The Untamed Earl(28)

The words Owen had been about to say caught in his throat. There was something poignant in the fact that this young woman, this stranger, had said something to him that his own father could not.

Owen pushed away the thought and moved from the table, turning in a circle. “Very well. What would a romantic gentleman do to properly court a lady?”

Alex patted her coiffure. “He would bring her gifts.”

He gave a mock groan. “Must I?”

Alex crossed her arms over her chest and paced away from him. “Perhaps write her a sonnet.”

Owen shook his head. “Not a chance.”

Alex waved one hand in the air in a flourish. “Tell her that her eyes are the blue of heaven.”

“Seriously, not a chance.”

Alex stopped pacing, turned, and regarded him head-on. “At the very least, he should begin by asking her to take a turn about the room with him instead of her sister.”

Owen tugged at his cuff. “Very funny. That was an honest mistake. By the by, does she enjoy a turn about the room?”

“Not particularly.”

“Alex, is there anything that your sister actually does enjoy?”

“She quite enjoys gazing at herself in the mirror.”

Owen groaned.

* * *

Alex fought her blush. No one called her Alex. Ever. Why did she like it when he did? And why was she already taking to the name herself? She shook her head. She had to concentrate on his questions about Lavinia and not on how good he looked in his skintight buckskin breeches or the fact that he smelled like a delicious combination of faint woodsmoke and soap. But this was why she’d come here, and she had to execute her plan. The threat of sonnets and poetry might not be enough. She tried to banish her guilt over the lie she was about to tell. She took a deep breath and crossed her fingers, which were hidden in her skirts. “Lavinia likes it when gentlemen are forceful, forthright.”

Owen’s eyebrows shot up. “Excellent. I am both. And?”

“And what?” How many things was he expecting her to tell him right away?

He came to stand near her, and Alex gulped as she realized how much taller he was than she. She hadn’t been quite this close last night. Standing at his full height, he had to be at least three inches over six feet tall to her five feet five inches. Not to mention his broad shoulders distracted her.

“What else does she like?” he asked, jarring her from her thoughts.

Very well. He expected more than just one thing. She could do this. Alex sucked in a deep breath once more and searched her memory for her conversation with Lavinia. She kept her fingers crossed in her skirts so he couldn’t see. “She greatly admires a man who can … handle his liquor.”

His eyebrows hitched higher. “What in God’s name is that supposed to mean?”

Alex shrugged. “It means the more drinking, the better.”

He narrowed his eyes on her. “Well, that has never proved a problem for me, but are you quite serious?”

“Oh yes, quite.” Alex tightened her crossed fingers until they ached. “Lavinia has mentioned it to me on more than one occasion how much she admires a man who enjoys liquor. We once encountered a gentleman who refused to so much as touch a drink. Religious reasons, you know? Lavinia was positively aghast.”

Owen’s brow was furrowed now. “I’m not certain which sort of religious reasons—”

“It was something quite rare,” Alex hastened to add. Confound it. This was already more difficult than she’d thought. Owen was intelligent. Quite intelligent. He wasn’t going to believe some of this, and she was a rubbish liar. She felt it best to remain adamant.

“I’ve heard of moderation—never practiced it, mind you,” he added with a devilish grin. “But I’ve heard of it. I’ve never known anyone who entirely abstained, however.”

Alex shook her head vigorously. “Oh, no. No moderation. Not for Lavinia. In fact, she once challenged two dinner guests to a drinking match.” Alex said a silent prayer that she would not be struck dead by lightning for her flagrant lies.

Owen whistled. “Lady Lavinia drank, too?”

Now who was aghast? Alex managed a small but effective laugh. “No. Of course not. But she did place a pound wager from her pin money on one of the chaps and won.”

Alex’s crossed fingers were getting sweaty. She was relatively certain her forehead was breaking out in a sweat, too. Guilt was not attractive. The truth was that she had been the one to challenge the two knights at the dinner party to the drink-off and had doubled her pin money. She’d also been scolded unmercifully by both her mother and Lavinia for her outrageous behavior. It had not been one of her finest moments, and her mother had insisted she would never find a proper husband if she continued to act like such a hoyden. Her mother was right. It was a good thing she didn’t want a proper husband. She wanted Owen Monroe. She glanced at him to gauge whether he believed her story.