Sex and the Single Earl by Vanessa Kelly

Author:Vanessa Kelly
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Man-woman relationships, England, Contemporary, General, Romance, Marriage, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9781420106558
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2010-05-04T00:59:58+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

What the hell had just happened?

Simon stared at his fiancée’s slim figure, rigid with indignation, as she escorted Aunt Eleanor from the Pump Room. If he didn’t know better he could have sworn someone had just yanked his brains from his skull, shaken them about like a terrier shakes a rat, and then reinserted them upside down. His teeth were so tightly clenched it just might take a chisel to pry them apart.

He had been absolutely certain of her last night, assuming her anxious reaction to their lovemaking—and his insistence they set a date for their marriage—had been due to the unusual amount of champagne she had consumed earlier at the ball. She was an innocent, and their physical intimacies were bound to upset her, even though she had clearly enjoyed them in the moment. Hell, the spectacular sex had stunned him, and he had lost any pretensions to innocence long ago.

In fact, he had been so sure of her that after he met with his bankers this morning, he instructed Soames to draw up the contracts for the new mills in Yorkshire. Simon had planned on leaving Bath this afternoon to meet with Jedediah Russell at his offices in Bristol, and complete negotiations before the canny factory owner could be tempted by any other offers.

But, as usual, Sophie had thrown a spanner into the works. Russell would never agree to anything unless he knew his potential partner had unrestricted access to a sufficient coal supply. In his latest missive to Soames, Russell had made it clear that he wanted proof, not promises. The announcement in the Bath Chronicle of the betrothal of Miss Sophia Stanton to the Earl of Trask had been intended to provide that assurance.

Jerking to awareness of the sideways glances and curious stares of the other patrons in the Pump Room, Simon repressed a groan. More than a few scandalmongers had witnessed his argument with Sophie, but he had been so amazed by her lunatic attempts to manipulate him that he had been hard put to control his anger. Every ounce of his willpower had been press-ganged into fighting the urge to shake the little baggage. Well, if Sophie thought she could outmaneuver him, she would soon learn a surprising lesson.

He spun on his heel, barely avoiding a crash into a lush little package wrapped in burgundy silk. Simon bit back the foul curse that sprang to his lips.

“Good day, my lord.”

The scent of Bathsheba’s expensive French perfume wafted up his nostrils. He suppressed the impulse to sneeze.

Odd. That seductive scent, and Bathsheba’s practiced sexuality, had always made his cock twitch with lust. But for the first time it occurred to him that his former mistress seemed…unwholesome.

“Lady Randolph.”

“You seem in a great hurry, Simon.” Bathsheba’s voice dropped to a low, amused tone. “Are you charging off to play nursemaid to Sophie again? I understand how loyal you are to anyone you consider family, but that impertinent child is a scandal waiting to happen. She is apparently unable to go about in public without causing a scene.

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