The Seduction of Sebastian St. James (House of Renwick #2)(21)

People began whispering. It couldn’t get worse.

And then...

“Well, my boy, don’t just stand there! Dance with the girl!” The duchess’s voice boomed across the room. Emma felt her face heat. Why, oh why had she listened to the old crone?

Sebastian, a bit taken aback, nodded in his grandmother’s direction and took Emma’s hand.

“You’ve managed to charm the old bag, hmm?” he whispered, putting his other hand on her back. “It’s often compared with snake charming. I’m quite impressed. Do you also do little gypsy dances and parade around in nothing but bangles on your wrists and, God forbid, your ankles? I think I should like to see that.”

Emma, stunned into silence, began shaking. Mumbling an apology, she pushed away from him and ran out of the ballroom. Again leaving the entire ton in an uproar. She had managed to snag and abandon the most eligible duke in society in the span of two minutes.

****

Sebastian stood in the middle of the dance floor utterly deserted. He hated scandal and he hated pity. Women across the room had their mouths gaping open in shock, several others pretended to faint. His grandmother, the one person he expected to be outraged, had the audacity to laugh out loud and then walk off with Welbourne.

He had never been rejected before. How was he to respond? Was he to laugh it off? Normally he wouldn’t care, but it had seemed he had offended Emma or frightened her nearly out of her wits.

Swallowing his pride, he followed her out, amidst the growing whispers of him being love sot. He wanted to tell them to bloody mind their own business, but he knew it would just fan the flame.

Pushing through the front entrance, he scanned the streets for any sign of her. Nothing greeted him except blackness and the sick feeling he had done irreparable damage to his and Emma’s relationship.

What was he thinking? Relationship? Is that what they were in? He ran his hands through his hair and decided to walk back to Renwick House. It was just down the block, and he needed time to think.

Suddenly the ball didn’t seem at all the place he wanted to be. What he wanted was to find Emma and tell her he was sorry for whatever he said to upset her. He had been joking. She had to know that. He always joked!

He arrived at the front door of Renwick House exhausted and without a trace of Emma.

By the time he was ready for bed, he felt as if he had lived a thousand lifetimes. He would talk with Emma in the morning to see if he could fix whatever he’d done wrong. After all, women loved it when powerful men dropped down on one knee and begged.

And then...

“That’s it!” he yelled, hitting his pillow.

A smile cracked at the corners of his mouth. He was brilliant. It wouldn’t shock him at all if they erected statues in his honor, his plan was that clever. He knew exactly how he would handle this.

Nicholas is going to shoot me, he thought happily and closed his eyes.

****

“Of all the stupid things I could have done!” Emma yelled once she got in her bedroom. Sara sat and listened but appeared to be anxious to meet her husband for the evening. Married life must be something worth looking forward to if Sara was so eager to share her husband’s bed.

“I abandoned him. In front of the entire ton. I ran away!” Emma put her head in her hands and groaned. “I shall never live this down, and he shall never let me forget it!”

“Oh, stop. We both know the duke isn’t one to hold grudges. If anything he probably found it amusing. He deserves to be brought down a few notches anyway. Nobody should be blessed with perfect looks. Nicholas himself needed humbling. Just look at how little Samuel drives him to madness.”

“True.” Hesitantly Emma picked up her hairbrush. “I just don’t want to cause him any trouble.”

“That should be the least of your worries, Emma. He’s a duke, after all. People would want him if he were missing all his teeth and an arm.”

Too bad he wasn’t missing an arm or all of his glorious teeth. At least then Emma could have a decent conversation with the man without wanting to kiss him or touch his broad shoulders or feel the heat of his skin burning beneath his shirt.

“Are you hot?” Sara asked. “You look flushed. Are you coming down with something?”

Lust, crystal blue eyes, full lips. “No, nothing at all. I’m just tired.” Emma said her goodnights to Sara and tried to close her eyes. Sleep would be difficult after such an eventful night.





Chapter Seven


The following morning as Sebastian walked downstairs, he had the sneaking suspicion he would be grinning all day. His plan was perfect. By the time he reached the room where everyone would be breaking their fast, he still couldn’t wipe the smug smile off of his face. Nor could he get the vivid picture of what Emma would look like with her hair down out of his thoughts. All velvet and red splayed across white linen. He cleared his throat and shifted. He must not think of such things, considering he was staying in the same house as her.

But the things he would do.

He should get a hold of himself, or jump in a cold lake.

Anything to take away the spurts of lust that would not leave his mind and his body alone for one second.

She was just a woman. An appendage, a means to an end.

Calming himself and shifting his thoughts to the plan ahead, he walked into the room and grabbed a plate. The women were seated on one side of the table sipping coffee. Naturally, Nicholas was brooding in the corner. And why wasn’t he surprised to see young Samuel with his arms crossed in the opposite corner? And was that chocolate on Nicholas’s face? He opened his mouth to ask but closed it when Nicholas glared at him and gave a stern shake of his head. Apparently it had already been an eventful morning. Poor Nicholas was going to lose his head.