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goaded her into boldness. But Gina took one look at that arrogant smirk and knew she had to do something. She couldn’t allow him to get the upper hand. So like a good general, she changed tactics. Bold and matter-of-fact, that was how to deal with the devil. She’d not act the polite young miss. “Perhaps you are right,” she said with a flirty smile.
    Agreement where he expected argument seemed to startle him. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Good, Gina thought. She was on the right track. She wanted him off balance.
    “Am I?” he asked.
    She nodded. “I already feel as though I know you.”
    He looked suspiciously to his sister. “You do?”
    “I’ve heard so much about you,” Gina said with exaggerated innocence. She looked right into his eyes, challenging him. Let there be no mistake, she knew exactly who and what he was—and he would not intimidate her.
    Silently, he studied her upturned face. After a moment, he chuckled. “I’m sure you have. Not much of it good, I’d warrant.”
    Deciding that she’d made her point, she declined further comment. “I’m surprised to see you here,” she said instead.
    Lady Augusta, who’d been watching the two of them anxiously, offered an explanation. “My brother has agreed to escort me during the season.”
    Gina’s eyes lifted a little in surprise. Perhaps this wager of Cecelia’s might be easier than she anticipated. At least she wouldn’t have to track him down in seedy taverns and gaming hells. “So, we’ll be seeing more of you this year?”
    His gaze raked her from head to toe, lingering over her mouth and bosom. His voice dropped to a husky whisper. “How much more of me would you care to see, Lady Georgina?”
    Ignoring the slight tremble that raced through her, Gina sighed and shook her head, her face a mask of severe disapproval. This propensity for naughty innuendo and sly suggestion really was tiresome. He wasn’t trying to flirt with her; he looked too bored for that. No, he was trying to put her off. Is this how he rid himself of doe-eyed society misses?
    She drew up her shoulders. It would take a lot more than lewd suggestion to deter her. She returned his bold stare, taking in the wide set of his shoulders, trim waist, and powerfully muscled thighs. A strange thrill of excitement shot through her as she forced her gaze to linger for the barest instant on the prominent bulge just below his waist. She lifted her gaze to meet his and beneath the boredom, she thought she saw a flicker of heat. “As much as you’d care to show of yourself, my lord,” she answered sweetly.
    Lady Augusta giggled, probably at the look of utter bewilderment on her brother’s face.
    Disconcerted, he lost some of his sultry swagger. “If there is anything else that interests you…” He bowed, taking his leave. “You have but to ask.”
    She allowed him to walk a few steps away before she answered. “Be assured, I find much that interests me, my lord.”
    Gina tried not to giggle when his step faltered.
     
     
    He must be more foxed than he realized. How else could he explain the odd sense of confusion? Or the even odder sense that Lady Georgina Beauclerk had just surprised him.
    Where was the judgmental condemnation that he’d seen on her face before?
    Coventry was not a man used to being surprised by a woman. And a simpering society miss at that. But, he corrected himself, Lady Georgina was no simpering society miss. Not with the way her eyes had boldly devoured his body. Hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten hard from a woman looking at him. But even with the copious amount of alcohol at work dulling his senses, he’d felt the unmistakable pull of his bollocks growing heavy and his cock thickening when her eyes skimmed his crotch.
    It must have been that naughty little mouth. It was a mouth that any whore would envy. Plump red lips curved in a wide sensual bow that made men think of one thing and one thing only. The tiny freckle