A Proper Scandal (Ravensdale Family Book 2) (19 page)

“He’s my patron. He bought me this apartment, my clothes, he supports my dancing career. I might even begin acting lessons so I can become an actress.”

“Very well.” Alex was so frustrated that he could think of nothing else to say, so he spun around to leave. Fleeing would at least save whatever dignity he had left.

“If you arrive at eight and happen to run into our party on the front stairs at the opera house, I might be able to procure an invitation for you to join us.”

Alex stopped, his back still to Minnie.

“If you wish,” she continued, mirth heavy in her words.

After the other night, he supposed he deserved being teased. He grabbed his hat from the footman and stuffed it onto his head before turning and tipping it over his brow. “Then I shall happen upon you then…
Min
.”

He left before she could correct his informal address.

*

Minnie wore a red, daring venture. Not a demure burgundy or deep wine. She wore scarlet, and the scandal of it was delicious. Her dressmaker had outdone himself.

“You’ll be in all the social columns in the morning,” Chantal giggled, latching onto her elbow as they climbed the steps to the opera house.

“Undoubtedly.” That had been her intention. The modiste had been insistent on a new fashion, something extremely low cut with the tightest corset Minnie had ever sucked her body into. The result was splendid, even if she couldn’t breathe.

Eyes were on her almost instantly. Men ogled, wives pulled their husbands back, and the society matrons rushed to malign her behind their fans. Censure meant nothing when she had the approval of Monsieur Peprin. Seeing that he was quite pleased, there wasn’t a thing to worry about.

“Everyone is staring.” Jealousy oozed from Chantal’s words as Minnie’s smile spread. “How do you do it?”

Minnie winked at a portly man who turned red once his wife caught him staring.

“You vixen!”

Laughter rolled from her core, deep and unguarded. Chantal acted as if it were all luck, as if Minnie was some ugly duckling transformed. And perhaps it did help to finally have caught the eye of Monsieur Peprin, but it had not been some overnight miracle. She had fought for this evening. She had fought for his attention, for his money. He had what she wanted and she was so close now. With Peprin’s connections, she could be more than a chorus girl. She could draw crowds as she graced the stage, alone. Minnie would dwell in its glory like a glutton.

“Evie.” Chantal’s elbow rammed against Minnie’s corseted core. It would have hurt if she could actually feel her middle. “Who is that with Monsieur Peprin?”

A woman could fall in love with the way Alex looked there on the steps, standing coolly with the most powerful man in Montmartre. It was hard to tell if he recognized her as she approached, but perhaps that was for the best, because she was grinning like a fool.

“I don’t know,” Minnie lied on a soft exhale.

His eyes slid to her for a brief moment, a small smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. That was all. One brief moment that forced her recognize her racing heart against her constricted chest.

“Let’s know.” Chantal towed Minnie up the remaining stairs, past the thickening crowd. “I find myself wanting to know very much.”

Heat rose to her cheeks as they neared, her eyes settling on his mouth, remembering the kiss they first shared. That wonderful, divine kiss that turned the world upside down. It’d fed her all these years in moments of darkness. It’d given her a glimpse of hope that someday someone might be kind to her again, that possibly she would learn what love was, instead of always having to play at it for money and attention.

“Ah, there you are,” Peprin said, observing the pair with a proud smile. He scanned the crowd behind Minnie and Chantal, no doubt taking in how they were attracting the attention of most of Parisian society. The other men crowding around were like hungry wolves, smiling and assessing, as if Minnie and Chantal were on the dinner menu. Such things came with the territory, but still, Alex didn’t look directly at Minnie. Instead, he shared a private laugh with another of Monsieur Peprin’s friends.

“Shall we proceed inside?” Peprin asked.

“Who is your friend, monsieur?” Chantal eyed Alex, her mouth in a perfect pink pout. Her last patron had been so wild about her mouth that he commissioned a portrait of her to grace his study’s walls. There had been the diamonds, too, and furs, but duty called and he was married to a far wealthier American. Chantal had moved back in with Minnie and Viviene, unable to afford that lifestyle.

Alex’s eyes drew up from the stairs to Minnie in a long, slow sweep. The precious little air she had in her lungs squeezed out when their gazes connected. There was a playful light shining in his eyes. Then
that
smile. That cursed, splendid smile.

Alex bowed as Monsieur Peprin said, “Allow me to introduce Monsieur Marwick.”

“Will you be joining us?” Chantal asked.

When Alex returned Chantal’s smile, Minnie grew rigid. She wished to ask that question of him. She wanted his company. Coy as she might have been with Alex that morning, his visit had spurred something hopeful within her. She might have left for Paris, but she had never rid herself of what she had shared with Alex.

“No, I don’t wish to interfere.”

“Nonsense,” Minnie jumped in. “Please join us. Can’t he, Monsieur Peprin?”

Maybe it was the eagerness in her voice that caused Monsieur Peprin to narrow his eyes at her. Maybe it was only her nerves. Or perhaps it was uneasiness as Alex continued to ignore her. It seemed rather easy for him and she didn’t like that one bit.

“It would be so nice to speak with a fellow countryman,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes at the older man in an attempt to recover.

The guarded look on his face disappeared and he smiled, as always, at the charming Evie. The man was putty in her hands. “Who am I to deny the lovely Mademoiselle Dupree?” Peprin tapped his cane against the stairs. “Yes, please join us, Monsieur Marwick. I insist.”

Alex extended his arm to Minnie. “If I may have the pleasure of escorting you, Miss Dupree?”

“Thank you, Mr. Marwick,” Minnie replied in English, ignoring Chantal. The wealthy half of Paris was at the opera, Chantal could surely find some other man to be her keeper and leave Alex well alone.

Though his hands were gloved, he made one wicked swipe of his fingers against the small slip of skin between her gloves and the dropped sleeve of her gown. It caught her off-guard. She stumbled, forcing out a deep breath to stop the ground from moving beneath her feet.

She glanced sideways, catching a brief glimpse of the man escorting her into the most beautiful building she had ever stepped foot in. He sensed her looking, catching her as he stole a glance of his own before focusing on the crush ahead of them.

Alex was all shadows that evening, impossible to read and far out of reach. She thought that maybe he was happy to see her, but then his features would pull together in seriousness and her doubts settled in once more.

He moved them through the crowd with a prowess she didn’t remember him capable of, a quiet confidence of a man, not the Irish pickpocket who often sported a black eye and bloodied knuckles. And when she thought that perhaps he had transformed into a gentleman, he tripped her. She landed upside down in his arms, his hands resting over her corseted middle.

“Easy there, Min,” he whispered in her ear as he righted her. He set her back onto her feet, but Minnie didn’t feel as if she were standing. The hushed gasps of the crowd quieted as she blushed and waved off their concern.

The nerve of him to embarrass her so thoroughly in front of Paris society. As they approached Peprin’s box, she sent the curve of her hip against his thigh, knocking him off balance.

He stumbled forward, smirking down at her as she smiled in kind. They were no better than children. They didn’t belong there at the opera if they were to continue on like this for the rest of the evening. He didn’t belong at her side when her mind was set on the stage below. And whatever dream he harbored, she could not remain at his side if he wanted to appear in polite society. Minnie would never be accepted at luncheon groups or charity fundraisers. She was restricted to the dance halls and the wicked delights that came when dark settled over the city. Life as a demimondaine had its limitations. Of course, it had its freedoms as well.

*

The problem was that damn red dress of hers. Leave it to Minnie to wear a scandal. Living one was never enough.

If she had accepted Alex’s invitation, they could have been friendly. Familiar. It could have been like those long nights they shared in London where they laughed until they cried. Instead, she had insisted they pretend they didn’t know one another. And that was impossible after having his hand down her dress nearly a week ago.

He had come to Paris to settle Peprin’s debt with Millay’s. With the money Ainsworth promised, he could finally purchase the theater in London and make it his own, and he could prove to Ainsworth he was worthy of running Millay’s Club when he retired. Alex needed Paris to be a success, but the discovery of Minnie was a distraction. A very dangerous distraction.

The opera wasn’t spectacular, though to be fair, Alex never appreciated the opera. His attention was elsewhere, anyway.

Minnie handled the group in the box with a finessed skill acquired over time. No more the girl pretending to be a paramour in a dodgy London casino. She didn’t falter now. She was unreservedly charming. They adored her. Hell, Alex adored her, wearing that brilliant dress of hers. He lifted his glass up to her in salute from across the box. The truth was, a girl like Minnie Ravensdale was irresistible.

And just as suddenly, he could not stomach watching her entertain everyone else. He wanted to be in her company. Alone. He wanted her smile and her laughs. She was being served up as if some rich dessert to Peprin.

He shot up from his seat, neglecting to make apologies, and exited the box. It wasn’t possible to stand by and watch Minnie without that strange primal feeling tugging at him.

Alex leaned against the cool marble wall in the hallway and bowed his head.

“Are you upset with me?”

Her voice was a poor mask. Of course she would play it as though he was to blame. Was he? Was he being unreasonable?

“No.” His own answer was a lie, evident by the way he had to force out each letter on a hard exhale. He closed his eyes as she walked around to face him. The rustle of silk gliding over the marble tiled floor was all that filled the space around them.

Beyond the curtains, the orchestra struck up, building to an aria’s crescendo, yet all he focused on was the way he tensed when her body stood in front of his. She stepped closer, her skirt covering his shoes, her rose perfume clouding his mind. His eyes opened and he pinned his gaze to hers. In one moment, he dove headfirst into madness, dragging her against him, his lips kissing the hollow of her throat.

Minnie braced herself over Alex, her hands pinned on either side of his head. Her hands slipped farther down the wall, drawing her closer. Alex framed her tiny waist with his hands as her mouth parted on a sigh. She took his mouth, her tongue moving over his lips in a wicked flutter. With a burning graze of one finger, Minnie ignited his want.

She leaned closer to his ear. “You’re mad with me.” Her fingers slid higher into his hair and tugged.

Alex should have put a respectable distance between them, but he didn’t care. Let them be discovered.

“You can’t kiss me here.” Her hands traveled down the buttons of his waistcoat until she gave a playful push and backed away.

“No?”

She bit her bottom lip as she backed further out of his reach.

He scanned the hallways and found that they were mostly empty, the audience still seated as the opera continued, the music filling up the building like a heartbeat. Or perhaps that was just the sound of his own heartbeat filling his ears as he stalked her down the hall. “Here?” he asked, as they approached the staircase.

Her eyebrows drew up into a peak, her smile widening. Minnie whirled around, her skirts billowing over the floor in a wave of red. He allowed her only a few more steps before he reached out and pulled her back behind a curtained room, thankfully vacant.