Read Shirley Kerr for Free Online Page B

changed from the simple gown of this morning into something with lacy frills and a lower neckline, but her hairstyle was again a mass of pinned-up ringlets. He wanted to pull the pins loose, one by one, and let the curls dance around her creamy bare shoulders.
    He cleared his throat. “Fair enough, I acknowledge we both benefit. I’ve already deduced your interest in this event extends beyond Lady Bainbridge’s garden décor and gastronomic offerings, and not just to receive accolades for your triumph.”
    “My triumph?” Her puzzled frown put a tiny line between her eyes. His fingers itched to smooth it.
    “My grandfather is a duke, my father a marquess, and I’m their sole heir. I’m considered quite a catch.” He spoke with enough deprecating humor to tease an answering smile from Miss Parnell.
    “You catch quite well, too.” She flushed with color at the admission, but did not look away.
    Alistair felt an answering warmth spread through him, remembering the feel of Miss Parnell in his arms on the balcony the other night. He hadn’t wanted to let her go. Who knows how long he might have held onto her, kept her tightly against his body, had they not been interrupted?
    He reached for her hand and turned her palm over to examine her fingers. “No lasting damage sustained from your foray on the rooftop?” All he could see were faint red marks, which for all he knew might have been left by juice from the tart she’d been eating.
    “Nothing of consequence,” she whispered.
    At the breathless tone in her voice, he looked up. Her gaze was locked on their joined hands, where he was absently stroking her fingertips.
    He patted her hand and sat back in his chair. “Your interest in this event?”
    She offered her plate to a passing footman and brushed crumbs from her lap. “Everyone who is anyone is here. Being seen in public with you has cemented our arrangement. If anyone had any doubts about the veracity of the announcement in the paper, they were erased when you caressed my hands just now.”
    Guiltily, he looked up at the people strolling through the garden or standing in clusters, eating and gossiping.More than a few heads turned quickly away, caught staring at him and Charlotte. “I was not—” Recognizing the futility in a denial, Alistair cut himself off.
    Having had such intimate physical contact so early in their acquaintance—holding her aloft in his arms—had apparently decimated his usual reserve. If he kept this up, he’d be as licentious as his father. At least where Miss Parnell was concerned. He sighed. “Yes, everyone can see we are in fact engaged. But you were interested in this event before we entered into our agreement.”
    “Of course. As I said, everyone who is anyone is to be seen here.”
    He’d wager his last farthing that social standing was at the bottom of Miss Parnell’s list of priorities. He quickly reviewed her actions since their arrival at the Bainbridge residence. After surveying the guests who’d arrived before them, she’d excused herself to the ladies’ retiring room, and he thought she’d been gone an inordinately long time. Even for a woman. “You didn’t break into anyone’s bedchamber here, did you?”
    “Break in? Of course not.”
    “Don’t split hairs. Did you do here what you did the other night?”
    “Fall into a man’s arms, literally?” Smiling, she batted her lashes. “Nearly break my neck? Meet a courtesan face-to-face? No, I did none of those things today.”
    He wiped a tiny crumb from the corner of her mouth and tipped her chin up with one finger. “Miss Parnell.”
    She gave a small sigh of defeat. “I did not find what I was looking for the other night. I had reason to believe I would be successful here. I was not.”
    He glanced around at the crowd of people milling in the garden. Who, or what, was she after? He counted himself lucky she’d revealed even the fact that she was searching. Soon, he’d persuade her to confide in him