The Unlikely Lady(51)

Indignation flooded through her. She stopped plucking at her gown. Her hands turned into fists along the tops of her thighs. “You’re questioning me? I am not the one who should have to answer for my behavior. I’m not the one who brought his mistress to a wedding!”

Upton’s face contorted with amazement. “My what?”

Based on his reaction, Jane immediately had her doubts, but she’d already said the vile word and she wasn’t about to back down. “You heard me. Your mistress.”

He sat up straight and leaned closer to her, his face still registering disbelief. “Who, pray tell, do you believe is my mistress?”

She turned her face away and sniffed. “Don’t insult my intelligence, Upton.”

“I would never dream of it,” he said through clenched teeth.

“Then you know I mean Mrs. Langford,” she replied through equally clenched teeth.

“I can assure you, Mrs. Langford is unequivocally not my mistress. I do not have a mistress. It’s not my style, but if it was, I certainly wouldn’t dishonor the widow of my deceased friend by making her my mistress. And I would never dishonor Cassandra and Swifdon by inviting a light o’ love to their wedding. Have you gone mad?”

Jane snapped her mouth shut. He sounded so convincing. Could she have made a mistake? Oh, God. Of course she could have. “But Mrs. Langford said…”

“She said she was my mistress?” Surprise tinged his voice.

“Not precisely, but she implied … She said you were ‘quite close.’”

Upton pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, and shook his head. “Look, Jane, I admit Isabella seems to be interested in me, and she’s been quite rude to you, but she is not now nor has she ever been my mistress.”

“So, I’m the only woman you’ve kissed at this house party?” The words sounded ridiculous as soon as they left her mouth but she truly wanted to know the answer.

His laugh was a short, wry chuckle. “The one and only. Despite what you think of me and my reputation, I don’t make a habit of passionate interludes with ladies at my friends’ house parties. You were stunningly beautiful that night. To be entirely candid, I’ve dreamed about it since.”

The air left Jane’s body in a whoosh. Stunningly beautiful? Dreamed about it? Her hands trembled in her lap where she’d resumed the plucking of her skirts. Perfect. Now in addition to her legs, her hands were trembling. This had to be the precursor to apoplexy. His words reverberated throughout her body. Dreamed about it since. Oh, God. She’d dreamed about it too.

Stunningly beautiful. Those two words played in Jane’s head like a song. She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. She opened it and closed it once more.

“I hope you’re proud of yourself, Upton,” she finally managed. “You’ve done the impossible. You’ve rendered me speechless. What do you think of that?”

He turned his head and flashed her a grin. “That is a good start, but the more serious question is, what are we going to do about the fact that we kissed each other? I must confess, I enjoyed it immensely. I know you did too. You wouldn’t let me stop, after all. So the more important question is … when are we going to do it again?”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Garrett arrived at the stables the next morning exactly as planned. It was bloody early for an outing, but he’d agreed to this at dinner last night when Cassandra had suggested they all go for a ride. A dozen or so of the party guests were already wandering around the stables by the time he strolled into the large building.

There had been no nightmares last night. He hadn’t slept. Instead, he’d spent the night thinking about his confrontation with Jane. What had he expected to come of it? He couldn’t answer that. He’d only known he had to confront her to see if he could detect any sign of her supposed love for him. He’d seen nothing other than shock, which made him wonder if it were true.

Garrett admired Jane for matter-of-factly admitting to being Lady Blue. She hadn’t said anything when he’d asked her when they would do it again. He’d been half jesting, half trying to determine if she did, indeed, have strong feelings for him. Jane had announced she had to get to bed and then she’d nearly flown from the room. Frankly, the entire evening had left Garrett more confused than before.

Jane was in the stables already. She stood with Cassandra and Lucy, wearing a blue riding habit that did little for her figure. It didn’t matter. Her figure was burned in his brain.

A loud laugh drew his attention to the right. Mrs. Langford came strolling toward him. “Mr. Upton, there you are.”