The Hellion and The Heartbreaker (3 page)

“
You’re
the
duke
?”

Her voice
held such a blatant mixture of rancor and animosity that Alec was briefly
nonplussed.  He regained his composure quickly though and promptly
introduced himself.  “Alec Weston,” he began, “and you must be
Scarlett.”  Surprisingly, his polite attempt at civility was met with a
decidedly hostile glare.

“You can’t
have him,” she stated with staunch conviction, her eyes daring him to refute
her.

“I beg
your pardon,” he said, the courteousness in his voice diminishing slightly.

“I
said
,
you can’t have him,” Scarlett repeated, slowly and precisely, enunciating each
word as if he were simple minded.  She knew she was being rude.  It
wasn’t like her, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.  “You can have
another horse.”

He arched
his brow, regarding her with a combination of surprise and disapproval,
unaccustomed to being spoken to with such an obvious lack of respect. 
Despite his youth, he
was
a duke, a title that generally awarded him a
certain degree of deference, deserved or not.  That she met the obvious
censure in his gaze without flinching irked him more than he cared to admit.

“And what
if I don’t
want
another horse?” he asked, just as slowly and precisely,
deliberately mimicking her insolent tone.

Scarlett
hesitated.  She didn’t like the way this was going.  Her jaw
tightened, and for one long moment she studied his expression.  She had a
sudden, sinking feeling that like her, the duke was also used to getting what
he wanted.  It was an unsettling notion.  Perhaps it was time for a
change of tactics.  She briefly considered tears, but doubted they would
do the trick, especially on him.  She turned back to watch the horse and
thought for a moment.  “He’s nothing special you know,” she said finally,
trying to sound indifferent.  “We have others that are far better.”

Such an
obvious ploy, he was tempted to laugh but suppressed the urge.  She
was
just a child after all.  He turned his gaze back to the stallion.  “I
doubt that,” he said.  He could certainly understand why she wanted to
keep him.  He tried to be nice.  “I’ll take good care of him, I
promise.”

Oh! 
Why was he making this so difficult?
  Scarlett ground her teeth in frustration and then
turned angrily back to the young duke.  “I said you can’t have him!” she
said, her voice raising several octaves as a rare display of temper overtook
her good sense.  “Are you daft?”

With
lightning quick speed, he reached out and grasped her chin in his hand. 
Tilting her face up, he gave her a stern, no nonsense look that clearly said
enough’s
enough
.  “You had best watch your tongue young lady,” Alec informed
her, quickly losing patience with the mouthy little chit.

If he
weren’t holding it in his grasp, her jaw would surely have dropped.  He’d
caught her off guard, but she wasn’t about to back down.  She hesitated
for only a second.  “And if I don’t?”

God’s
teeth, how old is this child, ten going on thirty
, he wondered as she glared up at
him, blue eyes blazing.

“Well for
starters, I could turn you over my knee.”  The words seemed to come out of
his mouth of their own accord, the offhand threat shocking him almost as much
as it seemed to shock her.

Scarlett
couldn’t believe her ears.  How dare he threaten to spank her?  She
had never received a spanking in her entire life, not from Tess, not from her
brothers, and certainly not from a stranger.  Her temporary shock was
short-lived however and quickly replaced by anger.  “You wouldn’t dare,”
she boldly challenged.

His eyes
hardened.  The pint-sized vixen had just pushed him to his limit. 
“Wouldn’t I?” he countered, his voice soft and low, yet unmistakably
threateningly.  He wouldn’t of course, but she didn’t know that.

Scarlett
stiffened under his cool, unwavering regard.  Enough was enough all
right.  Without another thought, she dipped her head and sunk her teeth
into the soft flesh of his hand, still cupped firmly beneath her chin, and bit
down hard.

Alec
flinched as Scarlett’s teeth pierced his skin, causing him to jerk his hand
back in stunned surprise.  He couldn’t believe it.  She’d bitten
him.  He stared at his hand in disbelief.  The wretched little brat
had actually drawn blood.

Now that
the duke had released his grip, Scarlett wasted no time jumping down from the
fence.  She landed with a thud, ready to run.  He stared at her,
incredulous.  She stared back, her eyes narrowing, and then with one last
parting shot she reared back and kicked him squarely in the shin with the
rock-hard toe of her riding boot.  The duke’s explosive, “Bloody Hell!”
was the last thing she heard as she darted away, running toward the house as
fast as her legs could carry her.

Alec
stared down at his injured hand, his shin throbbing, his mind reeling. 
Unbelievable! 
He had just been verbally abused and physically assaulted by a child, and a
girl child at that.  He shook his head in astonishment. 
Hells
bells
, he thought with dawning horror, if any of his cronies ever found out
about this he would never live it down.  Glancing about, he was immensely
relieved to see that no one else was around to have witnessed his humiliation.

Clenching
his injured hand into a tight fist, he turned indignantly back to the paddock
and
his horse.
  Poor Colin!  He certainly didn’t envy him,
saddled with the guardianship of such a loathsome child, sister or not. 
He tried to think back.  Had Colin really spoken of her with
affection?  Clearly, he must have misunderstood.  Regardless, at
least Colin wouldn’t be stuck with the little hellion forever.  If he
provided a fat enough dowry, surely he would be able to entice some hapless
fellow into marrying her and taking her off his hands.  Though Lord help
the unfortunate chap when the time came he thought with a woeful shake of his
head, whoever the poor sod might be.

As soon as
Scarlett entered the house, she ran straight up the stairs and into her room,
slamming the door shut behind her with a loud bang.  Throwing herself down
on the bed, she grabbed a pillow, pulling it tightly to her chest as she rolled
onto her back, replaying the last few minutes in her mind.  She had never
been so upset in all her life, and it was all his fault!

Gradually
though, as time passed and her temper began to cool, her fury gave way to more
rational thinking, and slowly her anger was replaced with a combination of
horror and shame as the magnitude of what she’d done began to sink in.  In
truth, it wasn’t fair to put the blame upon the duke’s shoulders.  She
knew that she was at fault, not him.  He was Colin’s friend, and her
behavior toward him had been inexcusable.  She had crossed a line this
time, and she knew it.  Her brothers were going to be furious with her,
and with good reason.  That thought alone brought genuine tears to her
eyes.  She sniffled softly as the first crystal drops began to fall. 
She loved her brothers more than anything in the world, and now they would be
so disappointed in her.  Losing the stallion seemed like nothing compared
to that.  She wished she could take it all back, but of course she
couldn’t.  Unheeded, the tears coursed slowly down her cheeks.  She
didn’t bother wiping them away.  Flipping over onto her stomach, she
buried her face into the pillow to muffle her ragged sobs.

After what
seemed like a very long time, her tears gradually lessened, and then finally
stopped all together.  As her cheeks dried and the last of her sniffling
subsided, it was then that the waiting began.  It was agony.  
Her thoughts spun in a continuous whirl of frenzied apprehension as she
listened anxiously for the sound of footsteps outside her door.  How could
she have been so stupid?  Tess was right.  She
was
spoiled
rotten and far too willful for her own good.  She rolled onto her back,
staring morosely at the ceiling.  How much longer would it be before her
brothers learned of her appalling behavior?

Not long, she
realized, when a soft knock sounded on her door a short time later. 
Uh
oh! 
She tensed, holding her breath as the door slowly opened. 
It was Tess.

“Good
morning, Scarlett,” she said, entering the room with a cheerful smile.

No
disappointed shake of her head, no censorious frown,
hmm
, obviously she
hadn’t heard yet.

“Well,
aren’t you up early this morning,” Tess noted, taking in Scarlett’s shirt and
breeches.  “Have you been to the stables already?”

She had
difficulty meeting Tess’ eyes as she dodged the question.  “Actually,
I’m…uh… not feeling so well.”

Tess
immediately walked over and placed her hand on Scarlett’s brow.  “You
don’t feel warm,” she said, a look of concern suddenly clouding her
features.  “Is it your stomach, dear?”

“No, it’s nothing
really,” Scarlett assured her quickly.  “A headache, that’s all.  I
think I’ll just stay abed until it passes.”

“Hmm, I
was going to go to the village this morning and do a bit of shopping, but
perhaps I shouldn’t,” Tess mused, eyeing Scarlett critically from head to toe.

“I’ll be
fine, Tess.  You don’t need to stay, honestly.”  Better if she were
gone when the news of her horrid behavior broke anyhow, she thought. 
Facing her brothers would be bad enough.

“Well,”
the older woman hesitated, her expression uncertain “if you’re sure you’ll be
all right.”

Scarlett
nodded and Tess finally moved toward the door.  “All right then. 
I’ll check on you when I get back, love.  I won’t be gone long.”

After Tess
left, Scarlett once again stared dolefully at the ceiling above her bed. 
Actually, she
wasn’t
feeling so well.  In fact, she’d never felt
worse, and as the minutes ticked by her anxiety only continued to mount. 
Where was Colin?  The duke must have told him what she had done by
now.  Was he so angry that he needed time to cool off before confronting
her?  Her stomach churned at the thought.  A hundred different
scenarios played out in her head as she waited, the minutes slowly turning to
hours, but nothing happened.  Afraid to leave the relative safety of her
room for fear of encountering Colin or one of her other brothers, or heaven
forbid,
Alec Weston
, she remained in self-seclusion, her insides
twisting into knots of nervous trepidation.  Surprisingly, it was
midafternoon when the knock finally came.

“Scarlett,
its Colin.  May I come in?”

She
swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. 
Hmm
, his voice sounded
calm, definitely not the heated you have really done it now voice she had been
expecting.  Still, her stomach did a sudden flip flop as she sat up. 
“Yes,” she managed, her voice little more than a hoarse croak.

She tensed
as he entered, expecting to see the visible sign of his anger; instead his
features reflected something altogether different.  He looked…
dejected
. 
Her throat tightened and she fought back tears.  He was so disappointed in
her.  Her heart seemed to shrivel in her chest.  “Colin, I…”

“I’m
sorry, Scarlett.”

They spoke
simultaneously.  
Wait, what? 
She blinked in confusion, her
breath catching in her chest. 
He
was sorry.  Had she heard him
correctly?  No, she couldn’t have.

Colin came
toward her, sitting gingerly on the side of her bed.  “The stallion’s
gone,” he said, his tone apologetic.  “Alec just left with him.”

The
stallion was gone. 
Yes, and
…?  She eyed him in confusion.

“He’ll have
a good home, Scarlett, I promise.”

She
waited, searching her brother’s face for any sign of anger or condemnation, but
there was none.

“I’m
sorry, sweetheart.  I know you wanted to keep him.”

She didn’t
say anything, too stunned to speak.

“We’ll get
you another horse, Minx, I promise.”  He smiled encouragingly, his tone
cajoling now.

Another
horse?
 
Scarlett could scarcely believe her ears.  What about what she had
done?  Why wasn’t he chastising her for her abominable behavior?  It
didn’t make sense. 
Unless
?  Was it possible the duke hadn’t
told Colin about her atrocious conduct?  Could it be?  Had she truly
been given a reprieve?  It seemed too good to be true.

“Umm, all
right,” she managed, finding her voice at last.

“That’s my
girl,” he said, looking a bit surprised and more than a little relieved by her
response.  Standing up, he pulled her to her feet and steered her toward
the door.  “Come on, Minx.  You missed luncheon.  Let’s get you
something to eat.”

As they
reached the threshold of her room, Scarlett suddenly turned and launched
herself against her brother, who staggered slightly at the force of her
onslaught, and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.  “I love you,
Colin.”

Colin quickly
recovered his balance and folded her into his arms, hugging her tightly. 
“I love you too, Scarlett,” he said, his tone slightly bemused.