Wallflower (Old Maids' Club, Book 1) (23 page)

Despite her fears to the contrary, she
even reveled in the fact that all of these gentlemen had called
upon her and were giving her their undivided attention. She’d
expected it to be uncomfortable, to be disconcerting. Instead, it
was invigorating.

But no matter how hard she tried to
make it so, nothing could make her wish for any of them to kiss her
the way Lord Devonport had done last night. Despite the fact that
they all focused solely on her, she couldn’t imagine any of them
touching her, placing their hands upon her body—her breasts—making
her want it to continue the way she had with Lord Devonport. She
couldn’t envision a time when anything Lord Villiers, Lord Brackly,
or Lord Fairweather could do would make liquid heat flood to her
intimate places the way a single heated look from Lord Devonport
seemed to do even as he sat across the room from her.

Slowly, the gentlemen began to take
their leave. First Lord Fairweather left, begging Tabitha’s
permission to take her for a promenade through Hyde Park. A while
later, Lord Brackly took his leave with Tabitha’s permission to
call upon her again. When Lord Villiers finally stood to go, he
requested the opportunity to take her to Gunter’s for an ice later
in the week, to which she agreed.

Finally, only Lord Devonport and her
family remained. He had not removed his gaze from her the entire
afternoon. After Lord Villiers departed, Toby excused himself,
followed soon behind by Owen and Elaine, all claiming they had to
ready themselves for the evening’s entertainments.

Suddenly, Tabitha found it
difficult to look up at Lord Devonport. For that matter, she found
it next to impossible to breathe. She fiddled with her necklace for
lack of anything better to do with her hands. She had to do
something
with them, or
she feared she might rush across the room and touch him in
inappropriate ways, similar to how he touched her last
night.

Oh, dear. She shouldn’t have thought
about that again. Not while they were alone together. Tabitha felt
heat rise up the back of her neck as it always did. She needed to
get away from him. She needed him to leave.

If that didn’t happen soon, she
couldn’t be held accountable for her actions, no matter how absurd
they might be.

~ * ~

By Jove, how he loved to watch her.
He’d give every last coin he possessed to discover what had just
passed through her mind and caused the blush to creep up the long
column of her neck before sprawling over her cheeks. Even the bits
of her bosom displayed over the top of her gown had turned a lovely
flushed shade. He wanted to see the rest of her, to discover where
else she might have changed to pink.

And today it was a locket at her neck
that she handled when her nerves took over. Her fingers had swept
over her chest to twiddle with it so many times while her other
suitors were there, Noah thought he might have a apoplectic fit if
she didn’t stop soon.

“
You seem to be the lady
of the hour, all of a sudden,” Noah finally said, breaking through
the crackling silence between them. Jealousy tinged his tone,
despite his best efforts to avoid just such an
occurrence.

“
I suppose I am,” she
replied dispassionately. The timbre of her voice came far from
matching her behavior. She must still think she could trick him
into believing she had no feelings for him. Only a fool could
believe such a thing, after her response to his kiss last night.
“Is that a problem?” Finally, she raised her eyes to challenge
his.

“
No,” he replied. The only
problem he could see was that he wanted to rip each of their heads
from their bodies every time they were in her presence,
particularly now that she had taken to wearing gowns that enhanced
her curves as the other ladies tended to do. Noah mentally shook
himself. He had to concentrate. They needed to have this
conversation, today, and not let it be pushed aside yet again.
“Lady Tabitha—”

“
Why did you kiss me last
night?” she interrupted. “I told you I would have nothing to do
with you, yet you ignored my wishes and kissed me. Why?”

At least she wanted to talk about what
he wanted to talk about. He’d prefer a reprise of the event to
talking, but first things first. “Because I couldn’t stop thinking
about you. I couldn’t take my eyes from you the entire evening,
nor, it seems, am I capable of that feat today. I—”

“
You still need my dowry,
do you not?” she interrupted. He really wished she would stop doing
that. It was quite as vexing as her penchant for answering his
questions with more questions of her own. “That is the reason for
your continued pursuit, the reason you saw fit to trap me in the
hall and kiss me. You’re trying to corner me into marriage. To make
it where society will deem me ruined unless I save myself by
marrying you.”

“
No, that’s
not—”

“
You no longer have need
for my fortune? Pray forgive me. I must not have heard the cheerful
tidings of your unexpected windfall.”

“
Enough.” No force lay
behind Noah’s words, but a quiet authority. “I am not one of your
brothers. I’m not a man whom you can talk over and insult at will,
with no repercussions. Allow me my opportunity to speak, and when I
finish you may ask me any question you so desire. My only
stipulation is that you must grant me the opportunity to provide a
complete answer without interruption.”

Lady Tabitha looked disconsolate. “I
apologize, my lord. Go on.”

Noah sighed. Where to
start? “You’re right that I must marry for financial reasons. I do
not enjoy the lot I’ve been cast, and I am loath to marry for
anything but love, but I’ve no choice if I’m to remain out of the
poorhouse.” She looked ready to interrupt him again, so Noah held
up a hand to stay her. “When the Season began, your brother
suggested you might meet both of my needs, as you’re a lady with
whom I’ve had a friendship of sorts over the past many years, and
your dowry would more than solve my pecuniary woes. He was right,
of course. You could meet both my needs. No, not could. You
do
meet both of my
needs, and then some. I cannot deny that the initial reason I began
to pay you court is that your dowry is enticing.”

She winced, but remained
silent.

Noah rushed on, before she could think
too long on that statement. “But your dowry is not nearly as
alluring to me as you are. If I only wanted money, if any heiress
would do, I would have offered for Lady Cressica or Miss Jennings,
or any number of other young ladies with a hefty portion to take
into her marriage. They hold no interest for me, though. When I am
in their presence, I find myself thinking of you. Wishing they were
you. And any time you’re in the same room when I am with one of
them, I can’t fathom tearing my eyes from you. It’s a wonder they
haven’t already sent me along on my way, in the same manner you’ve
attempted to do.”

Dragging a hand through his hair, Noah
let out a ragged sigh. He stood and paced between the opposing
sofas on which they sat.

“
Have you finished?” Lady
Tabitha asked after he’d been silent a moment.

“
No. No, I’m not
finished.”

Without a thought to what he was
doing, Noah sat beside her. His thigh brushed against hers. She
gasped at the contact, but he stifled her protest with another
kiss.

He was gentler this time, coaxing her
to respond as she had done before. Cupping both sides of her face
in his hands, he urged her to change the angle of her head so he
could deepen the kiss. She opened to him and he buried his tongue
in her sweetness. A small hum sounded deep in her throat, sending
wave upon wave crashing through his veins straight to his already
firm erection.

“
My lady, we must begin
preparations for—Oh! Oh, my gracious heavens.”

Noah extricated himself from Lady
Tabitha and leapt to the opposite end of the sofa at the entrance
of her maid. Hester stood just inside the doorway with a hand
covering her eyes while she peeked through her fingers at them. He
shouldn’t have done that. He should have realized they were in her
home, and the door to the drawing room had been left open, and that
anyone could have walked in at any moment. Her brothers. Her
father.

Lady Tabitha’s colored cheeks combined
with her lips being lusciously swollen from his kisses were nearly
his undoing. Yet she somehow kept her composure as she addressed
her lady’s maid. “I’ll be up in a few moments to ready for this
evening, Hester. Lord Devonport was just leaving.”

He was? He had no recollection of
saying so.

Still, the maid curtseyed in their
general direction without looking up, a tremendous reddening giving
blemish to her complexion as well.

“
And Hester?” Lady Tabitha
called out as the maid began to scurry away. “You are not to
breathe a word of this to anyone. Understood?”

The mousy maid nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Of
course.” Then she dashed off before she could be stopped
again.

“
Well,” Lady Tabitha said,
rising and turning to him, although not meeting his eyes. He stood
as well, and she smoothed her hands over her skirts. “You should be
off then. If you had finished, of course. You
have
finished, haven’t
you?”

“
Almost,” he said. She did
look up at that, backing away and holding her hands before her as
though to ward him off. The stormy depths of her eyes flashed, like
a vein of lightning streaking through their infinite vastness. “I
promise I’ll keep my hands to myself this time.”
Somehow
. Still she did
not lower her guard, enforcing a good distance between their two
persons. Noah dragged a hand through his hair on a sigh. “I merely
wanted to know if you had any questions for me. I promised to
answer your questions.”

“
Only one,” she said. She
lowered her hands to her sides.

“
Go on,” he said when she
didn’t continue. “Ask away. I’ll tell you anything.”

“
Why in God’s name should
I believe you want me, when no man has ever shown himself to want
anything but my dowry, and when you’ve already proven yourself a
liar?” Lady Tabitha’s eyes swam in unshed tears. He wanted to brush
them away, to cover her eyes in kisses until she had cried so much
she couldn’t cry any more. But she would not allow him such
liberties, he was sure.

He mustn’t muck this up. Noah took his
time in answering her, making certain he said precisely what he
meant to say. “You should believe I want you because I can’t stop
looking at you. You should believe I want you because when I’m in
your presence, and most of the time when I’m not, my need for you
is all-consuming—a need which I know you felt last night.” She went
a furious shade of red at this, confirming his assertion. “You
could feel the same need right this very moment if you should need
further evidence. Would you like proof?”

She shook her head and turned her head
away to stare desperately at a wing chair.

“
No? You’re
certain?”

“
That will not be
necessary, my lord,” Lady Tabitha whispered.

“
Well, do not claim I did
not offer substantiation. As to the other gentlemen you asked
about, I cannot fathom why there has not been a flood of callers
for you since your debut. Clearly, they do not see in you what I
see. Or at least they did not until last night. Even then, I wonder
how many of them saw your true beauty, that which is inside, and
not just your outer beauty. They only wanted you after you put
yourself forward. Perhaps, after today, they will see you for the
paragon you are.”

Noah took a small step forward. She
did not back away, so he closed the distance between then and took
her gloved hands into his own. The shock of heat threatened to
derail him. “As to my lying—I do not deny I neglected to apprise
you of my monetary circumstances and in that way lied to you. While
I feared you would react just as you have done, there can be no
real justification for my negligence. As of now, you know the whole
truth. From this point on in our relationship, should you agree to
continue with it, I promise to be more forthcoming with such
information.”

“
Very well,” Lady Tabitha
said. “You’ve answered my question. Good afternoon to you, Lord
Devonport.” She tried to disentangle her hands from his grip, but
he held firm.

“
Not yet. I need to know
where we stand.”

The corners of her lips turned down in
the most delicious pout. “You may court me, along with my other
suitors.”

Noah supposed that would have to do
for the moment. Garnering her trust again might require all of his
efforts. He nodded. “I plan to call on you every day. I’ll win your
affection, if it kills me.” He lifted one of her hands to his mouth
and kissed her fingertips. “Until this evening, then.”

Chapter
Thirteen

Tabitha sat in one of the
three carriages filled with ladies heading toward Bond Street.
Well, filled with ladies and
Christopher
. When Jo had planned
this ladies’ outing, she and Helen had conspired to drag
Christopher along, so that someone could be responsible for keeping
up with all of their purchases.