The Hellion and The Heartbreaker (11 page)

“Of all the wretched luck,” Gavin groaned, clearly
disheartened by the turn of events.

Colin smiled wryly.  “It looks as though we are in for
the night gentlemen.”

Scarlett cast a quick glance in Alec’s direction, but his
expression was impossible to decipher.

“As it seems we are going to have to entertain ourselves this
evening, would anyone be interested in a game of Brag?” Conner asked.

At Conner’s suggestion, Rory and Gavin’s spirits noticeably
lifted.  Her brothers were a competitive lot and their card games were no
exception.  Apparently, the opportunity to lighten each other’s pockets
was an acceptable alternative to their previous plans.

“What do you say, Scarlett?  Are you up for a game?”

Rory immediately shot Conner a baleful look. 

“Don’t look so discouraged, Rory,” Conner teased. 
“Perhaps Scarlett’s luck will take a turn for the worse this go around and you
will finally win some of your money back.”

“Not bloody likely,” Rory shot back.  “She always wins.”

“She cheats,” Gavin said to Alec in a mock whisper.

“I most certainly do not cheat, you wretch,” Scarlett
refuted, rolling her eyes at Gavin’s playful ribbing.  Her brothers had
taught her to play Brag, as well as a number of other games as soon as she had
learned her numbers and was old enough to hold the cards.  Though they had
often let her win when she was younger, they no longer showed her any mercy,
for she had quickly mastered the games and came out the victor more often than
naught.  They usually played for money, and much to their vexation she had
acquired a substantial sum of her brothers’ pocket money over the past years.

With the mood once again lighthearted and jovial, they
leisurely exited the dining room and moved to the parlor.  Colin
immediately sent one of the footmen to fetch the cards and gaming chips, and
within minutes of his return the men had relocated a large round table and
several chairs to the center of the room.  Colin then procured a bottle of
whiskey from the liquor cabinet and passed out fully-laden crystal tumblers to
each of the men, and then poured a glass of sherry for Scarlett.  Drinks
in hand, they all took their seats, and as soon as Colin had distributed the
small clay chips that represented their monetary wagers Conner reached for the
cards and dealt the first hand.

Scarlett managed to maintain her focus during the first few
rounds, but gradually her concentration on the game began to wane.  Being
seated across from Alec was the obvious cause.  Whenever she looked up
from her cards her eyes inevitably landed on his devilishly handsome face and
all intelligent thought seemed to fly right out of her head.  Before long
she made one too many bad calls, and as a result found herself out of chips and
out of the game.  Her brothers, delighted by what they assumed to be a
rare turn of bad luck, boisterously thanked whatever good fortune had kept her
from fleecing them once again. 

“Don’t get used to it,” she warned, watching as Gavin
gleefully raked in the last pot, placing the last of her chips onto his growing
stack.  She scanned the table, noting that Conner’s stack was the still
the highest, with Colin and Rory’s only slightly shorter.  With that last
win, Gavin was close behind, while Alec clearly had the shortest stack.

Sliding her chair back from the table, she motioned for the
men to remain seated.  “I believe I’ll pour myself another glass of sherry
before retiring,” she told them. 

“Here, let me get it for you.”

“No, no,” she insisted as Colin made to rise from his
chair.  “I’m perfectly capable of pouring my own drink.  You all keep
playing.” 

Moving toward the sideboard, Scarlett unhurriedly poured
herself another sherry as the men returned their attention to the game.  A
moment later, with her fingers firmly clasped around the stem of a fragile
crystal goblet, she moved to a more comfortable position on the nearby settee,
strategically placing herself so that she had an unimpeded view of Alec and he
of her. 

Taking a small sip of the sherry, Scarlett eyed Alec over the
rim of the glass, willing him to look up.  Almost as though he could feel
the heat of her gaze upon him, he complied, lifting his eyes from his
cards.  Deliberately, she lowered her glass and then slowly licked the
moisture from her lips, boldly meeting his gaze. 

Alec clenched his jaw in sheer frustration.  If he
wasn’t mistaken, the little minx was doing her best to seduce him, and had been
all evening.  He knew the signs all too well.  With every look, and
each subtle movement of her body, Scarlett was offering herself to him, and as
much as he tried, the telltale signals were getting harder and harder to
ignore.   Thankfully, her bothers were well into their cups and too
fixated on the game to notice their sister’s telling behavior, for which he was
immensely grateful.
 
Nevertheless, he
knew that he had to put a stop to the situation before it went any further.

“Are you in or out Alec?”  Colin queried, breaking Alec
from his silent musing.  Colin had raised the pot and he hadn’t even
noticed.  He looked toward Colin, studying his longtime friend’s
imperturbable expression.  He had been playing cards with Colin long enough
to get a good read on him, and he suspected that he had a strong hand.  He
seriously doubted he could beat Colin’s cards, but he pushed all of his chips
forward anyway.  He did his best to appear disappointed when Colin laid
down the winning hand.

“I think it’s time for me to stretch my legs,” he told the
group, after receiving a hearty dose of good-natured ribbing about the loss of
his money.  The brothers, being more competitive with each other than they
were with anyone else, seemed content to continue the game without him. 
“Do you still have that book you were telling me about?” he asked Colin, rising
from the table.

“It’s on the desk in my study,” Colin replied.  “Help
yourself.”

Scarlett waited several minutes after Alec’s departure,
before she started to yawn.  Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Conner
noticed.  “You look tired, Scarlett.”

Colin turned at Conner’s comment and regarded Scarlett with a
look of brotherly affection.  “As much as we enjoy your company, you need
not stay up on our account, Minx.”

“It
is
getting
rather late,” she said, with a glance toward the mantle clock.  “Perhaps I
should turn in.”

As her brothers wished her a good night, Scarlett crossed the
room to the large double doors, nonchalantly pulling them shut behind her.

She stood in the hall for several moments, suddenly beset
with nervousness.  She took several deep steadying breaths, and then
forced her feet to move in the direction of Colin’s study.

The doors were closed, and for a moment she hesitated. 
She shut her eyes tightly and summoned her courage.  Her hand trembled as
she slowly reached out to turn the handle.  When she opened the door she
found Alec leaning casually against Colin’s large desk, a fresh tumbler of
whiskey in his hand, his knowing gaze directed toward the door.  He had
obviously been waiting for her, knowing that she would follow him.  The
drapes weren’t drawn, but the room was dark, cast only in the pale glow of the
moon’s reflection upon the fallen snow.  Without taking her eyes from Alec,
she moved her arm backward and gently pushed the door shut behind her. 
“Am I so predictable?” she asked with a hesitant smile.

For a man constantly pursued by countless women, her behavior
was
quite predictable, but he refrained from saying as much.  Instead,
he set down his glass and casually crossed his arms over his chest, watching
her, his expression guarded.  For a moment the silence between them grew
uncomfortable, and then he spoke, his voice low and controlled.  “What are
you doing, Scarlett?”

She returned his stare, her back still pressed against the
closed door.  “I’m not sure,” she admitted truthfully, for the art of
seduction was indeed something new to her.

Women and their games, he thought cynically.  She knew
damn well what she was doing and so did he.  “Did you expect me to toss up
your skirts and take you right here, across your brother’s desk?”  The
words came out more harshly than he had intended.  A result perhaps of the
near constant state of arousal she had kept him in over the past several hours.

“No, of course not,” she gasped, startled by the bluntness of
the question, as well as the angry tone of his voice.

Scarlett’s face registered both shock and hurt and Alec
silently cursed himself for losing his composure.  Christ, the fact that
she was attracted to him didn’t mean he needed to act like a complete
ass.  He took a deep breath, his anger dissipating as quickly as it had
emerged.  “I’m sorry, Scarlett, you didn’t deserve that,” he told her with
complete sincerity.

Slowly, she stepped away from the door.  “I didn’t mean
to make you angry,” she said, her expression uncertain.

The seductive vixen of the previous hours now looked more
like a wounded pup, thanks to his callus words.  If he could have kicked
himself, he would have.  Damn it to hell!  Scarlett McPhearson was by
far the most incredibly desirable woman he had ever known, and if she were
anyone other than Colin’s sister he would have gladly carried her up to the
nearest bedchamber hours ago and given them what they both wanted.  He
wasn’t angry with her.  He was angry that his principles, his sense of
honor, refused to allow him to assuage the rock hard throbbing in his loins and
the all-consuming desire that engulfed him whenever he looked at her. 
But, she
was
Colin’s sister, and that was something he simply couldn’t
ignore.

Stepping away from the desk, he moved to stand before
her.  He couldn’t bear to see the hurt in her eyes, knowing that he was
the cause of it.  Innocent or not, he knew that she was nothing like the
immoral, self-indulgent women of his usual acquaintance.  Scarlett was
unique, special.  He lightly grasped her chin, tilting her face upward,
and told her exactly what he had just been thinking.  “I am not angry with
you, Scarlett,” he told her softly.  Unable to help himself, he slowly
rubbed his thumb across the delicate line of her jaw.  “If you weren’t
Colin’s sister I would have taken you to bed hours ago and made love to you
until dawn.”

In that instant, Scarlett grasped the true depth of Alec’s
integrity.  He wanted her just as much as she wanted him, but his loyalty
to Colin would never allow him to act on his desire.  She understood and
her admiration of him soared, but she couldn’t allow his sense of morality to
get in the way of what they both so obviously craved.  Whatever happened
between them here and now would determine their future.  She believed that
with all of her heart.  Drowning in the pools of his luminous emerald
eyes, she slowly raised her hand and placed it upon his chest.  Despite
her youth and inexperience, she recognized the battle that raged within him and
knew she had to overcome it.  Her voice was quiet but resolute, her gaze
unwavering.  “This has nothing to do with my brother.  It isn’t
Colin’s decision, it’s mine.”

Scarlett watched the play of emotions that crossed his
features, glimpsing the internal struggle that waged within his soul.  Her
breath caught in her chest as she felt the movement of his fingers against her
skin, slowly drifting along her jaw line to the slender column of her
neck.  In the next instant, the sound of the parlor door opening and the
echo of her brothers’ laughter drifted down the hall.  They both
froze.  In dismay, Scarlett watched as Alec sighed and closed his
eyes.  When he opened them she detected an ominous combination of regret
and relief. 

As approaching footsteps sounded on the marble floor outside
the door to Colin’s study, Alec immediately dropped his hand to Scarlett’s
elbow and quickly guided her to the shadowy space to the right of the
door.  After one last lingering glance at Scarlett’s disconcerted
countenance, he swung open the door, effectively concealing her behind the
large wooden panel and then strode out into the hallway.

“Alec, I was just coming to find you.”

At the sound of Conner’s voice, Scarlett stepped back,
flattening herself against the wall.

“Were you?”  Alec inquired, thankful that his voice
sounded normal and composed.

“Colin’s on a hot streak all of the sudden,” Conner told him,
with a sardonic chuckle.  “Took all of my chips and added them to yours.”

“Lucky for us your brother saves the high stakes gaming for
the clubs,” Alec replied affably.

“Indeed it is,” Conner chuckled.  “Aside from Scarlett,
Colin’s by far the most skilled at cards.  In any event, now that my
pockets are empty I thought I would step outside and enjoy a cigar.  Would
you care to join me?”

“Lead the way my friend,” Alec said affably, placing his hand
on Conner’s shoulder and steering him away from the study.

Moments later, after the sound of their footsteps had long
since faded away, Scarlett slipped silently from the study and made her way to
the back stairs.  When she reached her room, she sank down on the side of
her bed, mentally cursing the misfortune of Conner’s untimely
interruption.  Alec had been about to kiss her, she was sure of it. 
Sadly, she was also certain that he had been relieved that Conner had
inadvertently put a stop to whatever might have happened between them. 
Sighing in frustration, she realized that an opportunity had been lost, one
that she might never get back.  Lying back against the pillows, she
considered her options.