The Devil's Own Dare (Wagers and Wallflowers Book 12) by Alyssa Clarke

Author:Alyssa Clarke [Clarke, Alyssa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Darkan Press Inc.
Published: 2023-07-30T16:00:00+00:00

That night, Harriet attended Lady Chatterley’s midnight ball, the last such event before she would venture to Cheswick for seven days. She plucked a flute of champagne from a passing footman. She sipped the bubbly, humming to the tune and letting the din of music, laughter, and chatter wash over her senses. Her senses did not feel excited to be out tonight, especially as none of her friends from Berkeley Square was in attendance. Harriet felt bored. How she wished she had convinced mama that her headache was real. The fine hairs on the nape of her neck suddenly stood on end, and she tensed. Someone was close.

“I gather there is a reason you are hovering behind the potted plant.”

Relief and other emotions she could not identify crashed over her senses. What was inescapable was that her entire body felt alive and as if it belonged to someone else. Without turning around, she murmured, “I am hiding from the viscount.”

“Still?”

She gasped, for Noah’s breath wafted over the flesh of her nape. “How close are you standing?”

“No one is watching. Even if they dared look this way, we are hidden between two columns and a very intimidating plant.”

“Where have you been?” she asked softly.

“Is that a reprimand I hear?”

Harriet unfurled her fan, waving it lazily before her so it would not be evident to an onlooker she spoke. “Yes.”

“I visited Derbyshire.”

Oh! “What is in Derbyshire?”

“My mother and two sisters.”

Harriet blinked. “I never knew you had two sisters.” She had never heard Jonas mention much about Warwick’s family. “Are they much younger?”

“Caroline had a tentative come out this season. However, she is not marriage minded and is very happy to visit the countryside with my mother for a couple of weeks. Olivia will be fourteen this year and is quite the opposite in her temperament. She dreams of having a season and making a grand match. Mother is delighted with those ambitions.”

Fondness lingered in his tone, and it warmed her chest that Noah loved his sisters. Harriet did not recall meeting Lady Caroline this season. There were many new and delightful faces, but she and her friends often kept to themselves. “Is Caroline the person who wishes to join Berkeley Square?”

“Yes.”

Harriet cleared her throat. “I would happily recommend her.”

“You do not know her.”

“I know you, and that is enough.”

“Thank you. I will inform her. She will swoon with delight.”

Another unknown emotion wrenched inside Harriet’s chest. “You would let her decide this matter?”

“My sister can think for herself.”

Harriet felt charmed. “How progressively novel and unexpected given only a few nights ago you were adamant against her becoming a member.”

“My response was from a place of shock. But upon introspection, I could find no fault with a club from which you are a product.”

His voice dipped low and drawled over the word “you” as if he were afflicted with something.

Harriet could feel the pleasant heat radiating from his body though he did not touch her. A part of her desperately wanted to turn around and see him, but that the desire existed was enough for her to deny it.

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