“That is a question best left for you to answer.” He snatched her wrist and tossed the driver three coins. “She’ll be riding with me.”
The man tipped his head and flicked the reins.
“I was not going to fight against you.” She tugged at her wrist. “And you are here, so you must have guessed whyIam here.”
He lifted the note in his hand while leading her back to his carriage.
“So that’s what happened,” she murmured. “I thought I lost it.”
Warrick held fast to his calm. “You sought me out to tell me about this, but you didn’t. Why?” This bothered him the most. Why seek him out and then change her mind? Had he done something wrong? Even if she’d simply forgotten, she could have sent word to him later. But catching her in the act confirmed she hadn’t meant to include him anymore.
“After what happened this morning, I thought it best not to involve you. I also didn’t know whether I would be able to slip away without getting caught.”
“Is that really your reason?” He ushered her into the carriage, brushed the rain from his hair, and followed her in.
She didn’t answer.
Fine, then. He wouldn’t push. “Just tell me if I did something wrong or not—if that is why you didn’t tell me.”
“Of course not,” she said softly. “You did nothing wrong.”
That was something, he supposed. A small release from the reservoir of other things that plagued him. Like, “Why, after you left my bed this morning, did you prance about my house without a care?”
Her cheeks flushed. “Yes, well, I have been regretting that particular deed of mine.”
Warrick studied her. “If you were going to be so reckless, you could have stayed in bed with me.”
“I couldn’t stay there forever. I had to leave sometime.” She exhaled a deep breath. “Then I had this mad urge, and you know the rest.”
He would never forget that “rest” for the rest of his life. Still, “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“Would you have wakened me?” she countered.
Warrick clamped his jaw shut. No. Not in a thousand years.
“You see.”
Fine, it was in the past, anyway. He rapped on the roof and the carriage shot forward. There were other more pressing matters. “Who did you meet here?”
She arched a brow. “Have you not guessed?”
“Do not be snippy, Selena. This is serious. Do you know how dangerous this part of London is for a woman? Alone? You didn’t even bring a footman! You hailed a damn hackney. What if something had happened to you tonight? How do you think I would feel? How would your brother feel?” He removed his gloves and dragged a hand through his hair. “This is the exact reason why Saville put awatchdogon you. He was afraid of you running amok with no regard for your safety.”
“I am not running amok,” she protested, her brows furrowing.
“Then what are you doing?” Warrick challenged. “Do you even know? Not that I can blame you even if you don’t. I hardly know what the hell I’m doing.”
A hand settled on his knee. “I understand, all right?” Her eyes met his. “I made a mistake, I won’t deny that.” She patted his leg before retracting her arm and settling back. “I met a woman here. She was cloaked. They extended an invitation to the club.”
His heart started pounding in his chest. “Does this look like a place any club with good intentions would extend an invitation?”
She shrugged. “Perhaps it was a test.”
“Test, my arse. Tell me you are not going to join them.”
“I’m not sure. They gave me time to decide.”
He waved the note in her face. She could not be this naïve. “This is not an invitation, Selena. This is not a test.”
