A Proper Scandal (Ravensdale Family Book 2) by Rebecca Paula

Author:Rebecca Paula [Paula, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rebecca Paula
Published: 2016-04-20T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

“Oh, she’s a terrible drunk.” Minnie sipped her wine. “She carries on, kicking her way through the club, stealing drinks. The men adore her.” She smiled over her glass at Alex.

“Not with you there.”

“Are you flirting with me, Alex?”

He laughed, kicking his feet up onto a velvet ottoman, his white shirt still unbuttoned. He looked deliciously undone, all tussled and rosy-cheeked from an afternoon nap. She caught his stare, peered down at the floor, her hand fussing over the long tassel of her dressing gown.

“Have something to eat, Min.”

The feast she ordered still sat on the table covered by elaborate silver domes. When she had asked her lady’s maid to fetch dinner for two, the woman raised an eyebrow. It gave Minnie momentary pause. It was wrong to host a dinner for a friend in her private compartments while living under another man’s roof.

He traced his fingers over the rim of his glass in lazy circles. Her knees buckled at the thought of his hand doing the same to her body. She swayed toward him. “She hates me,” Minnie continued, turning to the fire. She peered into the mirror and saw that he was still staring at her. He caught her gaze and she smiled back, her throat tightening.

“Darling?”

Minnie closed her eyes. She wished he would stop calling her that ridiculous pet name. It did unnatural things to her mind, tricking her to soften toward him.

“But she’s older. I suppose all she has left is to kick up her skirts for any man willing to pay for her drink. It’s sad, really…” Minnie’s voice trailed off when she caught his heated gaze through the mirror again. It felt as if he stood right behind her, drawing his index finger lazily over the curve of her shoulder, slowly winding her up. The magic of it was that he still sat in the chair, some twenty feet across the room.

Her bedroom was much larger than the small attic they shared at Mrs. Bowen’s, but in that instant, it didn’t feel larger. It seemed as if the walls were closing in around her as she broke their staring contest.

“Show me how she dances. I missed her performance the other night.”

She knew what he was playing at, but she would gladly give in if it meant he kept smiling at her like he was. That smile. It was pure magic.

Minnie switched on the phonograph by her vanity. She had insisted Monsieur Peprin buy one for her so she could dance in her room. She never thought she would dance again for Alex.

“You know,” she started, “I don’t think I’ll dance for you again. You laughed at me last time.”

“I was an idiot,” he said, trying to pull on a straight face at his denial.

“Yes, you were. You thought Anne Gibbons was a horrible dancer.”

“Never happened.”

She nodded knowingly, padding over to the table dressed with a fancy dinner. Her fingertips stretched over the tablecloth in a slow drumming beat.

Alex pulled on the tassel of her dressing gown.

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