A Little Bit Sinful(47)

“Justin, I…I am sorry,” she said.

He heard her rustling with her clothes and when he finally turned to face her, she was hidden in her cloak. He walked her to the door and neither said another word as he put her back into the carriage and sent her to her house.

Son of bitch, he’d almost lost it, almost tossed up her nightrail and pushed against the wall and pounded himself into her until he’d been sated, and she’d known precisely what seduction really meant.

…

The following night Justin found himself once again in attendance of a ball. He’d already danced with Miss Riverton twice, and at the moment she was dancing with a wealthy, young earl. These men were a bunch of bloody fools if they needed to have one of them show interest in a woman before she was deemed desirable.

A tall man entered the ballroom, all smiles and charm. It took Justin a moment to realize who he was. He’d seen him a handful of times, most recently that night out the carriage window with Clarissa.

George Wilbanks. The biggest bloody fool of them all.

It was time to say something to him. Justin sized him up thinking on specifically what he’d say. What he wanted to do was resort to every dirty trick everyone in Society thought he knew simply to bring that man to his knees.

“If you will excuse me,” he told Marcus, then he strolled toward George Wilbanks. He could see why Clarissa found him so appealing. He embodied what women tended to find attractive—tall, athletic, handsome with a gregarious smile.

As he approached, George turned in his direction. “Mr. Rodale, I’d been told you’d been introduced into Society, allow me to welcome you,” he said congenially. The man seemed sincere, but Justin suspected he was just a damn good actor.

“Mr. Wilbanks. I’ve been wanting to make your acquaintance. It would seem we have a mutual friend.” He fisted his hands, tempering himself else he lose what he had left of his civility and beat this man into a bloody mess.

“I suspect that in your line of work we have many mutual friends,” George said with a grin.

“Indeed. But I’m thinking of a particular friend. Lady Clarissa Kincaid.”

George’s smile faded. “Clarissa is a lovely girl.”

“Yes, she is. Might we converse more privately?” Justin suggested.

George nodded and the two men walked away from the crowd to a quieter area near some windows.

“You owe her an explanation,” Justin said.

“I beg your pardon?” George’s voice lost all hints of friendliness.

“She is under the assumption that the two of you are to be married. And now with this wager, and the fact that you’re courting Clarissa and Miss Cooper. You need to remedy the situation.”

George’s lips quirked in a grin. “Yes, I cannot be responsible for a chit’s romantic delusions. I can assure you it is not by anything I’ve said to her.” He shrugged. “Yes, I have taken her on walks, danced with her. I enjoy her company. But I have never given her any indication I have any intentions toward her.”

“You have never said to her that if the timing was right you would marry her?”

“I might have said something along those lines, but that is hardly to be considered a proposal,” George said.

“You do, in fact, have to marry though. Your father has given you an ultimatum?”

“He has, but that makes no difference to me. I shall marry when I see fit.”

He might say such a thing, but Justin was willing to wager that if daddy demanded it, George would comply.

“Your attentions are preventing her from allowing other suitors to pursue her.”

George frowned. “She is a grown woman and does what she pleases, I can assure you that. Clarissa does not need my permission to find a suitable husband.”

“She does if she’s counting on you being that husband.” Justin really wanted to hit him, right in his smug face.

“As I said, I spend time with many women. Clarissa and Miss Cooper included. It does not mean I am intending to marry any of them.”

“You are leading them on,” Justin said.

George met his gaze. “I like pretty things.” His voice was cold and even.

The man was an utter cad, yet Clarissa seemed so convinced otherwise. “Have you told her about, how shall we say it, your hobby?” Justin didn’t give him time to answer. “I’ve tried to enlighten her to some regard, but she misunderstood the situation.” He wasn’t about to tell the man that she intended to seduce him. Perhaps if he could convince George to tell Clarissa the truth, that he had no intention of marrying her, she would forget her seduction plan.