Christie Kelley (3 page)

She slapped her hands down on the desk behind her as if to brace herself. “What are you talking about, Selby?”

Why couldn’t Billingsworth meet her? There had to be a good reason. Thank God, he had actually listened to Jennette’s gossipy prattle at breakfast about Lady Hythe.

“That cheer was the
ton’s
congratulations on Mr. Billingsworth and Lady Hythe’s engagement. He won’t be coming in here.”

“His engagement?” she whispered. She blinked as if attempting to keep tears at bay. “Did he send you in his place, to inform me?”

“No.”

“Then how did you…?” Her face blanched with comprehension.

He held up the note she’d written until she grabbed it out of his grip. “How did you get this?”

“I took it from the footman.”

She pushed him away and walked around the desk. Leaning over the desk, she stared at him before saying, “You took my private message and read it?”

“Hardly private, Avis. There wasn’t even a name on it.”

“Regardless, you shouldn’t have read my note,” she retorted. “Besides, his name wasn’t on the note. How did you know it was for Mr. Billingsworth?”

Damn good question. How did he know? “I made the assumption and thought to save you the embarrassment of asking a newly betrothed man to meet you alone. Highly scandalous, Avis, and so unlike you.”

He sat down in the chair by the desk. Her emerald gown shimmered in the candlelight. But it wasn’t the lovely dress that caught his attention. Her light brown hair shined with burnished gold strands, highlighting her amber eyes and heart-shaped face. His gaze moved lower, admiring the amount of snowy skin exposed to him. For a small woman she had ample curves everywhere a woman should.

“Now what did you wish to speak with Billingsworth about? A problem with your current story? Did you need him to assist you?”

“It is none of your concern.” She stood upright and crossed her arms over her chest.

Slowly, Banning stood and then leaned in closer to her until only a desk kept them apart. Avis stood her ground, but her breathing increased.

“I’m quite certain
I
can help you,” he whispered with a ghost of a smile.

Her mouth dropped open. “Oh my God! Did Jennette tell you?” Her voice raised an octave. “Did she?”

Heat crept across his cheeks. He felt like a damned schoolboy accused of cheating on his exams. His sister had told him nothing of any consequence, but he could not tell Avis about his conversation with Miss Reynard. “No. I overheard my sister and Miss Reynard talking.”

She paused as if taking in his words. “What exactly did you hear?”

“I believe you decided to have a love affair with Mr. Billingsworth. I’m here to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life.”

Her face grew pallid. “This is none of your concern, Selby.”

“I’m making it my concern.”

“Why?”

Banning sighed. “Emory Billingsworth is the worst kind of man—”

“Unlike you,” she interrupted. “You’re simply an angel, are you not?” Her eyes, normally a soft amber, hardened as she glared at him.

“I never claimed to be an angel, Avis. But nothing I have ever done can compare to Billingsworth. He will rip your reputation to shreds. Why? Because he shall think it a great joke.”

“I don’t believe you. I have known Mr. Billingsworth for the past three years, and he has been nothing but a gentleman to me. Unlike you.”

Banning clenched his fists. “Avis, he is not the man you think he is.”

“Why should I believe
you?”

“I was at Eton when he was there. I know things about him that he has been able to keep quiet—things that could ruin him if they became public.”

“That was years ago when he was barely a man. I would be surprised to find a man who didn’t have some slight scandal to his name, even you,” she whispered the last two words.

“Avis,” Banning said, trying to contain his frustration. “You cannot do this. At least not with him, think of Lady Hythe. She would be devastated if she discovered her betrothed with another woman.”

She closed her eyes and stood still. After what seemed like minutes, though in truth was only a few seconds, she opened them again. “Very well then. I shall have to find another man.”

“No!” The words tumbled out before he could stop them. “If you want someone else, choose me.”

Damn!
Where had that come from?

He walked slowly around the desk with his fingers sliding across the smooth wood. He took two more strides and then drew her against his chest.

“Let me go, you—”

“Dear God, please stop calling me an oaf.”

Her lips twitched. “I will not do this with you, Selby. And you know why.”

His head dipped toward her ear. “That was eight years ago, Avis. And I was a fool.”

“No. Not you,” she said with a slight catch to her voice. She pulled out of his arms, walking only a step backward before she stopped.

“I wasn’t?” He’d felt like one back then. Kissing the
Ice Maiden
had been a prank, but the joke had been on him when he realized he might have lost control if she hadn’t backed away.

She poked her finger at his chest. “Yes, you were a fool. And I was an even greater one for thinking I was anything but a wager to you. Melt the
Ice Maiden
and win the bet. I won’t be that foolish again.”

“I never meant to hurt you.”

“Well you did and on more than one occasion.” She walked toward the door. “I believe we should leave.”

“One kiss.”

She whirled around with a swish of green silk. “What?”

“One kiss to convince you that I am the man you want. If after one kiss you decide not to accept me, I shall leave you in peace. And I won’t speak of your plans.”

Her face screwed into a multitude of emotions as she contemplated his request. “That’s all it would take to be rid of you—one kiss?” she asked hesitantly.

“That is it.”
Say yes…say yes,
he silently urged as he walked closer to her. He wanted her kiss like a drowning man wanted saving.

“Very well then. Let’s get this over with.”

Every seduction skill he had ever learned would be needed for this one moment. With exacting precision, he drew her against his chest. Slowly, he lowered his head until his lips touched hers with the briefest of contact. It took every ounce of self-control not to drag her even closer to him. Instead, he sucked her lower lip into his mouth and slid his tongue across it. She whimpered—one battle won.

He pressed her closer to him and deepened the kiss. The light scent of her jasmine perfume infused him. He wanted her. Damn. He wanted her more now than he had eight years ago. Touching her warm skin and tasting the hint of wine on her tongue sent his pulse thrumming.

Her whimper turned into a soft moan as she responded to him. One more battle down but the war was far from over. He skimmed his hands down her back and squeezed her derrière tightly against his rising erection. She started to draw away but he refused her. He bent his head over her mouth again and played with her tongue until she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her warm body closer to him. This time, he moaned.

His lips trailed a path to her ear. “Say yes, Avis,” he whispered. “Say yes.”

“One night, Selby.”

Banning pulled his head back—one night? “A month wouldn’t be enough time to teach you everything you want to know.”

“One week—”

He cut off her protests with another passionate kiss. Lifting his head, he said, “Three weeks.”

“One—”

Again, he kissed her until he hoped her protests would cease.

“Two,” she said breathlessly. “That’s my final offer.” She thrust out of his arms and walked unsteadily toward the door. “Call on me to finalize the details tomorrow,” she said with a quiver to her voice. The door shut quietly behind her.

What the bloody hell had he done?

He was only supposed to prevent her from having an affair with Billingsworth, not exchange places with the man. Banning pressed his palms against the desk. He had made the situation even worse. The quiet, reserved woman he had known for years was suddenly doing everything in her power to ruin herself, and
he
was helping her.

It wasn’t as if he needed a lover. Any number of married or widowed women in that very ballroom would jump at the chance to be his mistress. But with Avis, he was playing with fire. There was every possibility that someone would discover their liaison and as an innocent, she would be ruined. If he didn’t marry her to spare her name, he’d be an utter bastard. Not that he would ever let that happen. If this insanity was ever discovered, he would live with the consequences.

He thought about the word consequences for a moment, weighed it in his mind, and released a heavy sigh. It wasn’t too late to stop this madness. But no matter how hard he tried to think about consequences and logic and morals, he knew one thing for certain. He wanted this. Consequences be damned. He wanted Avis. If someone discovered them, he would marry her.

Marriage to Avis…he waited for the usual aversion to strike him. And yet, it didn’t. After years of avoiding marriage, he’d expected to feel repugnance, not the quiet, warming calm that spread over him.

Marry Avis Copley?

He slid into the chair behind the desk and examined the idea from all sides, searching for flaws. Other than the possible exception of her hating him, he couldn’t find any fault. And after that passionate kiss, he was inclined to think she didn’t hate him as much as she professed.

He did need to wed. That had been the plan for this Season, after all—find a bride. Because of their past history and the fact that she was Jennette’s best friend, he had never considered her a candidate for his wife. He tapped his fingers on the desk. She wasn’t a silly girl like Miss Roebuck or Lady Anne. Avis had a maturity and intelligence he admired. She had her writing to keep her busy when he became embroiled with the estates or Parliament. She had a body any man would love to keep in bed for days.

This was truly a mad idea.

Still, she was the daughter of a viscount, wealthy in her own right, and from an excellent family with no scandals. She would have met all of his father’s requirements for a wife. Except she had no interest in marrying…anyone. The thought made him smile.

He so loved a challenge. Women had thrown themselves at him since he was an adolescent. Most just wanted the title and money he brought to a marriage, while Avis had no desire for either. The other women were easy conquests. But in all the years he’d been with women only Avis rejected him. Only Avis would respond to him with cutting remarks. Only Avis argued with him in front of any number of people. Only Avis could respond to his kisses and make him forget everything, including his own control.

Only Avis.

Why had it taken him this long to realize she was exactly what he wanted in a wife? Guilt. He still regretted being involved in that bloody wager. If not for that kiss, he would never have realized how much he desired her. Still, they couldn’t be in the same room without making sneering comments toward each other.

He had to admit that most of the time he only made derogatory comments to keep her at arms length. And surely his behavior had only supported her dislike of him. They would spend their days bickering and their nights making passionate love with each other.

He smiled.

She had made a bargain with the devil. How had it happened? How had she let him take control of the situation like that? Avis leaned against the ballroom wall and clutched her stomach. The one man she knew she would never be able to manage had turned her plan upside down.

And all because of one simple kiss.

Although, in truth, Selby’s kisses were never simple. They were heated, mind-altering medicine that made her say and do the most foolish things, such as agreeing to have an affair with him. How could she have been so stupid?

There had to be away out of this mess. She couldn’t go away with Jennette’s brother.

“Are you all right, Avis?”

She looked up to see
his
sister staring at her with concern. “Just a little dizzy, Jennette. It’s a bit stifling in here.”

“I meant with Mr. Billingsworth’s announcement. Are you going to concede your idea is foolish and not continue with it?”

Well, she certainly couldn’t tell Jennette who her new target was. “I shall have to decide on another man.”

“Think carefully on it, Avis. You need a man you can trust, one who would never tell a soul about your affair. There are not very many men who fit into that category.”

Could she trust Selby? She wasn’t sure she could. After all, he had wagered he could kiss the
Ice Maiden
before any other man. And he had. Yet, as she thought about it, he had never gloated about their kiss. Perhaps Selby was just the man she needed, and she certainly desired him.

Avis glanced away from Jennette only to notice Selby and Lord Kesgrave strolling toward them. She couldn’t face him again so soon.

“Jennette, would you excuse me? I need to give my felicitations to Mr. Billingsworth.”

Avis slipped into the crowd on the dance floor and strolled to the other side of the room. She glanced around until she sighted Emory dancing with Lady Hythe. Avis let out a small sigh, feeling no pain at the sight of them together. With Emory, it wasn’t as much a physical attraction as a mental appeal. They shared much in common with their writing. She had nothing in common with Selby.

The dance ended and Emory left Lady Hythe with a group of her friends. He walked toward Avis with a smile. “Miss Copley, how wonderful to see you tonight.”

“Thank you, Mr. Billingsworth.”

“I assume you heard my announcement?” he asked, straightening his already perfect coat.

“You must be very pleased.”

“Of course. It’s not every day Prinny invites a writer to join him in Brighton for a month in the summer. I do hope that his support will help my book to be published sooner.”

Avis shook her head. Prinny? Brighton in the summer? “I thought your announcement might be an engagement to Lady Hythe.”