Conspiring with a Rogue (47 page)

Her light eyebrows tilted into two twin arches as she gently pulled her arm from his grasp. “Thank you.”

“Miss Prattle,” her friend said through clenched teeth. “Our hour is over.

“Tell me your name,” Grey insisted as his intriguing, blonde beauty started backing away from him. He didn’t want her to go. Not yet.

“You already know it.”

“Your real name,” he amended, advancing toward her so she couldn’t simply vanish into the thickening crowd. “I could call on you. Take you to the theatre. Show you things you’ve probably only imagined.”

A lovely pink blush stained her cheeks. “I’ve a great imagination.”

“Then let’s explore it together.” He didn’t give a damn how forward he sounded.

“Enough!” her annoying companion said. “We must go now. It’s been two hours.”

“Two hours!” his beauty gasped. “Dear me. I really must go, but thank you for the offer.”

He sidestepped in front of her and looked down into her upturned face. “Meet me here tomorrow,” he said, desperate to ensure he would see her again. Her indecisiveness showed as she bit on her lip. “I won’t let you leave unless you agree.”

“That’s coercion.”

“Whatever it takes.” He loved the word “whatever”. It left so many intriguing possibilities open to explore.

“Please remember that tomorrow.” She sidestepped around him.

A sense of satisfaction filled him. “I’ll see you at the fountain at ten.”

Already a few steps away, she looked over her shoulder. A frown marred her beautiful face. “Goodbye, Lord Drivel.”

He loved that she was willing to play the game. “Fair well, Miss Prattle.”

He watched her depart, her hips rocking enticingly with each step, until he could see her no more. If he was any other sort of man, he would have followed her all the way to her carriage just for a few more minutes in her company. Gravenhurst nudged him in the side. “Do you really think that piece will meet you here?”

“Of course I do. I’d not have let her leave, otherwise.”