Page 92 of Road Trip With a Rogue

“I feel naked without my knives,” Daisy said. “And in this dress, I can only hide the one.”

Tess gave the folds of her own gown a final twitch and added an extra gold ring to her slim fingers. “All ready?”

Daisy glimpsed at her own ringless fingers and sighed. Vaughan hadn’t even sent her an engagement ring to wear.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Chapter Forty-Four

The ball was well underway when Daisy finally caught sight of Justin and Harry arriving together. And then her breath caught as Lucien stepped out from behind them.

The buzz of conversation rose another notch as the other guests registered his presence, and Daisy fought to keep her expression neutral as several faces turned her way to gauge her reaction.

She’d already deflected a couple of extremely pointed questions from both ladies and gentlemen, the less-subtle of whom had asked her outright whether the Duke of Cranford would be attending.

She’d merely replied that he’d accepted his invitation, and had declined to comment further. This, of course, had only increased the whispers of those convinced she had something to hide.

Lucien was dressed impeccably in almost the same outfit he’d been wearing the night they’d met on the road. A black satin evening jacket molded faithfully to his impressive shoulders. Black breeches and his signature black gloves added to the imposing figure he cut, the darkness only alleviated by the white of his shirt and cravat.

Daisy watched him scan the room, his height easily allowing him to see over the crowd from his position on the ballroom step, and she stilled as his piercing eyes found her. Her heart gave a jolt of recognition, and she had the bizarre thought that he would be able to find her anywhere, in a crowd of a hundred thousand.

His presence made the whole world that much sharper, more exciting.

He ignored the people who crowded around him clamoring for an introduction and made a beeline toward her, his determination obvious as Justin and Harry fell into step on either side of him.

A group of ladies nearby giggled and whispered behind their fans as they noticed the direction of his purposeful strides, and several of them sighed in admiration at the striking trio.

Justin and Harry both sent lazy smiles to their wives, but Lucien’s expression remained stern. He never took his eyes off her, and Daisy was struck with a sudden spike of terror that he was about to do something absolutely uncivilized, like simply pull her into his arms and kiss her, right there in front of everyone.

The dark glimmer in his eyes suggested he might well be considering it, and whileintellectuallyshe absolutely detested the thought of a man stamping his possession on her in such a primitive display—really, it was only one step removed from a dog relieving itself on a lamppost to mark its territory—a small part of her still fluttered at the thrilling possessiveness of it.

“Brace yourself,” Tess whispered wickedly from Daisy’s right.

The three men stopped in front of them and bowed in unison. Justin took Tess’s hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

“Good evening, my love. You look ravishing, as ever.”

“Thank you,” Tess murmured.

Harry stepped to Ellie’s side and gave her waist a fond squeeze. “Hello, trouble. What shall we steal tonight?”

Ellie tapped him fondly on the knuckles with her fan. “Nothing, except a kiss.”

He obliged with a kiss to her cheek.

Daisy barely heard their byplay. Lucien’s broad chest had blocked out much of the room and the heady fragrance of the roses in the garland behind her mingled with his night-forest scent and made her heart pound. Blood rushed to her cheeks as he extended his black-gloved hand toward her.

“Miss Hamilton. Will you do me the honor of accepting my hand—”

A woman just to the left, clearly eavesdropping, gasped, and Lucien’s lips twisted up in dark amusement.

“—for this dance,” he finished drily, and Daisy quashed the urge to punch the wicked look from his face.

Oh, he waslovingthis.

She placed her fingers in his.

They matched. Her hands were encased in evening gloves that extended past her elbows, in an inky blue satin so dark they were almost as black as his own.