Marquess of Menace (Lords of Scandal 10)

She wouldn’t be able to hit him. He refused to open the door, that much was clear. And so, she’d have to cajole. “Menace,” she started her voice dropping into her best impression of a purr.

“Dylan,” he replied. “Early-morning conversations require a certain level of intimacy.”

“Dylan.” The name felt good on her tongue. “Listen. Stop trying to protect my reputation. I’m not going to marry.”

“What?”

“That’s right. I might become an actress. I’d be good at it.”

“I’ve every confidence.”

“Have you travelled outside of England? What is the rest of the world like?”

He cleared his throat. “Eliza. I need to ask you something.”

“What?” She cocked her head to the side.

“Has someone compromised you?” She heard the knob rattle again.

“Let me out and I’ll tell you.”

He chuckled then. “Do you need me to kill him? Because I will.”

That made her soften and some of her anger melted away. “No one compromised me, Dylan. I am still…” Her cheeks heated. How did she tell him she’d done more with him tonight than any man ever? “I just don’t want to marry.”

“Why not? I thought all women wished to marry?”

“Not me.” She took a step back from the door. “My mother spent half her life waiting for my father. I’ve been waiting for him for the past year. What kind of life is that?”

“Oh,” he said.

“How comforting.” She took another step back because as she looked to her right, she realized something very important. Her room had a connecting door. “You’d better be going. You don’t want to miss John.”

“John? The man couldn’t give you a last name?”

“Nope. Secret identity and all that.”

“Eliza?” His voice had dropped low again. “What are you doing?”

But she didn’t bother to answer as she slipped through the other door.

Chapter Five

Dylan rubbed his forehead as he stared at the door. Why had she gone silent?

“Eliza?”

He scrubbed his hand down his face. He supposed it was better. He needed to go, and he could spend all night…what…talking?

Christ. He was worse than Bash. At least his friend was lucky enough to have married the lady he desired and was spending his time rolling about the bed… Then he paused. Had he just used the words married and lucky in the same thought?

He was going mad.

But striding down the hall he made his way through the kitchen and out to the barn where the carriage already waited.

The door was open, and Bash sat inside. “What took you so long?”

“Locking a lady in her room takes a bit of finesse.” Dylan snapped the door shut and took the seat opposite his friend.