Page 8 of Two Ruins Make a Right

Four

The road to ruin never lacks travelers.

J ames couldn’t think of anything to say as they descended the stairs to the main floor. That wasn’t exactly true. He didn’t want to waste these precious moments on idle chit-chat. What he wanted was to beg her to stay. He could use Valentina’s declaration as the white flag between them.

Earlier, when he’d leaned against the nursery door, he’d been hit with a wave of emotion—awe, longing, and a hefty dose of a sense of peace.

His daughter had practically glowed with the attention she was receiving.

Valentina had been well-mannered, polite, and respectful to Nell.

He’d been struck by how right it felt to have the former love of his life in the house holding his daughter.

No. This was a disaster waiting to happen.

He could not let his heart be broken again.

It was prudent for everyone to send Nell on her way.

He would pack up the painful memories she stirred and store them in the carriage with her.

He would also include these strange, new feelings that were most unwelcome and certainly unwanted.

He could not, and would not, allow her back into his life.

“Thank you for sharing Valentina with me,” Nell said. “She’s a special little girl.”

“I should be the one thanking you. Few women would prefer to eat in the nursery with a child rather than with the adults downstairs.” Before he could think better of it, James continued, “Of course, if it was your intent to escape my company, the nursery wasn’t a good hiding place. I visit my daughter quite frequently.”

She slowed her step. “It’s becoming extremely tiresome, not to mention rude, for you to insult me, then turn any conversation attempt on my part into an argument.

Why are you insistent on painting me as such a belligerent harridan who’s running from you, or in the next duplicitous breath, accusing me of chasing after you? ”

“Because you ran from me before, and now, here you are again,” he retorted, his wayward but barely controlled anger roaring to life once more. “I dare say you’d do it again if I gave you the opportunity. And I won’t give you that satisfaction. Nor will I allow you to chase after me.”

When Nell halted in the empty hallway, he had no choice but to stop with her.

She straightened to her full height, allowing them to assess one another eye-to-eye. “You’ve done nothing but throw barbs my way, then hurl mindless accusations at me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to force me from this house because you’re scared of what you might do.”

“What would that be, my lady?”

“Kiss me,” she challenged with an arch of her perfect brow.

The arrogant man arched an eyebrow. “Is that a request or a demand?”

He closed the distance between them. He could smell the scent of rose water.

Heaven help them both. She was trying to kill him with fragrance.

She’d worn it daily that long ago summer, and he would forever associate it with her and her soft, sensual kisses.

He made the mistake of looking at her plump, soft-as-down lips, then drew a shuddered breath.

One thing about Nell is that she knew his weakness. It was kisses—specifically, her kisses.

By God, if she were killing him, then he’d do the same to her. “Remember how we’d walk with my aunt, then slip away when she became enthralled with what the gardening staff was planting?”

Nell’s earlier fury melted as her gaze darted from his eyes to his lips, then back to his face. “Yes.”

Bull’s-eye. “We’d find a wide tree to hide both of us, then I ravaged your mouth until you were senseless.”

“Hardly,” she softly retorted. “If memory serves me correctly, you were the one who’d be affected the most by our kisses.

” She looked down the hallway to see if they were being overheard, then stood so close he would only have to lean an inch to kiss her.

“ Nell, I want you. Right here against the tree, ” she mimicked softly.

Hearing those words made everything inside him tighten. He had been madly in love with her. It had felt like heaven when they finally surrendered to their passion. He ensured it was heaven for her as well.

“And you’d answer, ‘ Take me here. Now. ’” He looked deep into those turquoise eyes where her own passion had ignited, making her pupils enlarge.

He could feel a cocky grin tugging at his lips.

His eyes searched her face, where her cheeks had flushed a brilliant pink.

“My God, you’re stunning when you’re aroused. ”

Immediately, he wanted to withdraw the words.

If she had any doubt about how she affected him, she knew it now.

Yet, he couldn’t turn away from her. His entire body had hardened, including his cock.

He couldn’t let her see that. So, he thought of mucking the horses’ stalls in the stable.

And vinegar. Yes, vinegar would douse any desire.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t working. He was still fantasizing about kissing Nell.

Suddenly, the dining room door opened. In haste, they stepped apart as if they’d just discovered they were poisonous to one another.

He glanced over his shoulder and groaned silently.

His aunt’s guests had just finished their meal.

Numerous ladies and several members of the ducal staff spilled into the hallway.

Conversations floated through the air as the women made various remarks about the artwork and the numerous extravagant Sevres vases that adorned the hallway.

When his aunt saw them, she immediately headed their way.

Nell dropped a deep curtsey at the same time James bowed. All the while praying that the evidence of his arousal wasn’t noticeable. If so, then his aunt’s guests would be twittering about more than the artwork.

The duchess glided to their sides. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Ma’am?” Nell asked.

“Your sister has disappeared. She wasn’t at the luncheon.” James’s aunt turned to him. “Nor was Harry in attendance.”

James motioned for the ever-present Tipton to come forward. “Have you seen my cousin or Miss Ellison?”

“No, sir.”

“Would you have the staff find Miss Ellison and escort her to my study? Lady Whitton is prepared to leave now. We’ll wait for her there.”

Tipton nodded with a bow.

When James returned his attention to Nell, she had completely forgotten about him as she conversed with his aunt. Both women clasped each other’s arms. Their heads were bent together as they walked toward his study, the one his uncle had assigned him when he’d been named the duke’s heir.

He followed their path, and not unexpectedly, his aunt glanced back and winked. The brightness in her eyes and her infectious grin made him smile. The old dame was up to something; whatever it was, he would be the beneficiary or perhaps the victim of her shenanigans.

He hadn’t had much happiness with his first wife, Georgiana. They’d shared affection as a normal married couple would, but neither was in love with the other. James had married her for the wrong reasons. It was to push aside the pain of Nell’s jilting.

But he’d promised his wife to put Valentina first, and he had kept that pledge in the past and would do so in the future.

Hence, the search for a new wife. He needed a spouse who would provide him with the necessary heir, but she had to be a woman of impeccable breeding and from the highest echelons of society.

As he strolled to his desk, the duchess and Nell were still enjoying each other’s company.

Valentina must have escaped from her nurse and followed them into the room. “Papa? What are Harry and the pretty lady Christa doing?”

“Don’t point, dearest,” James instructed. His daughter completely ignored him as she continued to point like a spaniel at the couple outside his study on the terrace. He followed the direction of her forefinger. “Oh, my God. What are they doing?”

At the shock in his voice, Nell and his aunt turned to view the scene out the French doors.

“No.” Nell’s voice trembled.

Harry had Christa enveloped in his arms, and it wasn’t just a simple kiss. No, it was as if they were making love to one another while still fully attired.

The duchess immediately sprang into action. “Valentina, come with me.”

“Auntie, Papa wants to know what they are doing. I do too.” Valentina smashed her nose against the window as she studied the couple, who proceeded to deepen their embrace, completely oblivious that they were being watched.

“Something they shouldn’t,” the duchess muttered.

“Will they be punished?” Valentina asked, then knocked on the window with her small fist, trying to get their attention. “Stop, please,” she said politely, then giggled. “Papa, see? I’m using my manners.”

Nell flew across the room and yanked the door open. “Christa!” Her sotto voce was sharper than a knife.

With a steely determination to wring his cousin’s neck, James followed Nell onto the terrace.

Harry and Christa finally broke from their embrace, both entirely out of sorts. Their faces betrayed how lost they were in each other. James knew exactly how they felt. He’d experienced that same haze of passion once.

With Nell, and only Nell.

With a mounting expression of haunted mortification, Nell’s sister looked their way. Harry’s usual carefree demeanor transformed into a look of unnatural chagrin.

But what made this an absolute nightmare was the crowd of guests gathered on the terrace next door. As they ogled the couple’s slow attempt to break apart, the murmurs gathered at a volume reminiscent of a murder of crows sounding the alarm.

Nell turned to the crowd before returning her gaze to the couple before her. Unable to move, her face was completely void of color as her shock slowly turned to horror.