Warrick’s brows furrowed. “Why would I do that?”
“Seems a theme amongst your friends so far.”
“Yes, well, they are rather protective.” Warrick smirked. “I suppose most men would feel threatened when a predator approaches their wife or fiancée or sister. Especially when the predator’s intentions are unclear.”
“Fair enough.”
“You do have a way of infuriating people,” Warrick pointed out.
“So my mother tells me.”
Warrick chuckled. “Are you attached to your mother’s hip?”
“It would be more apt to say she is attached to mine.”
Another laugh. “On your case to take a wife?”
“Isn’t it the life’s goal of every mother to see her offspring married off?”
“Cannot argue that point.”
A companionable silence settled over them, but Mortimer’s words from earlier still stewed in Warrick’s mind, poking at the center of his being. Did he allow the people he cared for to treat him like a sheep? One particular friend came to mind. A friend who had herded him straight into a pen that he might never escape from.
Allow.
Mortimer wasn’t wrong.
He had allowed Saville to rope him into “protecting” his sister while he “protected” Lady Theodosia. And Warrick had permitted it in spite of his reservations. He had given in to many things.
He’d acted the sheep when his true nature, perhaps, was that of a wolf. No, not a wolf... but rather... a lion.
“I’ll be damned.”
He was a lion. A lion with a great bushy mane.
Not a sheep.
Perhaps it was time for him to roar.
Chapter Thirteen
The next morning
Selena clutchedAStarry Nightin a death grip as she flung open the door ofthat earl’sbedchamber. His absence over these past days irked her in a way not even her brother had managed over the years. So now she refused to sit idly by and wait for this jackal to come to his senses.
What senses?
Now seeing Warrick sprawled in the center of the bed in nothing but his breeches had all but robbed her of her own. He on the other hand... not even the door slamming against the wall of his chamber had woken him!
Things had taken an unexpected turn this last week. The duel. A rekindled infatuation. And Warrick finally cutting the cord that had tied them together on her brother’s request.
But looking at him there, she could no longer deny or pretend. She found this rascal earl attractive, and she wanted to hunt down the meaning of the attraction between them. But she couldn’t do that if he kept her at a distance.
Selena’s eyes drifted over the length of his body.
All strength.
Her gaze narrowed. Even the soft vibration of his snores mocked her, indicating a man in the grip of a peaceful slumber.
