The Scandalous Flirt by Olivia Drake

Author:Olivia Drake
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Chapter 14

Aristocratic marriages are grand alliances in which love is irrelevant.

—MISS CELLANY

Rory hurried through the dark alley behind her stepmother’s house. The sun had set, making it difficult for her to see her way through the gloom. The yellow glow of lamps in the windows of the neighboring town homes did little to penetrate the deep shadows.

Aunt Bernice had stayed for dinner at Lady Dashell’s insistence, but Rory had begged off on the excuse that if she was to borrow a dress for tomorrow night’s ball, it would be wise to do so immediately in order to allow time to make any necessary adjustments. In reality, she had been too angry to sit at the dining table with Lucas.

I will not permit you to appear at a ball in the company of a scandalous flirt.

In one fell swoop, his judgmental decree to his mother had banished all the warmth and camaraderie Rory had developed toward him during their afternoon together. It had even erased the compassion she’d felt after he’d confessed his guilt over his mother’s accident.

Scandalous flirt, indeed!

He had relished her flirting today when it had been required for their ruse. She had seen the glint of desire intensify those iron-gray eyes. She had felt the heat of passion radiating from him. She had heard the caressing quality of his voice and witnessed the wicked warmth of his smile.

But in reality, Lucas Vale had not changed one whit. He was still the coldhearted despot who regarded her as less than a worm beneath his well-shod foot. How dare he condemn her as a scandalous flirt when eight years had passed since that mortifying incident! Didn’t he realize she had grown up since then? That she’d paid a steep price for believing a man’s lies?

“You are so beautiful,” Stefano whispered in her ear. “You are a woman made for loving, carissima. The woman I will love forever.”

His ardent declaration, spoken with his charming Italian inflection, thrilled her romantic heart. When his hands pushed up her skirts, she didn’t resist. As he brazenly stroked her most intimate place, a tide of excited longing made Rory feel she might swoon. She disregarded all the warnings she’d heard about cads who took advantage of naïve girls. Stefano wasn’t like that. He loved her. He would ask her to be his wife and they would live happily ever after.

In a haze of pleasure, she had not expected what had happened next. The slam of an opening door. The angry tread of feet. Papa’s furious voice …

The darkness of the alley suited her own black mood. Lucas was wrong to condemn her for that one mistake. She had been young and gullible, ripe for an expert seducer. Yet he seemed to think she would make a spectacle of herself at Tinsley’s ball. Blast him, couldn’t he give her any credit for having learned her lesson about being indiscreet?

When Lady Dashell had proposed that she attend the ball, Rory’s initial reaction had been alarm. She’d quailed at the thought of facing all the gossips who had scorned her.

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