Ruin Me Please (32 page)

Seymour
held up
his hands as
if
to protect himself from C
hloe’s impending ire.  “Oh, for God’s sake,
Ash,
” he grumbled rolling his eyes,
flick
ing
a non-existent piece of lint from his sleeve.  “Must we subject our ears to this tortur
ous lack of talent much
longer?
  I fear I will
have indigestion.
”

Piper poked her head from around the curtain on the makeshift stage, “Seymour!” 

“Oh hush Seymour,” Chloe wailed
, plopping down on the red velvet settee with a huff of vexation.  “I am almost
done
;
q
u
it being such a pompous buffoon.
”

“Cease your
talentless
prattle
,”
Seymour
retorted.
“
I believe I have made my views
on your acting ability abundantly clear,
”
h
e said with laughter in his voice.
 

“I’ve never seen such puerile behavior from you before,”
Piper
said sardonically.

Poppy q
uickly stepp
ed
forward
and
patt
ed
Chloe on the back
in an attempt to calm her nerves
.  “
Fine, fine
, ladies and gentlemen,” Poppy interrupted
the escalating chatter
, her voice coming out a bit
high-pitched
.  “The conclusion to Romeo and Juli
et can wait for an
other time.”  Poppy arched
her brow
,
glanc
ing
at each of the men
.
“I
have yet to s
ee you gentlemen coming up with any e
n
tertainments for us.”  She smiled
sweetly.

“I can think of many things that would be more entertaining than
Romeo and Juliet
.
”
Seymour
ho
oted
with laughter.   “
Am I r
ight gentlemen
?”  He
winked salaciously.

“Gentlemen
please
,”
Parker said
, holding
back a grin.

“How did Hawk manage to a
void tonight’s entertainment?”
Peyton asked sprawling in his seat.

“His luck has always been disproportionate to the rest of the world.
”  Durham chuc
k
led
, rising
from his chair
.
 

“Hey
, that is not fair,
I did
not get to perform my death scene,”
Chloe cried.  “I even practiced
.
”

Seymour c
ough
ed
into his hand
,
attempt
ing
to mask the humor in his voice. 
“
Whew, t
hat is a relief.  At l
east you practiced something
.
”

“All right
,
ladies.  We appreciate your attempt at entertainment
,
but I for one could use a drink,”
Parker interject
ed.  “No more, w
e beg of you
.
”

“Hear, he
ar
,”
Peyton agreed, standing.

Freya just sat there with a look of relief on her face.  She
abhorred
putting on these th
e
atr
i
c
als.

“I believe I will retire,”
Poppy said holding back a yawn
.
 
“
I’m suddenly very tired.
”

***

Poppy
found
a note lying on her pil
low,
a cheer
y
daisy
attached
with a familiar looking ribbon
when she arrived in her room
. 
It was too
late;
she had already lost her heart. 
Sprawling across her bed she carefully unfolded
the note
.

You would
honor
me tremendously
by

meet
ing
me in the library after

m
idnight
.

I look forward to spending time with you.

My heart is ever at your service.

Declan

Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter;

Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;

Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;

No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour;

As
much
as a child e’er loved, or father found;

A love that makes breath
poor
and speech unable;

Beyond all manner of so much I love you.

King Lear

*William Shakespeare

P
oppy tiptoed down the stairs
slipping quietly
into the library
.
Leaning back
nervou
s
ly on the closed door
,
she slowly
surveyed the room
stopping when she
spott
ed
Declan s
eated
cas
u
ally
on the floor by the fire.

He swallowed
thickly,
his eyes following
her
nervous
glide
across the room
.  “I thought you might like
to play chess with me.”  He grinned boyishly,
tugg
ing
absently on his cravat
until it fell loosely from his neck opening his shirt
.  “You are a very intelligent lady and I find myself certain that I may have met
a worthy opponent
.”

“
Well,
I am sorry to disappoint
, Your G
race
,
but
I am
only
fairly tolerable at chess
.
”
Poppy grinned back.  “But
if you would like
we can certainly
still play
.”

After p
ouring her a sma
ll glass of brandy, Declan
lounged negligently on his side propped up by his hand
;
reek
ing
of raw masculinity.

The soft glow of the
candelabra surrounded them
, casting them in a warm haze
.

Declan suppressed a grin as
Poppy gave him a tantalizing glimpse of her slim ankle
when
she sat on the rug in f
ront of the fireplace
and carefully arranged her skirts
.

With a quizzical look in her eye,
Poppy inquired
, “
Why are you not
yet
leg-shackled, as you gentlemen so elegantly put it
?
”  She wrapped
her arms
around her legs
,
laying her chin atop
her knees
waiting for his reply
.

“You certainly do not beat around the bush
,
”
h
e drawled
,
enchanted by her candor.

“Why should I?”  Poppy questioned, returning her gaze to him.  “After all you have
a
l
ready
kissed me
.
  Why should I not also be allowed to also take certain liberties with our rel
a
tionship?
”
S
he raised her brow
.
“
W
hy should I pretend that we are no
t more intimately a
c
quainted?”

Choking on his
brandy, Declan sputtered
,
“Touché.
”

Declan rolled onto his back and put his hands behind his head
once again
.  “Hmmm…” 
He looked seriously
at Poppy ou
t of the corner of his eye.  “I wasn’t ready
.”

“Oh poo
h
,
” Poppy
exclaimed.  “What kind of reply is that
…
?”
 
She paused, unexpecte
d
ly and easily distracted by the
swirl of dark hair peeping out of the
deep
V of
Declan’s
shirt.
 
He had long ago discarded his jacket and waistcoat. 
She took a
deep breath
,
pul
l
ing
her eyes away.

He responded with a private
smile,
completely aware of
what
captured
her
attention.
 

Color rose in her cheeks, and she looked flustered to be caught ogling him.

He regarded her for a long moment. 
“
Quid pro quo,
why
were you
not
able to
find a beau du
r
ing your
time in London
?” h
e
asked as he
rolled
to his side again.
 

“I
’m
waiting for a spark
,
” Poppy
said pragmatically, g
lanc
ing
at Declan through lowered eyes
.
“
Everyone was so
absolutely
boring
.
” 
She huffed
in pique
. 
“
It was all
very
ted
i
ous
.
”

“
I can see how that would be so.  I’ve had much the same experience when I
’v
e been in London. 
You see,
I’m not
attracted to simpering misses.”

She looked at him for a long while.

“
Hear my soul speak of the very instant that I saw you,
did
my heart fly at your service.
”

With a
strange
look on her face
,
she questione
d,
“Do
you always quote Shakespeare?”

“Only when the mood strikes
,”
h
e
replied looking
impressed
by her knowledge
.  “How did you know that I was
quoting Shakespeare?”

“I love to read, remember?” 
Poppy grinned with shrug.  “I have also read Shakespeare extensively.”

“I
’m surprised at how much I
missed you
today
,
”
Declan drawled
,
changing the subject expertly
as he flashed
a slow, devastating smile that took her breath away
. 
R
each
ing over he
lightly r
a
n
his
finger down her arm
, watching as goose bumps rose on her sensiti
zed
flesh
.  “What did you do today while I was taking care of some
tiresome
business mat
ters?”  He leaned forward
, glancing heatedly in her eyes
and blew a warm
stream of air
over her skin.