Reads Novel Online

Sinfully Yours (Hellions of High Street 2)

Page 11

« Prev  Chapter  Next »



“Why is it that I have a feeling Luck has nothing to do with your choice of habits?”

Because your wit and your tongue are lethally sharp.

Keeping such thoughts to himself, he merely said, “An interesting question. But you haven’t yet answered mine, and I asked first.”

A glare, which he countered by stretching his smile into a grin.

Her nostrils flared as she drew in a sharp breath. “Not that it is any of your business, but I—I am looking to find a special gift for Wrexham.”

A reasonable reply. So why did he have the feeling that she was lying?

“Manton’s pistols are frightfully expensive,” responded Devlin, carefully watching her face. “Dare I assume that the poor-as-churchmice Sloane family is now no longer under the hatches, thanks to the generosity of your older sister’s new husband?”

A light breeze ruffled the ribbons of her bonnet, and for the space of a heartbeat a flutter of a shadow seemed to hang on her gold-tipped lashes.

“Indeed, knowing the earl’s noble nature, I would imagine that you and Miss Caro are now in possession of a very generous dowry.”

Her cheeks darkened to an angry shade of red. “You are not only impertinent, you are offensive, Lord Davenport. Kindly step aside.”

“But of course.” He slowly shifted, deliberately dragging his boots over the paving stones to make a loud rasping sound. It was ungentlemanly to goad her into a temper, but the fire in her eyes was mesmerizing to watch. Heat blazed in a burnt-gold swirl of sparks, turning their deep green hue into a pool of molten jade.

“Allow me to make amends for my churlish manners by offering a recommendation on which of Manton’s models the earl might like.”

“On second thought, I have decided to look elsewhere for a gift,” replied Anna tightly.

“A simple but elegant watch fob, perhaps? A bejeweled cravat stickpin would not be at all in keeping with the earl’s sense of style.”

“I can’t help but wonder something, sir,” she said in reply.

“Which is?”

“Why you take such fiendish delight in tormenting me.”

“Perhaps because you react with such delightfully explosive ire.” Devlin waggled a brow. “Most young ladies are afraid to stand up for themselves. But not you.”

She brushed past him without comment.

Devlin watched her stalk away. Miss Anna Sloane was known for her effortless grace, and yet there was no other word than “stalk” for her stiff-legged gait. Which in itself spoke volumes about her state of inner agitation.

Again, he wondered why.

Turning, he moved to where she had been standing and made a careful study of the display window.

Interesting.

Devlin stood for some moments deep in thought, alternating his gaze between the weapons laid out on the dark green felt cloth and the fast-fading reflection of a feminine figure glimmering in the paned glass. Anna had been quick, but not quick enough. He had caught just a fleeting glimpse of the page, a flutter of white and graphite, but he had the distinct impression that it had not been writing, but rather a drawing that she had been scribbling in the notebook.

A drawing of a turn-off pocket pistol?

He frowned. It was conceivably the sort of firearm a lady might tuck in her reticule…

Assuming she had reason to fear for her safety.

Anna Sloane in danger? For an instant, his hands fisted, but he quickly dismissed the idea as absurd.

Absurd.

She was the very soul of tactful charm and grace. Even the Mamas with daughters on the Marriage Mart found it impossible to dislike her. That was because, mused Devlin, they couldn’t help but notice how kind Anna was to the plain or painfully shy girls who decorated the ballroom back walls like so many fragile pastel blooms. He, too, had seen how she had discreetly asked her own swains to favor them with a dance or take them in to supper.



« Prev  Chapter  Next »