Read The Earl I Adore for Free Online Page B

please. Coming through.”
    Closing her eyes, Sophie leaned her head against his shoulder. Yes, she was fully aware that closing one’s eyes did not make one invisible, but it did save her from having to see the expressions of those around them. It was best not to know exactly what they were all thinking.
    It also had the unexpected benefit of heightening her sensitivity to him. She could feel the bulge of his biceps and the taut muscles of his chest. The scent of his shaving soap teased her nose, a fragrance that was musky and crisp and put her in mind of a winter forest.
    â€œMy
dear
Miss Wembley, whatever has happened to you?”
    Sophie’s eyes popped open as Evan slowed to a stop only feet from the Ballroom exit. Marianne stood directly in his way, her perfect features arranged in a perfectly correct mask of concern. A complete fiction, of course. Her delight at Sophie’s distress was plain as day in her glittering gaze. People surrounded them on all sides, no doubt keenly interested to know the answer to Marianne’s question.
    â€œAn injured ankle, I fear,” Evan responded. “If you’ll be so kind as to step aside so we may pass.”
    â€œYes, of course,” she said, though she made no move to comply. “Poor Miss Wembley. You do try so hard. What a shame that gracefulness always seems to elude you.” She spoke with a sort of loud whisper that somehow seemed to carry twice as effectively as a raised voice might have. With a patently false sympathetic smile, she glided out of their way. There was more than one person smirking behind her.
    The dreadful, spiteful, hateful, awful, self-important she-devil. Mercifully, Evan started forward again, not bothering to waste his breath responding to such drivel.At least that’s what Sophie hoped he was thinking. He may very well have been silently agreeing with Marianne, but was simply too tactful to verbalize his agreement.
    As they strode through the doorway, the orchestra finally began to play again and she closed her eyes in relief. Well, if nothing else, this evening was good for something: Sophie now knew for a fact that it wasn’t possible to die of embarrassment. If it were, she’d be well on her way to the pearly gates by now.
    Now that it was less crowded, May made her way around them and gestured to the small bench outside the ladies’ retiring room. “Here, I think this should do. It will allow you to elevate your feet.”
    As easily as he might have set down a feather-filled pillow, Evan lowered Sophie to the seat. Even through the all-consuming fog of humiliation, she mourned the loss of his warmth and scent as he straightened.
    That was
not
how she’d pictured her first time wrapped in a man’s arms. Or being swept off her feet, for that matter. Although, technically speaking, she’d swept
herself
off her feet, so perhaps there was still hope for calling it a first when a man actually did the honors.
    â€œI cannot apologize enough, Miss Wembley,” Evan said, tucking a lock of hair that had fallen forward over his forehead behind his ears. Between his hair, bunched waistcoat, and crushed cravat, he looked quite a bit the worse for wear, thanks to her. “Can I send for a doctor?”
    The handful of people around them all openly stared, their curious gazes bouncing back and forth between them. They needn’t fear. Sophie was confident that theyand everyone else in the city would know every detail of her disgrace by the end of the night.
    Honestly, though, it was just an annoyance. The only person she really cared about knowing had been right there for the entire debacle. Fresh heat singed her cheeks. No doubt she’d be first in his mind when he thought of graceful, elegant women who might serve as future candidates for Countess of Evansleigh.
    Doing her best to ignore the throbbing in her foot, Sophie shook her head. “No, please. I’d rather go rest at