His smile vanished and his lips pressed together. “Yes. Daring.”
Even as irritation made her straighten her spine, something sizzled just under her skin. “Why?” she asked, her eyes crinkling at the corners.
“I wasn’t sure how many of you ladies were attending. I wanted another man to—”
“You mean rogue. Another rogue to what? Nearly ruin another Chase woman?”
Emily gasped, “Minnie.”
“What? He did…nearly ruin you, that is.” Minnie’s hands were on her hips. “It’s why you’re so frightened.”
Jack straightened up. “Lord Darlington will behave as a gentleman should.”
“Pish.” She waved. “He’s no more a gentleman than you are. But let’s go already. Fortunately for you, I am perfectly capable of handling such a cad and my aunt will ensure that he behaves if I can’t.”
Jack snapped his mouth closed without response and strode toward the door. But Emily was less inclined to let Minnie’s comments go. “Don’t be rude. Jack is not a rogue and neither is Lord Darlington.”
Minnie clicked her tongue. “Of course they are. And why are you calling him Darlington anyhow? His preferred name is Daring. Which only underscores how much he prefers being a rogue to a gentleman.”
“Minnie is right. We’re not the most respectable of men,” Jack said over his shoulder. Was he attempting to support her? She didn’t need it.
“Well, you should be. Respectable that is. You’re part of the peerage.” They reached the carriage and the door snapped open. “You’re supposed to be leading this country by action and example. You do neither.” Minnie knew she was taking a great deal of her irritation at Darlington out on Jack. But the one time she’d met the duke, he’d been so pompous. She itched to knock him down off his high pedestal.
Jack handed Emily in and then reached for her hand as well. She stepped up into the carriage and gasped, nearly toppling back as her eyes met the dark, penetrating gaze of a hulking man curled into his seat like a waiting predator. Daring was in the vehicle. “You,” she hissed as she took her seat next to Emily.
“Me,” he answered as Jack climbed in. “You didn’t warn her, Jack?”
“I did,” Jack answered.
“You said he was joining us this evening, not that he was in the carriage. I thought a duke would take his own coach and six.”
“It’s wonderful to see you again, Minnie.” He gave her a one-sided grin as he assessed her top to bottom.
Her insides shivered. Surely, he’d used her given name to try and intimidate her. She’d show him. “You too, Darling.” She stared back. She’d called him Darling at their first meeting and he’d positively hated it. It made her heart sing. She already had a ready weapon to use against him.
“I told you the last time we met. It’s Daring if you want to be impish in private, otherwise it’s Darlington. I am not your darling.”
“You’re everyone’s darling.” She sat back in her chair, enjoying his irritation and considering how to strike next. “Look at that face. Angelic.” She studied her gloves as she allowed her words to sink in. It wasn’t that he was bad looking. In fact, he was quite handsome but not in a pretty way. His looks were harder, harsher, very masculine in fact. He had dark, penetrating, near-black eyes and strong cheekbones with a slightly hooked nose, which might have looked unattractive on another man, but with his square jaw and full lips somehow created an overall pleasing affect. The sort that made a girl’s inside flutter if she weren’t careful.
“Very funny,” he rumbled. Then he leaned forward. “You know what you need, Miss Chase? A good lesson on what it means to be respectful.”
“Tag,” Jack bit out, grasping Darlington’s shoulder.
“Tag?” Minnie’s eyes rose from her gloves to stare into his dark glare. He’d made fun of her nickname, Minnie, all the while his name was Tag? “That can’t be your given name?”
“It’s a nickname,” he answered, his voice dropping low.
“So your nickname is Tag Daring?” Minnie covered her mouth with her hand, a giggle escaping around her fingers. She dropped it again. This was going to be fun. “You sound like a fictional character. Like, like a spy, or a detective, or perhaps a pirate.” Then she bounced a little in her seat, her brain creating several fictions all at once. “My goodness. I could write a series of a books with a name like that.”
His eyes narrowed. “Part of owning the club under a secret identity is having a fiction about your persona. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing if you’re eight years old.” She nibbled on her lip, enjoying this moment a great deal. Never in her life had she met a man she wanted to irritate more. “Your fatal flaw as a character would be that you’re actually a bit desperate for attention. I mean that name is working so hard.”
“Woman,” he growled.
Victory sang in her blood. Clearly she’d found a soft spot in his armor. “Man,” she bit back. “My darling, Tag.”
“Minnie,” Emily chastised, snapping her fan against her hand. “Stop teasing him.”