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The look in his eyes lost all mirth and turned predatory. Diana’s resolve faltered. Never before had anyone looked at her like that. It was as if… as if he was ready to devour her. And with dread, she realized that she didn’t mind being devoured.

His sarcastic chuckle brought her back to her senses. She was ready to say something clever, a witty remark, a politegoodnight, anything that would get him to step away from her, but he was faster.

He took her hand, slow and deliberate, and lifted it to his lips. At first, his breath made the hairs on her arm stand up as if to meet his lips. But then he did not simply brush a kiss over her knuckles. His lips lingered, warm and firm, pressing into her skin harder than propriety dictated, long enough to make her pulse spike.

“I did warn you, My Lady,” he purred darkly. “You should have been more careful to not get caught by a man like me.”

Diana lost all coherent thought. She racked the drawers of her wit to find something, anything to say, but it was futile. All her being was currently taken up by a warmth pooling in the pit of her stomach.

Five promenades with him?

She blinked, trying to process it, and then realized, with growing dread, that she wasn’t sure if she should laugh or run.

CHAPTER 4

Pins and Needles

“Ouch!” Diana was ready to curse louder as the needle pricked her.

“You sure are less careful these days,” Elizabeth remarked, staring at her over her book. “Perhaps you should try something less sharp. I am sure you run less risk of getting blood all over yourself with watercolors.”

“I prefer to be armed when Selina decides to visit,” Diana murmured. “Though drowning her in colored water doesn’t sound like a terrible idea right now.”

“In truth, I am sure she won’t dare show her face here so soon.”

“You do realize we are talking about Selina, right?” Diana looked at her sister-in-law.

“I stand corrected.” Elizabeth let out a boisterous laugh.

Diana joined her, grateful for the pillar of humor that her sister-in-law was. She felt the mirth warming her body and soul. That was until the butler walked into the parlor.

“Lady Diana, you have a visitor.”

Diana was tempted to pin her needle in her eye out of frustration. Perhaps a sudden injury like that would stop the vexing aftermath of that fateful auction. It had been days, and during each of them, Diana had been forced to receive visitors. Eligible bachelors. Suitors. Everyone buthim.

Word about the auction got out and spread like wildfire. Everyone was talking about how Lord Crawford paid a ridiculous amount to have the honor of five promenades with the jilted wallflower. A man of his reputation, who monopolized the attention of the ton the rare times he graced their events with his presence, had noticed her. Ergo, she was considered a prize. Overnight, she became a rare commodity. She was the ton’s most eligible bachelorette, her value high in the market.

In simple words, boys saw one of their own play with a toy they had forgotten, and now they wanted to play too.

Male folly at its finest.

But the question remained. Why did he want to play with her? And why suddenly he didn’t?

“My Lady?” the butler prompted. “Should I show Lord Herrington here?”

Diana nodded reluctantly. She would love to throw decorum out of the window along with her valuables and run away from all of this. To her dismay, Elizabeth took her book and went to sit on the armchair by the window, leaving her alone on the sofa.

Diana cast a sharp glance at her sister-in-law and lady of the house. After all, if Elizabeth had chosen any other moment to visit the powder room that fateful night, all of this would have been avoided.

“My fair Lady!” Lord Herrington busted in with an overflowing flower basket that he dropped in Diana’s lap.

She forced the distant cousin of what could be considered a smile.

Lord Herrington bowed, and that made him even shorter. Despite his pale skin, blonde hair, and hazel eyes, he was…

Well, not as tall as him.

Diana motioned for him to sit, and she smiled and nodded and responded as best as she could to his benign small talk. And she was forced to do so again. And again. Day in and day out.