Tonight or Never (4 page)

What was more, the countess always kept a room ready just for him.
The same room.
Since John was a rather impoverished viscount, having no estates of his own, the gesture she made, fueled in part by her affection for Maurice,
touched
him deeply.
Chacun
à
Son
Goût
was the closest thing to a home he would ever likely know.

Luncheon was served.

Years before, the countess had brought her cook with her from
France, stating seriously that one would give up the coat of arms before one gave up a good French chef. Therefore, the table at
Chacun
à
Son
Goût
was exceptionally well laid. So why had he suddenly lost his appetite?

John gazed across the table to the young woman cheerfully
scarfing
down her coq au
vin
. Prosaically, he acknowledged the source of his problem.
Cherchez la femme
.

It wasn't Chloe's ridiculous pronouncement that she intended to imitate his manner of life that had startled him the most. Obviously she wasn't serious and had only been goading him—a thing Chloe always took great pleasure in doing. No, it was Chloe's seemingly innocuous observation that had unnerved him.
All of these lovers… must bring you great satisfaction
.

The truth was… they didn't.

Oh, he enjoyed himself, to be sure. In fact, he was very pleased with his life.
But great satisfaction?
Somehow that peak had always eluded him.

He had no idea why.

"John?" Chloe broke into his thoughts. He looked up at her questioningly.

"After we finish, I wonder if we might go into the garden. There is something I wish to discuss with you." She looked at him meaningfully over her wineglass.

So she was going to continue with this absurd idea of hers. He gave her a patient look. "No, Chloe."

John was being stubborn. Time for a little incentive, she reasoned. Dipping her index finger into her wine, she ran the moistened tip slowly back and forth across her full bottom lip exactly as she had seen a
playactor
do.

It was a shame she had no way of knowing that a droplet of red liquid had dribbled onto her chin.

Goblet raised midway to his lips, John glanced over at her and stared agog.
What on earth is she doing
?

Chloe, pleased with John's undivided attention told herself it was working.
Why, look at his face… he's
—
he's captivated
!

Propelled by her apparent success, she decided to go all-out and give him what she considered her most alluring maneuver.
She unfocused her vision, donning the faraway, dreamy look of a courtesan.

Too bad it made her appear cockeyed.

John's facial expression became that of a man who had been hit sharply on the head with a cudgel.

"My lord, I insist," Chloe croaked in a gravelly voice. Violet eyes crossed.

The wine he was halfheartedly drinking caught in John's throat, choking him.

"John, are you feeling well?" The countess leaned forward in her seat, concern on her face.

Maurice whacked his nephew on the back.
"This strapping boy?"
Whack! Whack! Whack
! "But he is the picture of health!"

John grabbed his uncle's wrist to stop the hammering he was receiving. "Ex—ahem—
excuse
me, Countess; I thought I saw something…
improbable
." He gave Chloe a penetrating look.

"Do be careful; Chef
LaFaint
would be terribly upset if you collapsed at his table." The countess smiled kindly at him.

John smiled back,
then
covertly turned to Chloe with a thunderous expression.

The garden
, she mouthed stubbornly.

"Very well, Chloe." John threw his napkin down and rose. He knew that when the ginger-pate had something on her mind… well, it was in his best interest to find out about it and nip it in the bud. There was no telling what that dangerous little brain of hers had concocted.

A lifetime of experience told him that, whatever it was, it would be the last thing he expected.

Chapter Two

John Considers It

"I want you to marry me."

John didn't know whether to laugh outright or bang his head against the brick walkway.

He settled for the former. Leaning against the tree behind the bench he was sitting on, he threw back his head and let loose a huge, guffawing laugh.

Chloe patiently waited for him to get it out of his system.

Wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes, he finally managed to croak, "You what?"

The secret to John was never to let him know she cared one way or the other. Chloe was surprised—but thankful—that no other woman had figured this out. Knowing him as well as she did—not to mention the fact that she had been an excellent spy in the past during several of
Grandmere's
soirees—she also knew that John never revealed himself beyond a very superficial point to the women with whom he consorted.

Chloe was never sure why he had such barriers in place; she only recognized their existence. It was said that John gave untold pleasure but never gave himself; he never became emotionally involved. Women commented that when Lord John was engaged in a liaison, he was strictly business for the task at hand.

In light of this, Chloe had always known that their special closeness had resulted only because John had never viewed her as a possible conquest. So there was a very real chance he might pull away from her now.

However, due to their past closeness, she was fairly confident she could muddle him into thinking he was safe.
Safe
.
Chloe snorted. The poor unsuspecting scoundrel!

She was not the least put off by his reaction to her proposal.
Au contraire
.
She was a woman with a mission.

"You heard me, John; I want you to marry me."

John shook his head—both to clear out the cobwebs and negate the horrifying image from his mind.
Married
.
Him.
As if he would know what to do with a wife!

What could she be thinking? He said as much. "Have you lost your mind?"

Chloe put up her hand to forestall him. "Please hear me out, John. I think once you hear what I have to say, you'll agree this is a plan that could benefit us both."

John placed one booted foot up on the edge of the bench he was sitting on and laced his hands around his knee. Bending his head forward, he purposely made his green eyes go round with feigned interest. He did nothing to disguise the mocking dimple in his cheek.

"I'm breathless with curiosity,
dearest
."

Pursing her lips at his annoying attitude, Chloe began her practiced speech. "As you know, I have always admired you—"

"I'm touched." He placed his palm over his heart.

Chloe decided right then and there she would pay him back for this at a later time. "Your life is one that I wish to emulate—you see
,
I believe you have the best of all possible worlds."

John rested back against the trunk.
"How so, Chloe?"

"You enjoy whatever pleasures come your way, yet you are not confined by the dictates of society."

John raised a dark eyebrow. "There is a difference between—"

"I'm not finished. While it is true I am only nineteen, I am not naive."

"So you've intimated." He glowered. "Just what
kind of experience have
you—"

"John, please. You presume too much." Especially if he expected her to answer that! The truth was she had no experience whatsoever. It was the one thing she could not let him find out if this scheme had a hope of working.

"The point is—I like what I have discovered and I wish to pursue the—the… pastime."

"Pastime?"

"So to speak."
She cleared her throat. "While I now have practical knowledge, I lack refinement of technique. This is where you come in."

"You have lost your mind." He stood up, towering over her. This was bordering on insult! He couldn't believe what she was asking of him. He was no one's practice drill—he was the bloody battle! "What game are you playing?"

"No game, Viscount." Chloe turned away from him. She hated having to make him believe this, but it was essential to her plan. "
Grandmere
is already talking of coming-out balls and such. Under the circumstances, that just won't do."

His fists clenched. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Chloe bit her lip and nodded.

John ran his hand through his long hair. The slight tremor in his fingers obviously was due to shock at her disclosure and not because he was bothered by this bit of news. It was just that he had never actually thought of Chloe… in the arms of someone else.

But a second, more disturbing thought followed.

His palms rested gently on her shoulders. "You're not
… ?"

"No!" She gasped, turning to face him. She hadn't meant to imply that she was! It was bad enough what she
was
implying.
Grandmere
would have the vapors if she ever got wind of this. The
Fonbeaulard
women always went to their marriage beds pure. How they behaved afterward with their husbands was another matter.

John let out a breath of relief. For some strange reason, the terrible tightening in his chest did not ease.

"Such is not at all the life I'm looking for—your life is one of great adventure and pleasure. Why should I be denied this simply because I am a woman?"

John groaned. This was worse than he thought.

Chloe pressed her case. "You know that society frowns on unwed misses seeking their pleasures. However, a married woman doing the same is ignored or even applauded by the ton. So you see why I want you to marry me…"

Now she had crossed the line! "Chloe, this is the most ridiculous thing you have—"

She kicked his shin.

"Chloe."

"Listen to me! Who better to ignore my indiscretions than you—
Lord of Sex
?"

His eyes narrowed ominously. "Where did you hear—
"

"Who better than you to teach me the subtleties of the boudoir?"

That stopped him.
Red hair draped across silken sheets…
His
sheets.

He squelched the disturbing image immediately. Unbelievably, a flush of bronze highlighted his cheekbones.

Chloe pressed on. "And who would I trust more to care for my estates and my well-being than you, John? You have been like a part of the family for years, as well as my dear friend."

Her sentiment touched him more than she would ever know. He realized in that moment that he had always felt closer to Chloe than any other living being. His mind on the revelation he had just had, he was caught off guard by her last statement.

"Estate?
What do you
mean,
your estate?"

Chloe honed in on what she considered a chink in the wall, deciding to play that trump. She wanted John, and if he wanted the mansion more than her… well, it would just give her more time to work on him. Unfortunately, it appeared she was going to need a great deal of time for this project. Chloe never deluded herself. Rakes were a very difficult breed to reel in.

"Did you forget that
Chacun
à
Son
Goût
belongs to me? Whosoever I wed will gain control of my property, the estate."

Noting his surprised look, she played to it by throwing her arms up in the air. "Would you let it fall to anyone? Who would care for it like you? I know you have always loved this house, John."

Her words gave him pause. Actually, he had never thought of that.
Who would take over his room
? What would happen to this wonderful house? He stared at Chloe as if he had never seen her before. And who could he trust to take care of his little Chloe? She had always been his responsibility.

He had never considered this before. Somehow, he had just assumed that everything would continue on as it had always been. Suddenly he was a man with concerns.

Chloe noticed his hesitation. She drew a bead on him and fired. "Think of it, John.
Chacun
à
Son
Goût
, yours."