Redeeming the Deception of Grace (6 page)

Centering
her focus required her to pull from all her inner strength
to combat her feverish emotions
.
S
he remained calm and collected on the outside as the storm warred within
.

Curse him for the effect he
ha
s
on
me
!

What she needed was a distraction, so s
he closed her eyes
,
momentarily thinking of Lord Shiply
.
Soon he would arrive
,
and she would be blessedly distracted from Ewan
.
He couldn
'
t get there soon enough
.
As if her thoughts had called to him, she
heard
Taite answer the door
and
escort him into the foyer where she and Ewan were waiting.

"
Ahh,
Lady Grace
! How lovely you look today!
"
Lord Shiply
said charmingly
as he strode forward, eyes only for
Grace
as
he
kissed her gloved hand
.
"
Thank you
,
Lord Shiply
,
"
Grace
responded with a gracious nod.

"
I believe you are even more beautiful today than last night, if that were possible
,
"
Lord Shiply continued to compliment
Grace
with a sincere tone.

"
Ah, you are the flatter
er
aren
'
t you
,
Lord Shiply?
"
Grace
flirted
.
This was exactly what she needed
.
A deep relaxing breath relieved a portion of the
tension created by Ewan
'
s pres
ence
.
She allowed herself to be lost in the warm gaze offered by Shiply.

"
I only speak the truth.
"
He waved his hand dismissively.
"
Now
, if we are to
walk
together you must call me Shiply
;
everyone else does
.
"
His eyes crinkled in a grin that lifted only one side of his mouth.

"
Very well
,
Shiply.
"
Grace
tilted
her head to the side
,
enjoying the charming way he smiled
.

*
***

As
Grace
blushed at his compliment
,
Ewan kicked himself for not mentioning it first
.
Rather
,
he had brazenly assessed her without a word
.
He truly was a rake.

Ewan watched the exchange silently
,
unable to speak without saying words he
'
d surely regret later
.
Rather, he
considered
ways to trip Shiply
and cause serious injury without being blamed.
The need to address his nemesis forced him to gather a deep and fortifying breath.
"
Hello there
,
Shiply.
"

"
Greys?
Didn
'
t see you there
,
old man. I must admit I didn
'
t know if I
'
d see you this morning
.
A little early for you
,
isn
'
t it?
"
Shiply looked at him as if he truly hadn
'
t noticed his presence before he had spoke to him
.
And as much as Ewan wanted to see a double meaning behind his words, he found none reflected in his eyes.

"
As much as I thank you for your concern over my aged sleepless self, I am here to
walk
with you both this morning.
"
Ewan waited, knowing it was
only
a matter of time before Shiply
'
s true character was revealed.

"
Ah
,
yes.
"
Shiply regarded him curiously before dismissing him and returning his gaze to
Grace
.
"
We wouldn
'
t want any harm to come to
Lady Grace
'
s reputation
,
after all
.
I must confess
,
Lady Grace
,
I am ashamed to say my reputation at one time was less than pristine
.
However, that was long ago
,
and I swear to treat you with the utmost care.
"
He bowed slightly and smiled at
Grace
.

Ewan ground his teeth. He wanted to strangle Shiply for his confession.
Less than pristine?
Ewan thought
.
N
o
, that didn
'
t begin to cover the many sins of Spencer Raleigh, Earl of Shiply
.
Surely he hadn
'
t reformed that much
.
O
nce
a rake always a rake. Correct
?

Ewan
'
s anger increased
and gained
a healthy dose of fear when he noticed
Grace
'
s reaction.

"
Why
,
Shiply, how honest of you to confess
!
But I have all faith that you will be more than a gentleman. But I thank you for being so forthright.
"
Grace
nodded
her gratitude
.
Respect for Shiply
'
s admission shone bright
ly
from her eyes
.

Ewan was concerned
.
Surely
Grace
could see through the lie? She wouldn
'
t fall willingly into Shiply
'
s waiting hands once the
'
gentlemanly
'
actions were replaced by his true nature
.

But
a new thought stole
his anger and
made
his blood run suspiciously cold. What if Shiply wasn
'
t lying
,
after all?

C
hapter Four

Grace proceeded to drag him into their parlor moments after Shiply
'
s departure. He knew what was coming, he could clearly see her anger building, but he wasn
'
t sorry for his behavior. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"
What exactly was that all about?
"
Grace
asked in a deceptively calm tone, but the fire flashing from her eyes bespoke
an underlying anger.

"
What was what?
"
Ewan asked, unable to resist baiting her when she was so deliciously furious.

"
That, when yo
u
— you
…
Ag
hh
!
"
Her hands shot into the air in a gesture of frustration, one she
'
d done since she was young. Her familiar action was endearing
,
and Ewan felt warmed by the sensation
.
He
couldn
'
t resist the temptation to tease her further.

"
When I…
?
"
Ewan kept
his
expression
open and innocent
, which seemed to force
Grace
'
s
complexion into
a lovely shade of red.

"
W
hen you kissed my hand
!
"
s
he yelled
.

It took
all his
inner strength to keep from bursting out with a loud laugh
.
The shade of red enhancing
Grace
'
s lovely skin was amusing
.
That
Grace
had no clue how strange she sounded being irate over a polite gesture made Ewan almost choke on his suppressed laughter
.

Her quickened breath interrupted his musings
.
Ewan almost forgot the conversation. Almost.

"
And that offended you?
"
h
e teased, lifting his eyes from her delectable chest and forcing himself to
meet her gaze
.
He raised his eyebrows in expecta
tion
.

"
Yes! It offended me! You humiliated me!
"
She waved
her arms around again in her exasperation.

"
By kissing your hand?
"
Ewan calmly replied, still working hard to keep his laughter from overcoming his self-control.
Grace
would probably attack him if he dared share his humor in the situation
.
The though
t
of her body pressed against his was anything but threatening
—
rather
,
the idea intrigued him
.
The physical effect of his thoughts became uncomfortable
,
and he barely suppressed a groan at her next words.

"
By using your tongue!
"
A parlor maid, who had just entered the room, raised an eyebrow toward Grace.
S
he left discreetly
,
but not before
Grace
'
s angry crimson color was drained in humiliation and replaced with a dark blush.

"
I did nothing of the sort.
"
Ewan spoke with a dismissive tone, knowing full well he had nearly molested her hand
.
H
e lifted his gloved hand to brush imaginary dust from his coat
and
took a deep breath
,
trying to calm his pounding blood. He
recalled the scene with pleasure. H
e had kissed her hand
, simultaneously issuing
a challenge to Shiply, a challenge he intended to win
.

He couldn
'
t think of the prize, not yet
.
Even now he was silently astounded that he had acted so brazenly
—
so rashly
.
But when Shiply
'
s words
,
drenched in honey
,
were falling on
Grace
,
and she seemed to soak them up so willingly, all he could think was that he could not
—
would not
—
stand by and let her be
torn fr
om his life
.
As the
walk
had progressed through the park
,
Ewan had grown more and more angry and frustrated
with
the situation, sensing no resistance in
Grace
to Shiply
'
s overt courtship
.

She
'
s mine
,
h
e wanted to announce and promptly beat Shiply to a pulp
.
What stopped him from proceeding was the truth that
Grace
did not belong to him, in any way. The realization had washed over him like cold water
.
True, she was his friend
,
in a
manner of speaking
, but he wasn
'
t the one who drew out the seductive smile she unknowingly offered to Shiply
.
No, he wasn
'
t even the one who made
he
r
toss her head back and laugh
,
offering both him and Shiply a view of her glorious slender neck
.

Even now
,
Ewan licked his lips in thought of what her skin would taste like
,
should he press his lips to the slight hollow under her chin. Oh, why had he agreed to watch out for
Grace
? Why did he willingly put himself in such a position of such exquisite torture
?
Rather than courting
Grace
himself, he was reduced to watching someone else kiss her hand, make her laugh
,
and seduce her with a smoldering glance.

With th
at
last thought
,
he had made up his mind and came to his rash decision
.
Shiply wasn
'
t going to court
Grace
without some competition
—
namely, him.
Without allowing himself to think of the ramifications of such a decision, he began to plan.

So silently he stood
by
, waiting for the prime opportunity to throw the gauntlet, preferably without
Grace
knowing
.
He wasn
'
t quite sure he was ready to admit his feelings out loud, let alone to
Grace
,
who would likely reject him
. A
fter all
,
his reputation wasn
'
t much better than Shiply
'
s
.

Then,
as
Shiply kissed the air above her hand in the most proper way just as he was leaving, Ewan made his move
.
As soon as Shiply stepped away, Evan advanced.
With
purposeful steps
toward his prey
,
he approached
Grace
and crisply bowed, taking her gloved hand within his own
and
gently caressing her fingers as his hand gradually tightened, holding her
fingers
firm
.

His heart began to beat strangely as he noticed the slight parting of
Grace
'
s lips and the hazy look in her eyes
.
H
e hoped it was passion
,
but he knew it could easily
have
been anger
.
After all,
wa
sn
'
t
the line between love and hate thin
?
But when he leaned forward to kiss her hand, he didn
'
t simply kiss the air above it, rather he teased the gloved flesh with the tip of his nose before applying a firm kiss onto her hand, using his tongue to caress and heat her hand, even through the fabric of her glove
.

After his prolonged exchange he tilted his head slightly to see Shiply
narrow his
eyes with realization
,
crinkle
his mouth
in
to
a smile
,
and
offer a
nod that bespoke his understanding and acceptance of the challenge.

The arrogance
!
He didn
'
t even seem intimidated
.

He glanced up into
Grace
'
s face in efforts to read her response.
When his eyes locked with hers
,
he saw that they were soft with a hint of hope that quickly gave way to anger and suspicion
.

Her temper was held in check as she said her good
-
byes to Shiply
.
S
he
then
promptly escorted
Ewan
into the parlor and proceeded to vent her anger,
which was where they were
currently.

****

Grace
couldn
'
t separate the millions of emotions that fought for dominance in her heart
.
Anger, hurt, suspicion, arousal
,
and hope all warred within her
,
and she refused to let just one win the battle
.

How dare he!
In front of Shiply
,
no less! Just when she had found a promising distraction that could free her from the allure Ewan
unknowingly
held over her, he decided to play
r
ake with her
!

She shouldn
'
t have been too surprised
.
A
fter all, it
wasn
'
t
the first time he had over
t
ly flirted with her, but it was the first time she thought he might have meant it
.

That was what frightened her
.
If Ewan ever pursued her in earnest
,
she wouldn
'
t have a prayer of escaping
with her
heart
intact
.
But that was his signature
:
broken hearts littering the path behind him
.

With steely resolve
,
she had tried to extinguish the hope that sprung up so quickly at the hazy and heated expression in his alluring eyes as he caressed her hand with his delicious tongue
.

Simply thinking about his brazen move made her blush again. Shaking her head slightly she tried to clear it and gain a solid footing.
"
You most certainly did do that
!
And what was worse is you did it in front of Shiply!
"
s
he w
h
ined, hating the sound of her
own
voice
.

She sounded
as though
she was eight again
.
No wonder Ewan hadn
'
t pursued her
—
she still acted like a child
.
With a tilt of her chin
,
she straighten
ed
up her spine.
"
Forgive me for w
h
ining
,
but really
,
Ewan!
"
Her honest frustration seemed to drain him of his constant mirth at her expense
.