Page 37 of One Night with a Prince

She gathered up the cards and shuffled, then handed the deck over for his cut. “But why—”

“I go to and from my club at all hours, sometimes with large sums of money. I didn’t get where I am by handing my earnings over to cutthroats.” He cut the cards and handed them back to her. “A better question might be why doyou carry a pistol to a dinner party?”

She dealt the cards. “As you just admitted, London is dangerous.”

“So is carrying a loaded pistol.”

“Not if you need one.”

He shot her a searching glance, ignoring his cards. “When did you need a pistol? Few women carry them. Come to think of it, few women know how to grab a man with intent to maim. What happened to you?”

She picked up her own cards, trying to appear nonchalant. “I was accosted in an alley in Gibraltar once.”

“What were you doing alone in an alley?” His clipped words reflected the sudden tension in his posture.

“You’ll think me a complete ninny if I tell you.”

“Try me.”

“I was seventeen, young enough to be foolish. Papa had always said that if I needed to go out, and he wasn’t available, I should take a footman or send to the barracks for an officer. But I knew that either would report my movements to him—they always did.” She fanned out the cards in her hand, but didn’t see them. “I’d noticed this amazing sword for sale that I knew he’d like for his birthday, and I wanted to surprise him. So I thought that if I just popped round to the shop myself—it was only a few streets away—I could purchase it and be home without anyone the wiser. And…well…”

“Well what?” he prodded.

“There was a shortcut through an alley that would get me there in minutes.” She frowned, remembering.

“Except that just as I neared the street, three scruffy local men blocked the alley. And they sort of…took a fancy to me.”

He let out a low curse.

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“If they’d realized I was English, they might not have come near me for fear of reprisals, but my hair is dark, and the light in the alley wasn’t the best. They assumed I was fair game, and since they were clearly scoundrels—”

He paled. “Did they—”

“No, they didn’t get that far, thank heavens, though it was a near thing. One held my arms while the second covered my mouth and the third tried to lift my skirts. He probably would have succeeded if I hadn’t managed to bite the hand of the man covering my mouth. As soon as he drew back his hand, I let out a scream fit to wake the dead.” A faint smile touched her lips. “A British officer walking nearby heard me and came to my rescue. He routed them with his sword.”

Byrne stared intently at her. “Haversham.”

She nodded. “That’s how we met.” A sigh escaped her lips. “You should have seen him then, so gallant, so dashing in his red coat. When he brought me home, and they summoned my father, Papa couldn’t stop praising his courage and quick thinking. It was only later that—” She broke off with a silent curse.

“Yes?”

“Nothing.” She went on hastily. “Philip courted me for a year. Then we married. That’s all.”

He picked up his cards. “Is he the one who taught you how to grab a man by the ballocks?”

“No, Papa did that after the incident. Even though I had a suitor to protect me, he wasn’t taking any chances.”

“Your father taught you well,” Byrne said wryly.

She snorted as she arranged her cards. “When I tried it on you this morning, I only managed to…well…”

“Arouse me? Ah, but that’s because everything you do arouses me, lass,” he said in that richly sensual voice that sent temptation coursing along her nerves.

Blast him. Just like that, he reminded her that he was sitting across from her, half-naked and erect. Desiring her.

“Play,” she said tersely.