Read Online All's Fair in Love and Seduction by Beverley Kendall - Free Book Online Page A

you home, Stanfield,” Derek offered. The man certainly wasn’t going to remain with them, not with Miss Rutherford rushing off to be there at the birth of Armstrong’s first child. Stanfield could do nothing else but accept his offer unless he wished to hire a hackney home as they had all come together in Derek’s carriage. 
    Stanfield gave a grudging nod and ten minutes later, the trio had departed.
    Now blessedly alone with Miss Smith, Derek directed his full attention at her, his elbow crooked. She peered up at him, her eyes uncertain perhaps a little afraid. He suppressed a smile and asked graciously, “Shall we?”
     
    “Di-did you have anything to do with that?” she asked after a pause, her hand resting lightly on his forearm. Elizabeth was quite sure he had. It simply couldn’t be a coincidence. 
    His frame shook with laughter, drawing her gaze up to his.
     “Even I could not foresee the precise timing of Lady Armstrong’s child readying itself to enter the world. Really, Miss Smith, you think too much of my abilities. Am I now a mystic? A sightseer?”
    Elizabeth understood just how ridiculous she sounded, but she just knew he’d had a hand in this even if she could not say exactly how.  She also knew she was in a heap of trouble. He had that look in his eyes. The same look that had kept her on edge these last two weeks. An unabashed want that mirrored her own.
    From their first kiss, she had known this was how it would be between them, that razor sharp awareness and a hunger that grew with every word, every touch and every look exchanged. And now with Charlotte gone, Elizabeth would have to cope on her own. Be strong in spite of herself. Things did not look promising. 
    They toured the museum the next several hours, taking in the royal collection of books in the King’s Library. They moved on to see the Rosetta Stone before concluding their visit with the statue of the Great Winged Bull.  He impressed her with his superior knowledge, speaking with great authority on the subject of Egyptian hieroglyphs and various other topics. 
    She also discovered his love of reading was as great as her own. At that, some of her anxiety eased,  Lord Creswell conducting himself like a perfect gentleman. He was solicitous in his touch and respectful in his manner, never once stripping her bare with his gaze. 
    When they tumbled into the carriage in the early evening, Elizabeth had convinced herself she could trust him to keep his hands—and all parts of him—to himself. 
    The waning rays of the sun heralded dusk, shrouding the carriage in darkness. Lord Creswell sat across from her, his figure cast in a shadow of gray and black. Except to ask her if she’d enjoyed the visit, he remained silent. Which wouldn’t have been all that bad had she not known he was watching her. She could feel it. And the same tension she’d fear would derail her efforts came back, humming in the air stronger than before. 
    Some minutes later, the barouche came to a halt beside a townhome; a red-brick edifice that soared three stories high. 
    “Why have we stopped here?” she asked. Who lives here?
    “It’s a property I’ve just purchased. I thought you’d like to see it, perhaps offer your thoughts. You will be residing here, after all,” came his smooth reply. 
    Elizabeth peered out the window and then back at his shadowed face. If she couldn’t see him, she couldn’t read him and therefore wouldn’t know whether to trust him. But a far more dire situation than that was she didn’t trust herself. 
    “I would prefer we come back another time.” 
    Coward.  
    No, simply self-preservation. 
    “Really, Miss Smith, does the thought of being alone with me fill you with such fear? In any case, the groom needs to tend the horses. Come now,” he cajoled, “I promise I won’t bite.” His tone did nothing to reassure her. He sounded sensually sinister if two such words could be put together in that way. 
    Elizabeth