Astonishing moments hada way of springing out at a person when they were least expected. Sometimes, they might be curated, like when her friends would purposely do something scandalous to shock theton, but more often, they were not. And these moments were the most astonishing.
Like Dare.
She’d seen a lot of faces on Dare before. Sly. Flirtatious. Furious. Exasperated. And most of them, each in their own way, had amused her. However, tonight, she didn’t know what was more comedic, the new expressions flashing across his face or the monkey that had attached itself to him. But the monkey and ensuing facial expressions were, arguably, not even the astonishing part of this situation, Leonora thought, as the tension in the air between Dare and Calstone fairly hummed. This moment was more astonishing than all other moments put together!
Her gaze flicked between the two men, settling for a moment on the veins running down Dare’s neck and disappearing beneath his cravat. It brought the moment of his bare chest in the warehouse to mind. As well as the night they’d shared. The sense of thrill she had started the night off with returned tenfold.
But she couldn’t very well have him take a tumble with the duke.
Leonora grabbed hold of his arm. “Dare.”
His eyes found hers, and she shook her head. His lips pulled up in a sneer, but he instantly stepped back, the polished—or rather unpolished, yet refined—rake once more. Even that usual roguish smile hung on his face.
“My apologies, Duke.”
Calstone dusted off his jacket. “For Lady Leonora’s sake, I accept your apology.”
Oh, Lord. While she appreciated the duke’s sentiment, she inwardly grimaced at it. It only drew more attention onto her. Whispers and titters already filled the air of the lobby, almost deafening in their simultaneous rise.
“Thank you,” Leonora said before Dare could reply. With that look on his face, it would probably be something infuriating. The duke’s acceptance was already more than she could hope for. To Dare, she said, “What are you doing here?”
“Am I not allowed to attend the theatre?” He sounded bitter.
She blinked. “Of course you are.” But when she had spotted him leaving his box at the interval, and she glimpsed his cousin as well, she’d understood his presence was perhaps not as simple as it might appear.
She even dared, for a second, to believe it might have been for her. And that second had been enough for her to rush from her own box, Calstone in tow, in the hope of intercepting him, which had led to the current moment.
His hot eyes settled on her. She felt them prickle on her skin like heated needle points. “And now you would fawn over the duke but not me? The monkey attacked me first.”
Hold on. Was he perhaps . . .jealous?
Dare she believe?
No.Certainly not.
But his choice of words—fawn over? Was this something a rake ought to say? A smile sprang to her face, followed by a chuckle that turned into a bubble of laughter. Ah, this was nogood, but she couldn’t stop herself. This could not be considered a moment to rule all moments, but it certainly ranked near the top!
“Leonora? Why are you laughing?” A scowl formed between his brows. “Did the duke give you drink?”
Calston’s throat cleared. “I resent that. And also, her laughter is not the issue here.”
“Then what, by your account, is?” Dare demanded.
Leonora inhaled deeply and caught the duke’s subtle shift in attention, which had lowered to where she still gripped Dare’s arm, then down to where Dare still held onto her wrist. No. Her hand. Somewhere in all the chaos, his fingers had laced with hers.
They both froze.
Even the titters had suddenly stopped, waiting with bated breath for her and Dare’s next move. She looked up at him, and their eyes locked. Monkey aside, she could just imagine certain other gossip sheets tomorrow.A Lady and a Rake Hold Hands. Or maybeA Touch Too Far?
Fingers Intertwined, Reputations on the Line!
Heart was going to kill her.
“Hit me,” he whispered.
Leonora blinked at him, and not the flirtatious kind. “What?” she said through her own fading smile. Had she heard him correctly?
“Hit me,” he repeated with a hiss. “It’s the only way out of this for you.”
