Home > Have Yourself a Merry Little Scandal (The Lairds Most Likely #7.5)(359)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Scandal (The Lairds Most Likely #7.5)(359)
Author: Anna Campbell

Roger could do this. He knew what words to avoid and how to modulate the rhythm of his voice to keep from stammering. He knew how to carry on a conversation to the best of his ability, without giving himself away. When excitement took hold of him, he would simply keep his mouth shut and hope his and Miranda’s bodies did all the talking. As long as he could avoid letting desire get the best of him, Roger could do this.

Everything would be all right.

By the time the door swung open to admit Miranda, Roger had drained his tumbler. He came to his feet, swallowing a knot of anxiety before offering her a bow.

“My lady.”

She smiled, and her dimple made another appearance. He bit his lip as she came closer and he realized both cheeks were graced with the sweet little clefts.

“Surely we can dispense with formalities when we are alone. You should call me Miranda.”

His throat constricted, though it shouldn’t have surprised him that she would make such an offer. Their attachment was to be quite personal. However, words starting with certain consonants were like minefields sprinkled across the English language. He tended to avoid them unless absolutely necessary. The letter ‘m’ was one of his fiercest foes.

“Then you will call me Roger,” he replied, hoping she wouldn’t notice if he didn’t use her Christian name right away. He would want to practice it alone first, to ensure it rolled easily off his tongue.

“Good,” she said, moving toward the table holding the decanter and the second glass. “I quite enjoyed the charades game, didn’t you?”

“It was diverting.”

She turned back to him, the glass held to her lips. “You are quite good at it, I noticed. Yet you choose not to call out your answers. Are you bashful or simply unwilling to risk your answers being wrong? It cannot be that, for you were correct. You have an uncanny skill for riddles, it seems.”

The teasing tone in her voice made his lips quiver with an approaching smile. “It would be gauche to dominate the game by guessing every riddle. No one else would stand a chance.”

Miranda laughed, sinking into a chair across from his and then taking a sip of her drink. “So, humility is what motivated your actions?”

“I suppose so.”

“That is quite admirable. Most men would revel in the chance to flaunt their intelligence to a room full of people.”

Roger thought of Angus, who was oblivious to when he was making a fool of himself. “I do not enjoy calling attention to myself.”

She inclined her head, studying him as if trying to solve some great mystery. “Do you mind if I ask how old you are?”

“Six-and-thirty.”

“Six years my senior.”

Roger tensed at the pensive, downright questioning tone to her words. He knew what she was thinking without her having to express her disbelief that a man of his age had never taken a woman to bed.

“It is interesting to know that Viscount Thornton is the eldest brother. I would never have pegged you as the younger.”

He shrugged. “If not for his title, most would think the same. He is one year my elder.”

Angus certainly didn’t act like it, which was why Roger was in this position in the first place. Peering into his tumbler, he found it empty and debated refilling it. Conversation between him and Miranda flowed easier now, though he couldn’t attribute the phenomenon to spirits alone. The woman had an ease about her—something that worked to make another person feel comfortable in her presence. Roger decided to forgo the drink and allow natural chemistry to take its course. If he and Miranda were to consummate their arrangement tonight, he didn’t want liquor to get the best of him. He was anxious enough without adding fuel to the fire.

“I found your sister to be quite lovely,” she said with a soft smile. “She seems so much younger than you.”

“She was a surprise to our family. Mother did not think she could conceive again. Then came Emily.”

Miranda’s brow furrowed, and she leaned forward slightly in her chair. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Forgive me for mentioning it.”

He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Think nothing of it.”

“I am new to this sort of thing, you know,” she said, lowering her eyes as a becoming pink blush kissed her cheeks. “I was married to Lord Hughes for nearly ten years, and there was no one before him. I hoped that if we spoke of innocuous things, we might come to feel more at ease with one another. Is it working?”

She peered at him from beneath the fan of her lashes and gave him a coy, shy smile. Roger’s heart heaved against his breastbone, his own lips following suit of his own accord. It wasn’t a full-fledged smile, but it was the closest to the real thing he’d come in quite some time.

“It is,” he admitted, sinking down into his chair a bit. “And, I must confess … I have never done this before, either.”

Miranda issued a little snort of laughter and shook her head as if in disbelief. “I find it difficult to believe. I … you seem like the kind of man who … well …”

Jerking her gaze from his, she flushed an even deeper shade of pink and cleared her throat. Roger raised his eyebrows in anticipation of what she might say.

“When I was a debutante, I knew a number of young ladies who would have clawed one another’s eyes out to gain the attention of a man who looks like you, and is intelligent to boot. I do not know you very well yet, but the way you puzzled out those riddles speaks to a keen mind. And your willingness to allow others to take credit for your answers proves you aren’t as pompous as many other men of the ton. You seem like quite a catch.”

Roger wanted to be flattered by such assertions, but they were difficult to stomach when he thought of why he wasn’t an ideal candidate to become anyone’s husband. Perhaps his speech impediment wouldn’t matter to a woman who only wished him to warm her bed. There was no need for Miranda to worry about him embarrassing her in public or afflicting her with children who couldn’t form complete sentences.

Still, he would take no chances. Emily’s future was riding on his ability to please this woman, and that meant keeping a clear head and a steady tongue.

“You are kind to say so,” he hedged.

Biting her lip, she stared at him in clear befuddlement. “Haven’t you ever wished to marry?”

Before Roger could form a reply, she sucked in a sharp breath and placed a hand over her lips.

“Oh … I’m sorry. Perhaps that question was too personal.”

“No, it’s all right.”

“You are not obligated to answer,” she insisted, reaching across the space between them to place a hand on his knee.

Roger felt the warmth of her through his breeches, and the inevitable response stirred in his groin. Her scent wafted up his nostrils, awakening the potent need that had struck him when they’d been alone in the garden. His gaze dropped to her mouth, then lower—along her neck and then coming to rest on the swell of a spectacular bosom displayed by the low cut of her evening gown.

“I think there is another question you wished to ask me,” he said after swallowing and catching his breath. He forced himself to meet her gaze again, allowing her to register the challenge in his eyes. The elephant in the room would need to be addressed sooner or later, and Roger would rather have done with it.

Hot Books
» House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
» A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
» From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1)
» A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
» Deviant King (Royal Elite #1)
» Den of Vipers
» House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)
» The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #
» Sweet Temptation
» The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1)
» Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
» Wreck & Ruin
» Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2)
» Twisted Hate (Twisted #3)
» The Play (Briar U Book 3)