“Wrong again,” she countered. “I do like to surprise you once in a while, you know?”
He raised a brow. “I thought you were angry with me.”
“Who says I’m not?”
* * *
Devon let his eyes devour Lily’s décolletage. The woman looked like a dream. Her tiny waist encased in shimmering satin, her ample breasts pushed up for his eyes to feast upon, her white, creamy skin bared to his appreciative gaze. He shuddered. Could she feel how much he wanted her right now? Had always wanted her? “Why didn’t you dance with Medford? Do I mistake my guess or had he asked you before I arrived?”
Lily’s eyes met and sparked with his. “Why didn’t you dance with Miss Templeton?”
“You sneer that name in the same manner I once pronounced your title,” he said with a laugh.
“You’re evading my question. Miss Templeton is obviously more than eager to renew your betrothal.”
His eyes slid across her skin, devouring her. “What is it you told me once? Ah, yes, souls in Hades want a drink of water.”
Lily gave him a brilliant smile.
“It’s not surprising,” Devon said, his teeth tugging at his lower lip.
“What? Miss Templeton’s desire to renew your betrothal? Ah, still arrogant, I see.” Lily twirled around him, her skirts caressing his legs.
“No.” He laughed again. “I only meant that I was right.”
“Right about what?”
He pulled her close. His cheek brushed her temple. “Come out onto the balcony with me,” he whispered into her ear.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she whispered back.
With a sly smile, Devon pulled Lily along behind him. He grabbed two champagne glasses from the nearest footman on the way out. Devon pushed open the French doors with his back. They fell shut behind the two of them. He turned to face Lily, handing her one of the glasses. She eagerly took it and drank. Thankfully, they were alone with the night. No other partygoers were on that particular area of the balcony just then.
“No doubt we’re the scandal of the ballroom,” she said, laughing and peering through the windows. She twirled around in a circle. “What with you pulling me out of there like that, God knows what they’re saying about us now.”
Devon chuckled and sipped from his own glass of champagne. “We were already the talk of the ballroom. Or hadn’t you noticed?”
* * *
Lily laughed out loud at that. Laughed and drank more champagne. She felt quite reckless and quite wonderful of a sudden. “Tell me. What were you right about?” She twirled around again as Annie was wont to do.
Devon grinned and the moonlight glistened off his white teeth. He winked at her. “The secret to catching a woman is to make her think she is chasing you. Seems to hold true in Miss Templeton’s case at least.”
Lily’s heart fell a bit, but the champagne was making her deliciously carefree. “You admit you want Miss Templeton to chase you?” She advanced on him, hoping her décolletage was still working the magic it was meant to.
“I admit no such thing.” His free hand went around Lily’s waist. She drank more champagne. “The one woman I’ve been trying to catch is only just now in my arms.”
Lily couldn’t help it. She closed her eyes and nearly melted against him. Oh, fine, she should have been offended. She should have been shocked, outraged, or any other number of overused terms that sprang to mind, but instead she was … pleased. Yes, that was it. Nothing but pleased. She turned around in his arms. He enfolded her into his embrace. If anyone were to walk onto the balcony at that moment, she would be entirely ruined of course. Perhaps it was the moonlight, or the champagne, or the man, but she … Did. Not. Care.
She craned her neck and looked up at him. “You’re only trying to catch me so you can turn me in like a voucher.”
He winced. “Now, that stings.” He ran his fingers up the sides of her arms to the dip in her bodice, his forefinger edging along the trim that framed her neckline. The heat of his fingers drew fevered patterns on her skin. “And it’s entirely untrue.”
She turned in his embrace, wrapped her arms around his neck, and breathed her champagne-scented breath against his neck. “You deny trying to seduce me then?”
Devon pulled her against his rock-hard body. “Never.”
“Why were you fighting Lord Ashbourne?”
Devon cleared his throat. “Because Ashbourne was responsible for that damned bet at the club.”
Lily narrowed her eyes at him. “Really?”
“Yes, really. I told you it wasn’t me.”
Her face softened. “You fought your friend over me?”
“Yes. He damn well deserved it.”
“Are you still angry with him?”
“No, we’ve moved past it. Besides, he should be in the ballroom right now, dancing with your sister, as part of his amends.”
Lily giggled. She let her arms drop from Devon’s shoulders and moved over to the French doors where she glanced into the ballroom. There they were, Annie and Jordan Holloway, dancing. The two actually cut a striking figure together. “Well, it seems Lord Ashbourne has managed to distract her from Arthur Eggleston for five minutes. Even with that black eye of his. Most impressive.”
“A very well-deserved black eye,” Devon said. “Ashbourne’s apologized for the damage he’s done, but I told him it remains to be seen if you’ve forgiven me.”
Lily turned back to face him, a sly smile on her lips. “Very well. I’ve forgiven you. Is that what you want to hear?”
“Is it true?”
She nodded, biting her lip. “Everything’s changed.”
“What does that mean?”
“Perhaps I am the master of seduction after all,” she breathed.
He moved toward her and reached out, his finger tracing her jawline. “Is that so? What do you know about seduction?”
She pulled out of his reach and turned in a circle. Around and around. “Seduction? Let me think.” She tapped a finger to her forehead. “Let’s see. There are nice men, shy men, mysterious men, and all-out lovers.”
He reached for her again, but she eluded him. “What are you talking about?”
Lily laughed. She set her empty glass on the balustrade. “Everyone knows. Everyone knows about seduction. Everyone but
me
.”
His voice was a husky, interested whisper. “What do you mean, Lily?”
She advanced on him, with half-hooded eyes. “Perhaps the tables have turned. Perhaps I’m not waiting for you to seduce me anymore. Perhaps I’m planning on seducing
you
now.”
He looked at her as if he feared she’d lost her mind. “Lily, you don’t know what you’re saying.”
Lily didn’t answer. Instead, she stepped forward again, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled his mouth down barely a breath from hers. She would make sure she sounded serious. Very serious. “Yes. I. Do.”
His eyes flared. “When did you come to this conclusion?”
She smiled a cunning smile and silently asked herself the same question. Was it the champagne or the moonlight?
“I came to this conclusion when I saw you with your shirt off.”
* * *
What had got into Lily? The last time he’d talked to her alone, she was hurling accusations at him at the theater, then her strange behavior this afternoon at the boxing match, and now she was telling him she meant to seduce him. It was enough to confuse the hell out of him.
He watched her, advancing toward him, looking like a siren who’d just emerged from the sea. His mind traced back to a night five years ago, another ball, another balcony, with the same beautiful young woman.
Lily’s debut. Devon had come that night because his father had forced him to. Back when he gave a damn what his father wanted. It had all been a farce, really. Devon might have had an illustrious title, but it was well-known even then among the
ton
that the Colton coffers were completely empty. A title without a fortune might be appealing to an heiress or those who smelled of shop, but a gently reared English girl from a good family would much prefer a title
and
a fortune if given the choice. True, he’d had a variety of flirtations, and an indecent number of offers to spend the night in the beds of Society’s most beautiful married women, but the young ladies’ parents and chaperones made it their business to keep their sheltered little innocents away from him. A destitute marquis was no one’s first choice.
He’d been there that night, halfheartedly attempting to talk Ashbourne out of his obsession with a blond named Georgiana, and counting the moments before he could leave and go to his club, when Lily had sauntered past.
He’d looked twice. Something he rarely did. He’d nearly groaned when he realized her white gown and hovering mother marked her as an innocent. But he’d been unable to resist and had asked her to dance, ignoring the scowl on her mother’s face. And he hadn’t regretted asking her to dance.
Lily had been just as engaging as she was beautiful, something else he hadn’t expected. He’d danced with her twice, unable to help himself, but then he’d left her alone. A third dance with him would do nothing for her reputation and he could not have such an innocent. Even if he had lost his mind and proposed marriage, her mother would have had none of it, the look of disapproval on that woman’s face had been evident.
Later that night, he’d been smoking a cheroot out in the garden when a musical voice behind him made him turn. “No more dancing for you this evening, Lord Colton?”
He’d immediately stomped out the cheroot and turned to face her, a wide smile on his face. “I’m afraid not, Miss Andrews.”
A slight frown had marred the porcelain skin of her forehead. “I’m very sorry to hear that.”
“I assure you, you’ll have no trouble finding other gentlemen to dance with.”
She’d nodded matter-of-factly, and Devon had smothered his smile. There was something so straightforward about the girl. Not vain. Just confident and unpretentious. And beautiful.
She sighed. “I’m afraid none of them are such lovely dancers as you.”
He’d laughed. “Ah, my mother would be pleased to hear it. She forced me to take dancing lessons for an indecent period of time. Seems her diligence has been rewarded.”
Lily laughed then and the tinkling sound filled Devon’s mind. He never wanted to be out of her company.
“Being that you’re such a lovely dancer, won’t you come back in and dance with me once more, my lord?”
Devon couldn’t help but smile. “Where is your mother?”
Her eyes widened. “Inside. Why?”
“She doesn’t know you’re out here, does she?”
A sly smile flashed across her lovely face. She shook her head. “No.”
Devon took a deep breath. This wouldn’t be pleasant, but it was necessary. He couldn’t allow an uninformed innocent to continue her flirtation with him. Damn it, he detested his father for forcing him to attend such events. “The fact is, Miss Andrews, your mother wouldn’t want you out here with me.”
“Oh, come now. It’s not
that
scandalous, being alone with a gentleman on a balcony.”
“With me, it is.”
Her brow furrowed again. “Why? Have you done something horrendous, Lord Colton?” She smiled at him, a smile he wanted to remember forever.
He nodded. “Yes.”
Her smile disappeared, replaced by a look of curiosity. “What?”
He shrugged. “As far as the
ton
is concerned, I’ve done the most horrible thing there is.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand. You’re the heir to the Marquis of Colton, are you not?”
He placed a hand on the stone statue next to him. “Yes.”
“Then what could you possibly have done to fall out of favor with Society?”
He laughed. “You don’t know much about Society, do you?”
She looked confused and he regretted that. “No,” she admitted. “I’ve only just had my debut.”
Devon winced. “I’m sorry to inform you, Miss Andrews, that I am poor. Not just poor, destitute. My father and I live on credit and little else. That is the sin for which Society can never forgive me.”
Surprisingly, Lily’s face had blossomed into a wide smile. “Is that all? I thought you’d done something truly horrific like got a divorce or made an indecent overture to Princess Charlotte.”
He swallowed his laugh. The girl was irreverent. He liked that about her. He liked it very much. “You’re not horrified?”
She shook her head. “Not a bit. Money’s never meant anything to me.”
His smile had been ironic. “I can assure you, your mother feels quite differently.”
Lily shrugged. “My mother doesn’t believe in love.”
Love. The word had caught him unawares. It had tugged at his conscience and his heart. “Love?”
“Yes, when I fall in love it won’t have anything whatsoever to do with money,” she’d assured him. “Character is much more important than money can ever be.”
She’d said the words so easily and Devon knew without a doubt she meant them. He’d been drawn to her before, her beauty, her laughter, her spark. But here was a real gem, a gorgeous young woman without the preconceived notions of her snobbish family. Without the drilled-in beliefs of the
ton
in her brain. A true original.
She’d smiled at him, an impish smile, and Devon hadn’t been able to keep from smiling back.
“So?” she asked. “Won’t you dance with me?”
And they had danced again, there in the gardens, to the strains of a waltz drifting through the French doors. And that’s when Devon had fallen in love with her. She was everything he’d ever hoped for and never believed he could find.
Yes, she’d made him believe again. Believe in everything including … love. That is, until he’d received her note.
But that had all been five years ago. An age. And now, here she was, talking about seducing him. He shook his head.
“Lily, for the love of God, what are you talking about?” His voice shook with desire.
“Oh, I’ll get to that in a moment, my lord,” Lily said, draining the rest of Devon’s champagne glass before abandoning it on the side of the stone balcony. “First, there is another secret I have to tell.”
She turned to him, her eyes flashing, and advanced on him again.
He swallowed. “What’s that?”
“Scared, are you?”
“I have no idea what you’ll say from one minute to the next tonight.”