When His Kiss Is Wicked (24 page)

Oddly intrigued by the thought of those two fine examples of masculinity battling each other in a test of strength, Juliette mused,
Which one would win that fight?

Lucien and Jeffrey’s little scuffle had caused quite a scene on the veranda. When a woozy Colette had jumped up to see what had happened, she tripped and fell. Due to Juliette’s quick thinking, everyone assumed Colette had fainted because of the altercation. Aunt Cecilia and Uncle Randall did not suspect that Colette had had too much champagne, although Uncle Randall had given her a skeptical glance, as if to imply that Juliette had done something to cause the row between Lord Eddington and Lord Waverly. When everyone was assured that Colette and Jeffrey were fine, they bundled Colette up, and she and Jeffrey hurried from Lady Hayvenhurst’s party and into Jeffrey’s carriage. Juliette was sure the gossip would be quite rife with speculation over the cause of the fight between the two friends. “I’m confident you could knock the lights out of Lucien Sinclair,” Juliette teased him.

“At times your considerable charm leaves much to be desired, Juliette,” Jeffrey remarked dryly.

Laughing at him, Juliette glanced at Colette. Her sister had chattered incessantly the entire carriage ride home. Still suffering the ill effects of too much alcohol, she now slept peacefully in the chair. “At least we can talk without Colette hearing us.”

“She’s going to have a terrible headache in the morning,” Jeffrey predicted with a regretful expression.

“The poor thing,” she murmured softly. Colette rarely appeared vulnerable, and in this instance it left Juliette feeling more than a little anxious.

“Oh, fine. She gets your sympathy, but I take a punch in the face for following your little plan and I get laughed at.”

“It’s for a noble cause, Jeffrey.” She smiled sweetly at him. “You know how much I appreciate your help.”

He gave her a skeptical look, and then they moved to sit on two overturned crates. Usually Juliette avoided the back room of the shop as much as possible. The overcrowded, windowless space used to make her feel claustrophobic. But she had to admit that it was not as bad now as she recalled. Colette had been unable to spruce up the back room as much as she had the main shop, but at least it was cleaner and more organized than when their father was alive.

“What a scene that was! What luck Lucien hit you when he did! No one noticed my intoxicated sister. If Lucien hit you, he must have been jealous,” Juliette whispered excitedly. “What did you say to him?”

Jeffrey rubbed his cheek with an unconscious motion, obviously recalling the dreadful incident. “Oh, I hit a nerve all right. I told him that I intended to marry Colette and that she had practically said yes.”

Thrilled by this development and the probable success of her plan, she laughed at the thought of Jeffrey taunting Lucien. “Oh, my! He must have believed you!”

“I don’t think he was quite sure at first, but then I convinced him.”

“Did you truly ask Colette to marry you?”

“Of course not. Even if I did, she would refuse me. She is head over heels in love with Lucien.”

“I told you she was. And this evening simply goes to prove that Lucien is in love with her, too. If he didn’t care about her, he wouldn’t have hit you.”

“They are quite serious with each other,” Jeffrey ventured quietly with a knowing look at Juliette. “If you take my meaning.”

Of course Juliette knew, but she was stunned that Jeffrey knew how intimate Colette and Lucien had become. “How did you find out?”

He motioned his head toward Colette with a wry look. “Apparently too much champagne makes your sister rather talkative.”

“I can’t believe she told you something like
that
.” Knowing that Colette would be mortified when she realized what she had revealed to Jeffrey, Juliette cringed.

Jeffrey seemed a little offended by her remark. “I’m a trustworthy fellow.”

Juliette apologized. “I didn’t mean that as a slight against your character, Jeffrey. It’s just that Colette is so private, I am shocked she told anyone besides me.”

He nodded. “Lucien did not tell me, either, if that is what you were thinking. He’s too much of a gentleman.”

Juliette wondered how much of a gentleman Lucien was if he refused to marry her sister after taking her virtue.

Jeffrey quietly inquired, “Were you aware that Lucien purchased the bookshop?”

Blazes!
If Jeffrey had told her that he had suddenly sprouted wings and had learned to fly, she couldn’t have been more astounded. Unable to speak, Juliette simply stared at him.

An amused smile flickered across his handsome face. “Well, well, well. It seems I finally knew something before the infamous Juliette did.”

“He didn’t really buy the shop, did he?” she asked breathlessly, still in awe of the earth-shattering news he had just shared with her. “Lucien is the anonymous buyer?”

“That’s what he told me, and I have no reason to believe that he’d lie about something like that.”

“No, of course not. If Lucien told you, then I’m sure he did buy it. But
why
would he do such a thing?”

“To prevent Colette’s heart from being broken,” Jeffrey clarified. “Or so he told me when I asked him.”

Juliette was stunned. “He said that? That he purchased the shop to protect Colette?”

“Yes, he did. If you did not know Lucien bought the shop, the real question is, does Colette know?” he asked.

“She would have told me something so important!”
Wouldn’t she?
Perhaps Colette didn’t know either. Although they now knew whom the anonymous buyer was, questions upon questions still niggled at Juliette. Why did Lucien keep it a secret? What had he intended to do with the building? Had he wished for the shop to stay in Colette’s care, since she was the motivation behind his purchase?

“So what happens now, Miss Master Plan?” Jeffrey interrupted her thoughts.

“Now, we wait.”

“Wait for what? For Lucien to beat the devil out of me?”

“No.” She managed a wry smile. “But you do need to stay away from him for a while until he discovers that you have no true designs on Colette. In the meantime, I have a feeling things will happen rather quickly.”

About to begin their reading session, Lucien sat with Simon in his bedroom. Exhausted after a seemingly endless and sleepless night, Lucien found himself at loose ends the next day and wandered into his father’s chamber.

For the past week his mother had spent much of her time with Simon. To Lucien’s complete amazement, she had moved back into Devon House with his father’s blessings. The two of them acted as if the years of separation had not happened. Lucien could not quite understand it. Too much had happened too quickly for him to absorb. “You and Mother seem to be getting along well. It’s almost as if she never left,” Lucien remarked to his father. Lenora had gone out shopping that afternoon and Lucien used the time to visit with Simon alone.

His father smiled brightly, appearing more alive than he had in months.

“You’re not going to explain to me what happened with you and Mother, are you?”

Simon shook his head. “It’s p-private. Sh-she knows the truth. I know the t-truth now.”

Lucien tilted his head, feeling somewhat angry. Her devastating departure had affected him just as much as, if not more than, his father, and they did not see fit to explain to him why. “And am I never to know the reason my mother left me for most of my life?”

Simon actually looked embarrassed, his head hung low. “M-maybe Mother will tell you.”

“Well then,” Lucien picked up
David Copperfield,
idly running his finger across the golden embossed lettering. “I suppose there is nothing left to say, is there?” With a heavy heart he held the book that Colette had been reading to his father, suddenly feeling her absence like a knife in his side.

“Marry her.”

Startled by not just the clarity of Simon’s words but their implications, Lucien glanced up. He knew his father referred to Colette, but it seemed he was under a misguided impression.

“She’s going to marry Jeffrey Eddington.” Lucien still could not believe it. If he had not heard the words directly from Jeffrey himself he would not have believed the story at all. The very idea of the two of them together made him feel like hitting Jeffrey again. Apparently last night’s pummeling of his oldest friend did not quite satisfy him.

Lady Hayvenhurst’s had been a disaster. He had caused a scene and enough gossip and speculation to keep society wagging its tongues for weeks.

At least he had finally seen through the folly of thinking he could spend his life married to someone like Faith Bromleigh. She was a sweet girl, to be sure, but completely wrong for him. He simply couldn’t do it.

But learning that his best friend intended to marry the woman who tempted him above all others left him still in shock.

“No.” His father shook his head adamantly. “No, she won’t. She loves you.”

Granger stepped into the room. “Excuse me, my lord, but there is a Miss Hamilton waiting to see you downstairs. She’s in the blue drawing room.”

Stunned, Lucien stood up with a jolt, the copy of
David Copperfield
falling to the floor at his feet.
Colette has come to see me?
The sudden pounding of his heart startled him. He felt like a giddy schoolboy at the mere thought of seeing her.

His father’s broad smile lit up his face. “Hurry. G-go to her,” he instructed with a wave of his good arm.

Leaving his father in Granger’s care, Lucien wasted no time in getting downstairs, yet the whole time his mind was spinning with questions.
Why has she come? What does she want from me?
Admittedly he still felt angry with her for her bitter reaction to his buying the bookshop. And he was none too pleased with her for practically agreeing to marry Jeffrey Eddington less than twenty-four hours after they had been so intimate in the bookshop.

Yes, he had quite a few things he wanted to say to Miss Colette Hamilton.

He eagerly opened the door to the blue drawing room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Juliette Hamilton seated calmly upon the velvet sofa, regarding him with something akin to amusement.

“Juliette?” he questioned, unable to conceal the surprise in his voice and overwhelmed with disappointment that it was not Colette who had come to see him.

“Good afternoon, Lord Waverly.”

Her superior smile gave him pause and, as was usually the case whenever Lucien was with Juliette, irritated him. “What are you doing here?”

“Were you expecting Colette, perhaps? I’m terribly sorry to disappoint you.”

Her sarcastic yet deadly accurate assessment of the situation only further irritated his already frayed nerves.
Devil take her!
What did Juliette Hamilton want with him? He advanced farther into the drawing room, stopping near the sofa.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest. She looked directly at him, her blue eyes so similar to Colette’s that he almost fell over. Did all those Hamilton sisters have to look so disconcertingly alike?

“I thought we should have a little chat.” Her voice was soft.

“Why do you and your sister insist upon going out without a chaperone?” He frowned at her.

Ignoring his question, she inquired instead, “Aren’t you the least bit interested in what I have to say?”

“No,” he snapped in frustration.

“Please sit down, Lucien, and listen to me.”

Struck by the unexpected pleading note in her tone, Lucien felt a sense of unease grow within his chest. Perhaps something happened to Colette. “Is Colette well?”

Juliette flashed a funny little smile. “She’s feeling a little under the weather today, but she will no doubt recover soon enough.”

Perplexed by Juliette’s attitude and at her very presence at his house, Lucien figured he had better find out what she was up to. And with Juliette, it could be anything. Seating himself on the striped damask chair nearest the blue sofa upon which she sat, he commanded, “All right, then. Enlighten me as to the purpose of your visit, Juliette.”

She took a deep breath before beginning. “I have something important to share with you, but before I reveal it, I wish to confirm a few points with you first.”

Something important? It can only be about Colette. Why else would Juliette be here?
Intrigued more than he cared to admit, Lucien wordlessly motioned for her to continue.

“Is it true that you purchased the bookshop from my mother?” she asked.

So Colette had told her. Lucien wondered how the rest of her sisters felt about the news. Hopefully they were happier than Colette was when she found out. “Yes, I did,” he stated.

“May I ask why?” She arched a delicate eyebrow in his direction.

“I thought that was obvious. I purchased the shop because I wanted to help your family.”

“And Colette?” she asked in a manner meant to prompt more of a response from him.

“Yes, of course, I did it to help Colette as well.”

“I know you have feelings for her, Lucien.”

“Why are you here, Juliette?” He uttered the words edgily, not wishing to discuss his feelings for her sister when he was not sure of them himself.

Juliette became a little nervous, which was unusual for her. “Well, it seems I find myself in a situation.”

“Why does that not surprise me in the slightest?” he asked dryly. Juliette was a master at creating situations.

She ignored his barb and continued. “I know you are in love with Colette, a fact that was made even more obvious to me by the fact that you bought the shop for her. My sister tells me everything, so I know she is in love with you, but you are both too blind to admit it to each other.”

Lucien had had just about enough of the Hamilton sisters declaring they knew his feelings better than he did. First Paulette told him he was in love with Colette, and now Juliette had the audacity to come to his own home to tell him how he felt. What was it about that family? They had gotten under his skin somehow and he couldn’t shake them. His feelings for Colette alone had him in knots.
Good God, he hoped Colette had not told Juliette everything they had done!
“Are you quite through?”

“No.”

Juliette’s blatant answer caught him off guard. “No?” he echoed.

“No,” she said with determination, her small chin rising up. “I’m not finished yet.”

“Well, don’t let me keep you,” he flung back at her.

“You aren’t going to marry Faith Bromleigh after all, are you?”

He could not lie. “No. We agreed we did not suit.”

“Thank heaven for small favors!” Juliette exclaimed with a great sigh. “I thought you had taken leave of your senses when I heard you were interested in marrying that one. Really, Lucien, she would have bored you to an early grave—”

“Aside from annoying me, is there a point to your being here, Juliette?” he interrupted with an impatient look, very near the end of his tether with her bold statements and attitude.

“I am only trying to help you.”

“If this is your idea of helping me,” he said with a grimace, “I shudder to think what you would do if you were trying to do me harm.”

Juliette actually laughed, the light sound filling the room. “Well, you do possess a sense of humor after all. I had my doubts that you had one, Lucien. Now would you like me to tell you something that would ease your mind?”

“That would be refreshing.”

Again she smiled, tilting her head to the side. “I’m beginning to like you.”

“Juliette?” he prompted with impatience. Would the chit never get to the point?

“Very well, then.” She swallowed nervously before she spoke. “We are all quite aware of your feelings for Colette and hers for you—”

“Have we not covered this already?”

“If you would you let me finish?” she countered evenly.

“Fine.” Jesus, but Juliette Hamilton could drive a man to drink.

“And knowing as we did that you were making a terrible mistake with Faith Bromleigh, Jeffrey and I thought we could do something to help.”

His eyes narrowed and he looked at her suspiciously, a gnawing feeling of concern building within him. “To help me?”

“Yes, to help you from making a mistake that would haunt you for the rest of your life,” she said simply. “I had this brilliant little plan that if you were led to believe that Colette was going to marry Jeffrey, you would become jealous enough to ask her to marry her yourself, which is what you should have done in the first place.”

“You mean to say that you wheedled Jeffrey into lying to me last night about his interest in Colette?” Lucien could barely contain his anger enough to utter the words.

She nodded in admission of her part in the scheme. “But we didn’t expect you to flatten him.”

“So you and Jeffrey have had quite a good laugh at my expense.”

“No! Not at all!” she protested her eyes growing wide. “Honestly, Lucien, Jeffrey and I did this only with the best intentions. We just wanted you and Colette to be happy together.”

Lucien’s head fell in his hands and he rubbed his eyes with his fingers. He’d made a spectacle of himself last night and punched his best friend, for no apparent reason. No, perhaps there was a good reason. Jeffrey deserved a good wallop for tricking him so cruelly. Wearily he lifted his head and looked at Juliette. “Does Colette know about this?”

Juliette pressed her gloved hands tightly together and leaned forward, her expression quite earnest. “She has no idea, and she had no part in any of this. I swear to you, Lucien. The plan was only between Jeffrey and me. Colette had so much champagne last night, I doubt she is even aware that Jeffrey took us home. She doesn’t know anything of what Jeffrey said to you about the two of them, or that you hit him because of it. She would more than likely be angry with us both, if she did know.”

“And you think I’m not going to be angry with you?” he snapped.

“I was hoping you would understand that no harm was intended.”

“Well, you hoped wrong.”

They sat in tense silence for some minutes. Lucien was angry on many levels. At Juliette for meddling. At Jeffrey for conspiring against him. He felt betrayed and manipulated by both of them. But for all that, he could only think of Colette. It seemed he was in love with Colette, and apparently everyone knew it but him.

Finally he looked at Juliette. “So what was your purpose in telling me this now?”

She relaxed somewhat at the softness of his tone. “I wanted to apologize to you. I realize it was a mistake. And I could not bear for you to stay angry with Jeffrey when he was completely innocent in all this.”

“I would not say he was
completely
innocent. He did go along with your scatterbrained scheme to dupe me.”

“Yes, he did,” she agreed, “but only because he knew, just as I did, that it was for the best. He truly has no interest in marrying Colette. He just said that to rile you up.”

“And sitting intimately with her on the veranda? I’m sure you had to twist his arm to do that?”

“Well, we had to set it up.” She shrugged helplessly. “You had to believe something was happening between them. We didn’t expect Colette to drink so much and confide in him.”

He had a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. “What exactly did Colette confide in Jeffrey?”

Juliette became somewhat flustered, but managed to convey the crux of Jeffrey’s conversation with Colette. “Uh…that the two of you had been rather…intimate of late and—”

“Jesus!” he cried. Did the whole world need to know his private business? Now Jeffrey knew about his relationship with Colette. Now that he thought about it, he was surprised Jeffrey hadn’t punched
him
in the face.

“Lucien,” she said soothingly. “I realize you don’t have any brothers or sisters—”

“For which I am eternally grateful.”

Juliette continued as if he had not interrupted her. “My point is that siblings help one another. At least, that is the way it works in my family.”

“Yet I assume Colette has no idea you are here with me right now, does she?”

“Of course not.”

“So once again, you are taking matters into your own hands and meddling where you don’t belong.”