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B loody hell. Sophie had eased his headache and now was once again walking away from him. The woman had him tied up in so many knots, he wasn’t sure how to break free.

“Patrick!”

“How can I help, my lady?” he asked after Lady Sumner hugged and kissed his cheek.

“I am looking for my son, and as he is usually with you, I thought you may have seen him,” she said. Her eyes then went to Sophie’s retreating back.

“Sorry, my lady, I have not seen him since I arrived. But I think he will be preparing for the archery competition.”

“I will go and find him, then, and you can follow your countess.”

“She is not my countess,” Patrick said. “And I am about to head to the archery competition, so I can escort you.”

“We’ll see about that,” she said cryptically. “And I need to speak with Lord Rodgers first, so he will escort me to the competition. Now go and beat my son.”

“I’ll tell him you said that.”

“And I will call you a liar for it,” she said, kissing his cheek again.

He watched her leave and wondered who else in society thought he was interested in the Countess of Monmouth. But then, after he’d stood up to Tompkins that day at the horse sales, Patrick was sure a few people were linking them together. Do I care? Not as much as he should.

The archery competition was to be held on the grounds above Lord and Lady Shubert’s gardens.

He walked across the neatly manicured lawns with the other guests toward the large Egyptian tents set up to protect them from the sun.

He shook his head at the staff. They looked ridiculous as far as he was concerned, but there was no accounting for taste.

He reached Stephen, who was standing with his bow dangling from his fingers while he studied the spectators.

“Your mother is looking for you.”

“What a surprise. She probably wishes to retie my neckcloth,” Stephen said.

“It is crooked,” Patrick said, moving to the quiver that held his arrows.

“No, it’s not, because as always, I am a picture of masculine perfection.”

“Braggart.”

“Jealousy is unbecoming on a man of your age,” Stephen said. “You will be weeping shortly when I beat you.”

“When has that ever happened?” Patrick drawled, looking around them.

He found Sophie standing with Miss Logan. They were laughing at something, and that genuine smile on her face made his chest ache.

“Damn.”

“Problem?” Stephen said, following his gaze. “Ah. No need to explain.”

“Which means what?”

“That Doddy’s master is standing over there, and you’ve just realized how lovely she is and?—”

“Shut up,” Patrick snarled. He turned away from Stephen as he started laughing.

“If I can have your attention!”

Lady Shubert was to be the adjudicator. She stood before them dressed in acres of gold fabric and a crown that sparkled with rubies and emeralds.

“That’s probably worth more than your hunting box,” Stephen said. Patrick ignored him and refused to look at Sophie.

Who had really taught her how to ease a headache? Yet another question he had no answer to.

“My husband and I are most pleased to have five very skilled competitors taking part in our archery competition today! Each has three arrows, and after the first round, three competitors will be eliminated!” Lady Shubert boomed, enjoying her moment of fame.

“The last two competitors will then fire a single arrow, and we will have our winner.”

“She should sing for a living with those lungs,” Stephen whispered, having moved closer to where Patrick stood.

“That’s rude.”

“Don’t tell me you did not think it,” Stephen added.

“I, however, did not mention it, which is a sign of true nobility,” Patrick said.

“We will begin!” Lady Shubert shrieked.

He shut out all thoughts of Sophie and focused. Losing wasn’t an option. Like him, Stephen was also excellent at archery. They had both spent many hours as boys learning and continued as adults.

After three men were eliminated, it was just Stephen and Patrick left, and the crowd clapped loudly when Lady Shubert once again stepped forward.

“Now, this year, we have a slight change to the competition for the final two archers.”

“Christ, what is she about to make us do?” Patrick muttered.

“I will select two ladies to distract our gentlemen!” Lady Shubert declared as she walked to where everyone stood watching.

Patrick had not been in an archery competition before where a lady was called upon to distract him, yet as he watched Sophie take a step backward as their hostess headed toward her, he was quite happy with the change of rules.

She tried to slip behind several other guests; fortunately, they held their line, and she was left standing before Lady Shubert.

“Seems your fair lady is reluctant to come to your side, Colt. Your charms are clearly waning,” Stephen said.

Patrick whispered back, “And yours is looking as though she has swallowed something vile and would be more than happy to spit it up on your highly polished boots.” He turned to look at Stephen as he spoke.

His friend’s cheeks were flush with color as he observed Miss Logan’s obvious reluctance to come to his side.

Interesting. She was the exact opposite of the women Stephen usually flirted with.

When had they spent time together, he wondered.

Clearly, he had been too caught up in his countess to see what had been happening around him.

“Ladies, you will stand beside Lords Coulter and Sumner as they fire their last arrows. Your job is to distract them,” Lady Shubert said, leading Sophie and Miss Logan forward. Both looked like they would rather be anywhere but here and the center of attention.

“I thought you would relish the opportunity to irritate me, Countess,” he said when Sophie stopped beside him.

Before she could respond, Lady Shubert once again spoke.

“You will have one arrow each! Ladies, do your best,” Lady Shubert encouraged with an exaggerated wink. “Lord Sumner, you will go first.”

Miss Logan looked furious. She stood with her arms crossed, staring sightlessly behind Stephen, and then, when he took aim, she bent forward and whispered something into his ear. His arrow shot skyward, coming to rest well beyond the target.

“Shrew!” he hissed.

“Rake!” she retorted.

Patrick’s smile was smug as he lifted his bow and nocked the arrow. He would win because there was no way Sophie would make a scene in front of so many people.

Just as he was about to release the arrow, he felt her breath in his ear.

“Bloody hell!” Patrick yelled as his arrow shot over the target and nearly impaled one of Lady Shubert’s servants. Taking a deep breath to still the bolt of lust that nearly crossed his eyes, Patrick looked at Sophie. She wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Well done, ladies!” Lady Shubert cried. “It seems we have a tie today, so if you will come with me, my lords, I will give you both your prizes.”

He moved to where Lady Shubert stood with Stephen, who looked as annoyed as him. They were then given small statues of Roman gods, and once again, applause broke out. When he looked back to Sophie, she was walking toward the gardens.

Not this time. He followed minutes later after thrusting his figurine at Stephen.