Redeeming the Deception of Grace (2 page)

Chapter One

"
How
'
s my pretty little liar tonight? Hmm?
"
Ewan Emmett, Duke of Greys asked
.

"
Delightful, now that I
'
m dancing with you, your
g
race.
"
The false sweetness dripped from Lady
Grace
Hashiver
'
s
lips with practiced execution
.
Her wide mouth pulled into a sarcastic smile that was all too familiar
.

H
e still loved
to
taunt and provok
e
her
.
S
atisfaction settled in his chest at her reaction.
"
Ah,
Grace
, sarcasm does
not
become you
.
"

Her eyes narrowed.
"
It
'
s
Lady
Grace
to you.
"
She spoke with a defiant tilt of her chin.

"
Most people are
too
intimidated to correct me
.
T
ell me, where did I go wrong with you? A little humility, any semblance of respect from your lips would be manna from heaven. But I
'
m sure Hades would have to freeze over first?
"
h
e asked with a wicked grin, arching his eyebrow as he spoke the last words, knowing their truth.

"
Ah, you
'
re smarter than you let on
,
your
g
race
,
"
s
he
mocked,
beam
ing
at him
.

Unaffected
,
he continued with their banter.
"
Our little secret
.
After all, I wouldn
'
t want to spoil the fun
for
all the blushing debutant
e
s
who
only want me for my physique.
"
Ewan waited for her prickly response
.
H
e knew how much she despised h
is teasing
.

"
Yes, well, some value looks over anything else, including manners
,
"
Grace
shot back while she offered him a dismissi
ve
look and focused her attention on the other dancers.

"
Ah, yes, the old
'
manners
'
debate, but, we have digressed
.
Tell me,
Grace
dear, where did I go wrong with you? Haven
'
t you the slightest tremble when I hold you in my arms, press myself close to you, lean down to whisper in your ear
?
"
With a suppressed chuckle
,
he leaned down and pressed himself closer to her, teasing her with his
legendary
rakish charm, yet she never seemed the least bit affected.

Perhaps that was why he was able to remain such close friends with
Grace
over the years
.
She never took his advances seriously
,
and he was able to tease, torment
,
and play to his heart
'
s content.

Yes,
Grace
never took him seriously, although a small part of his mind wondered what would happen if she did. In fact, a small part dared to hope for it, regardless of how he continued to silence the wild notion.

****

Indeed
Grace
was not as unaffected as she seemed
.
Ewan
was
a constant reminder of everything she wanted but could never have
.
Ever since her little lie
—
rather
,
a large lie, which had caused him unforgivable punishment
—
she had written him off as a possible suitor. But that didn
'
t stop her heart from fluttering when he asked for a
w
altz at each gathering they both attended
.

He had grown from the gangly eleven-
year
-
old with too much confidence into a
r
ake of the first order
.
If he even had the slightest idea that
Grace
dreamt of his wavy ebony hair, eyes the color of sapphire, and heart
-
stopping smile, he
'
d use it to his advantage
,
and she
'
d walk away ruined
…
in one way or another. So, to protect her
heart
and virtue
,
she reverted back into her eight-
year
-
old attitudes
,
with the added benefit of an eighteen-year
-
old vocabulary.

Taking a silent breath and resisting the urge to lean closer as his head dropped down
,
she focused on the question and tried to come up with a witty reply. Her quick tongue had been her salvation in dealing with the notorious charm of the Duke of Greys.

"
Ever since
the summer you arrived to dinner clothed in a loincloth and
a
smile
,
I can
'
t seem
to be afraid.
"
She looked at him in the eye, raising an eyebrow
,
and then allowed herself to be distracted from his handsome features by watching the swirling dancers.
"
I keep picturing that small boy with the scrawny legs whenever you smile at me
,
and I
'
m afraid, the mental
image
has stuck
.
"

She tossed her head back to look at Ewan full in the face.
"
It is exceedingly difficult to be afraid of you when
that
is what I remember.
"
She
allowed her gaze to sweep him from head to foot
and waited with
a defiant glare.

****

Ewan grinned down at
Grace
, unaffected by her
attempt at humbling him.

"
I looked quite dashing
,
"
h
e stated
.

"
Dashing is exactly what you did
.
T
oo bad your attempted escape from your irate mother left you naked
,
"
s
he quipped back.

"
A delightful sight, if I do say so myself
.
You should consider yourself blessed
.
Many a woman would be eager for such an intimate view
,
"
h
e remarked,
impervious
t
o
her attempt at injuring
his
considerable ego.

"
Odd
.
I don
'
t remember being impressed.
"
Her eyebrow rose in sarcasm as she dismissed him once again with her eyes.

"
I
'
m sure you would be now.
"
His head dipped lower as he spoke the words
,
and though Ewan
knew
he was imagining things, he thought he could feel her heart
pound wildly
in response to his words.

"
I
'
m sure I wouldn
'
t be.
"
She spoke
in
low
tones
as she
captured
him with a direct gaze that eliminated the suspicio
ns
he had entertained only moments before.

Ewan paused,
gazing
down at
Grace
.
Her cinnamon and gold
hair was twisted into some sort of fashionable confection
,
but he never stopped seeing the girl with the braids whenever he looked at her
.
Oh yes, he had been irate when she bested him that Christmas, lying to her father and effectively sentencing him to the harshest punishment he
'
d had in years
.
But that she had even done it and bested him, the Duke of Greys!
That
he
'
d never forget
.

Of all the women
who
simpered and cooed over him, fawning and throwing themselves, she never once had batted an eyelash or given him the
'
come hither
'
stare
.
It annoyed him
.
She had bested him
and
she didn
'
t give him the time of day
.

The only reason she even danced with him was because polite society demanded it
.
The first time he
'
d
asked
,
he was sure she would turn him down
.
Oh
,
her
eyes, the same color as her emerald earrings,
had flashed fire
.
H
e had held his breath, half-hoping she
'
d give him a set down in the middle of the crowded room
,
and half-hoping she
'
d say yes and apply that passion to more worthy endeavors
.

Shaking his head he stopped the thought before it grew into more than it was worth
.
Grace
would never consider a dalliance,
not
even a flirtation
.
No, he
'
d
best think
of her in the braids
.
T
hings would be much better that way.

"
I knew your vocabulary wasn
'
t large, but I never thought you
'
d run out of intelligent conversation so quickly
,
"
Grace
remarked, arching her eyebrow.

Ewan pulled himself from his musings concerning
Grace
to offer
her the reply he knew she was anticipating
.
"
Ah, well, sadly, as we
'
ve discussed, I
'
m not usually sought out for my intelligent conversation, but for my
…
other
…
talents
.
"

He
caressed her waist with his thumb and watched her narrow her eyes at his advances, trying to ignore the odd sensation in his chest as he tightened his hold on her.

"
Ah, I
'
ll let you keep those
talents
to yourself
,
"
Grace
said
coolly.

"
Hmm
,
a waste
on the likes of you.
"

"
I know I should be insulted
,
but I find that I
'
m not.
"
Grace
spoke dryly.

"
I could say the same
,
"
Ewan challenged,
expecting
Grace
'
s offen
s
e to override her better judgment
.