Every Time We Kiss. Christie Kelley
the truth from him.
Except Vanessa.
That one drunken bitter night when he’d spilled the truth to her. But that was what mistresses were for, after all. Secrets and passion. Subjects too sensitive for anyone else. Vanessa had given him her word never to reveal his secrets, and he’d paid her well for that service.
Looking over at the terrace door, he watched Jennette slip through the open doorway and back inside the room. Her pink cheeks gave away her flustered state. Immediately a crowd of women appeared at her side. She smiled at them, but he knew she was paying no attention to them. Her gaze locked with his for a long moment.
He felt like a cad for doing this to her. But his options had run out. It seemed odd that he was hanging his only hope on her. Perhaps he should have taken her money. Yet money wasn’t all he needed or wanted. He’d spoken the truth when he said he needed a wife and child. More importantly, he wanted to regain his respectability. No longer hiding on the outskirts of the ton.
He picked up a glass of wine from the table and lifted it in salute to her. Quickly, she looked away from him. Before he could turn and walk toward the gaming room to watch the playing, a man stepped in front of him. Even with a mask, Matthew immediately recognized the angry blue eyes behind the disguise.
“What are you doing here?” Lord Selby asked in a cold voice. “Uninvited, I might add.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you are talking about,” Matthew replied and started to inch away. “You must have me confused with another.”
Selby clenched his hand around Matthew’s bicep and led him to a corner for privacy. “I know exactly who you are, Blackburn. And don’t think I didn’t see the little salute you gave my sister. I want you out of here.”
“As you wish.” Matthew placed the wine on the table and turned only to face Jennette.
“It is our dance, is it not?”
The melodic sound of her voice floated over him, caressing him. She stepped closer to both men.
“Jennette,” her brother warned. “I don’t think you know who this is.”
“Banning, I believe you are mistaken.” She hooked her arm around Matthew’s and said, “Our waltz is starting.”
“Yes, my lady.” Matthew started to lead her to the dance floor but stopped upon hearing Selby’s voice.
“Jennette,” her brother hissed.
“Leave me be, Ban.”
“I hope you know what you are doing,” Selby replied.
She turned and looked at her brother. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”
Matthew blew out a breath and walked her to the dance floor. If he’d had a sister, he would have reacted the same way as Selby. “Perhaps your brother is right. I am the last person you should be dancing with tonight.”
“I promised you a dance and I refuse to let you wheedle your way out of it.”
He pulled her close as the dance began. “I never said I didn’t want to dance with you.”
He couldn’t think of a thing he wanted more than her in his arms. Unless, she was naked and in his bed.
She smiled up at him as twin dimples lined her cheeks. “Good.”
Her body almost touched his and he barely resisted the urge to drag her completely against him. He’d always attempted to think of her solely as John’s betrothed. But just like five years ago, it never seemed to work. It must have been her alluring scent of exotic spices. A combination of fragrances that floated around them, intoxicating him.
“Are you still frightened of me?” he whispered when he felt her tremble.
“Always,” she answered softly. “You have the ability to ruin me…and my family.”
“So when do I meet this first lady?”
“Tonight. I shall speak to her as soon as our dance is finished.”
He leaned in closer just to inhale her sweet scent again. “Is she beautiful?”
“She is quite fetching.” Jennette drew away from him. “But you never told me beauty was a requirement.”
“I shouldn’t wish to be married to someone I dread making love to at night.” Matthew smiled as her cheeks reddened.
“If you speak like that to all the innocent ladies they will run away from you,” she finally replied.
“And yet, you haven’t run away,” he whispered in her ear.
“Cad.”
“So everyone believes.” He glanced away from her deliberately. “Personally, I have always preferred blondes. And petite, too. Will this be a problem?”
“I should think someone in your situation cannot be too particular.”
“Yes, but you will find me the perfect wife, or so you said,” he answered. The only perfect thing about a wife who met his description was that she wouldn’t remind him of Jennette.
“Yes, I will,” she said with more force than necessary.
As the music ended, Matthew reluctantly led her back to her brother. Selby stared coldly at him.
“Thank you for the dance, Lady Jennette. I quite enjoyed it.” He bowed over her hand, then left her to be chastised by her brother.
Banning led her away from the crowded ballroom. “Have you completely lost your mind?”
At this point, Jennette wasn’t certain. Insanity might be preferable to what she’d gotten herself into tonight.
“Why is he even here?” Banning asked as they reached the salon where only an hour before Sophie had foretold her future, with far too much accuracy.
“He is looking for a wife, Ban. I’m sure you realize that his reputation is ruined and most families won’t invite him to even a musicale.”
“Well, then he shouldn’t have impaled his best friend with a sword.”
Jennette closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. The image of standing over John as he fell to the grassy field was too much for her. She could still smell the repugnant odor of blood. The red liquid flowed from his body like a river rushing to the ocean. For as long as she lived, she would never forget the look of shock on his face. Or his last gasp for breath with a rapier impaled in his lung.
Suddenly, Banning pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry, Jen.”
“He was such a good man.” And she had killed him.
“I know. He didn’t deserve to die so young.”
A tear fell down her cheek. Matthew was a good man, too. And he didn’t deserve this, either. If her attention had been on John and not elsewhere, Matthew would never have been put in this position.
“I have to help him find a wife, Banning.”
Her brother drew away and stared down at her. “What?”
“It was an accident. He never would have hurt John. The grass was damp, his foot slipped and John couldn’t react in time.” Every time she told that damning lie, her heart raced with the fear of being discovered.
“They were grown men who should have known better than to practice with swords on wet grass,” Banning said.
Jennette nodded, remembering Matthew’s words of caution to her that morning. “And I suppose you never have made a mistake?”
“That bastard will say anything to clear his name.”
“I was there. I know what happened.”
“I don’t want you anywhere