the drawing room, her body responded with an explosive round of desire, and she was forced to accept that all her lofty goals to remain aloof had been defeated. She was in love with Garrett. There would be no escaping it.
Tonight he wore formal black dinner attire with a white waistcoat and tie. His golden hair was damp at the ends, as if he had just stepped out of the bath, and that image of him stepping out...well that alone was enough to upset her whole cart of sensible intentions.
She turned to face the other direction, so that she couldn’t stare at him like a love-struck fool.
A moment later, she felt a hand on her arm and knew it was him even before she turned around.
“Good evening,” he said.
Just the sound of his voice sent her reeling into a place where the future seemed far less important than the sizzling thrill of the present moment.
Heaven help her, for she knew she would soon be done for...if given the opportunity.
* * *
After a day spent sleeping late and playing billiards with his brothers—and sipping far too much cognac—Garrett assumed dinner would be a stodgy affair and he would be too drunk to respond to Anne’s singular, sensual beauty.
He was proven wrong, however, when he walked into the drawing room and saw her in that form-fitting blue gown, which took on an ethereal glow in the evening light. He got a whiff of lilac perfume as he approached, and had to work hard to remind himself theirs was not a love affair. Not an affair of the heart. There was a binding contract between them. Tonight was a performance for his father’s benefit, nothing more.
“Good evening.” Her smile was luminous. “I heard you were engaged in a billiards game today, and that it lasted many hours.”
“That’s right,” he replied. “And I heard you attended a children’s concert in the village that melted everyone’s hearts.”
Her full lips curled into a mischievous grin and her eyes twinkled. “The children were quite adorable.”
She was adorable. Impossibly beautiful. Utterly irresistible. And no child.
A footman came by with two crystal glasses of sherry on a silver tray. Garrett picked them up and handed Anne one.
“I wasn’t sure if you would be angry with me today,” he softly said, glancing over his shoulder to ensure no one was listening.
“Why would I be angry?” she asked.
He paused. “Sometimes a woman is displeased when a gentleman leaves her bed in the night without saying good-bye.”
Anne slowly sipped on her drink. “A woman would only be displeased if the gentleman had taken improper liberties with her, but you were a perfect gentleman last night, Garrett. So no, I am not angry. But I am curious. How long did you stay?”
He glanced over his shoulder again. “Most of the night. I left just before dawn.”
“Did you sleep at all?”
“Very well, in fact.”
“No unpleasant dreams?”
“Not a single one. I should thank you for that.”
His shoulders relaxed, but the agitation did not leave him, for he still wanted to bed her in the worst, most ungentlemanly way.
“If you like, you could come again tonight,” she quietly suggested, running the tip of her finger around the rim of her glass.
Was it possible her resolve was weakening? Garrett wondered as he tried to decipher her motives and her intent.
“Are you sure that would be wise?” he asked.
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
He glanced around. “What would the others say if they knew?”
Her eyes glimmered like gemstones, and the ring on her finger flashed brilliantly in the firelight. “I don’t think that is your chief concern,” she said.
“No?” he asked.
One dark, arched eyebrow rose a fraction. “No. I think you are terrified you might fall in love with me, Garrett, then all your ambitious plans for a life of loneliness and despair would be undone. That would be terribly disappointing, would it not?”
The butler entered just then to announce that dinner was served.
Surprised and more than a little disconcerted by Anne’s daring inference, he offered his arm and escorted her into the dining room.