No Longer A Gentleman by Mary Jo Putney

Author:Mary Jo Putney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2012-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

Girding herself for another difficult discussion, Cassie headed upstairs. She met Mrs. Powell at the top of the steps.

“I put Mr. Sommers in the room at the back of the house where it’s nice and quiet,” the older woman said. Though she was middle-aged and known for steady good sense and discretion, she gave a girlish giggle. “He’s quite the handsome fellow, he is! How long will he be staying?”

Grey’s charm was obviously recovering along with the rest of him, Cassie thought acerbically. “Several weeks, perhaps. He’s an old friend of Lord Kirkland’s.”

“A lord himself, I’ll be bound,” Mrs. Powell said as she turned to descend the stairs. “I’ll make sure he’s comfortable.”

Cassie headed down the long corridor to the Blue Room. After knocking on the door as warning, she entered before Grey had time to tell her to go away.

He stood at the window watching night fall on London, the dome of St. Peter’s silhouetted against the skyline. He was cool and remote and very much Lord Wyndham.

“I’m sorry for that scene,” she said without preamble. “It was the purest bad luck that Rob Carmichael happened to stop by as we were arriving.”

“Bad luck indeed,” he said, not turning to look at her.

“You knew I was no innocent virgin,” she said with exasperation.

“Neither was I, but my dalliances are all ten years in the past.” After a long silence, he said haltingly, “And ... there’s a difference between abstract knowledge and knowing that you’ve been with a man I know and always found rather intimidating.” In a softer voice, he added, “A man who seems very much your sort.”

“Intimidating is a useful trait for a Bow Street Runner,” she agreed, interested in how the two men saw each other. “Will you please stop staring out the window?”

Grey turned, though it was hard to read his expression in the fading light. “I owe you an apology for damaging your affair with Carmichael. While I knew you were a woman of the world, I didn’t realize you had a lover waiting in London.”

“I just had this conversation with Rob,” she said dryly. “He and I have been friends and partners and have shared danger. But though we sometimes shared a bed, that was never the most important part of our friendship.”

His eyes narrowed. “Is the bed the main point of our friendship? Or just part of the nanny service you offer when you rescue fools from captivity?”

She resisted the urge to throw something at him. “I should have let you and Rob break each other’s necks!” She spun on her heel and headed for the door, thinking that Grey was becoming a detached, ironic gentleman all too quickly.

He swore and caught up with her before she reached the door, wrapping his arms around her from behind and pulling her tight against his chest. “I’m sorry, Cassie,” he said intensely. “I didn’t know I had a possessive streak, but with you, I’m different.”

“Circumstances are different,” she said, trying not to melt back into him.

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