The Scottish Bride (The Brides of Holland Springs Book 5)(21)

All in all, he was a sexy, charming man who’d made her feel special for one night. Though nothing more had happened between them, it felt as though something had happened. A connection had been made.

Slowly, she turned to him. Somehow, a smile found its way to her mouth. “It is you.” Warmth filled her, displacing all the nasty coldness that had threatened to lay her bare. She took the napkin from him and clutched it tightly. “Seems we’re always meeting this way...at weddings.”

“Duchess, it’s always a pleasure to see you. No matter the circumstances,” Noah murmured, the nickname he’d give her so many years ago rolling off his tongue in such a way that it made her slightly dizzy. His dark-eyed gaze appraised her before he leaned close. “You look like you could use some fresh air.”

“I don’t...” She swallowed. Everyone would see. Everyone would suspect that she was upset and—

“Hell, I could use some fresh air with a beautiful woman. Unless you think I’m suggesting something too improper?” he continued on in that whisky-tinged drawl she adored. “Besides, we haven’t seen each other in three years. Too damned long, don’t you think?”

He winked, and her heart fluttered. In that moment, she found the answer to her dilemma.

***

When Noah first walked into the ballroom, he immediately spotted Kate. Not the easiest thing to do considering how crowded the place was. But when the Romanovs decided to go all out, they went big.

Sometimes, he wondered if the Romanovs were from his home state of Texas instead of Russia. His grandparents would have certainly gotten a kick out of all this wasteful spending.

And there was his dad’s influence, he thought. Who cared what other people spent their money on? However, his father judged a man by his wallet, or rather how he spent the money in his wallet, and he’d just done the exact same thing.

It chafed every time he realized how much like his father he could be. But the old man had standards. Standards that Noah felt like he could never reach, not even when an investment in a start-up had made him millions.

Pure luck, his father had grumbled when he’d broken the good news to him.

Worse, when it got out what Noah’s lawyer had done, Gunnar Sawyer would chew him up one side and down the other for being so stupid. So damned trusting.

For the first time in Noah’s life, he was up shit creek without a paddle. So tonight, he planned to get plastered and sweet talk a British hottie into coming back to his hotel room.

Well, that had been his plan, until he saw a gorgeous woman walking down the aisle of the church after the ceremony, her pretty, pale green eyes wide and her face pale. Her chin was up, her mouth firm and closed tight, as if to say to the world, I’m really not upset. But he knew better; her eyes had given her away. Hell, her entire face had given her away.

As soon as the service ended, he’d driven hell for leather to the reception hall to find her again. When he had, he discovered that she was on the edge of bawling her eyes out. He had older sisters; he knew what red-rimmed eyes meant.

Suddenly, Kate stood, tall and elegant in her gown, and he let out a rush of air. A large part of him thought she would turn him down—she was too classy to go anywhere with him. With her black hair and porcelain skin, she was a vision of perfection. A vision that made his gut tighten and desire surge, just like the first time they’d met. He’d kicked himself all the way back to Texas for not asking her out that night.

But maybe this time, luck was on his side. And he sure as hell needed some luck.

He placed his hand on the small of her back. Sucking in a breath, she turned to him, glancing at his face. He smiled wider, a friendly smile, he hoped, and not a deranged hey-baby-I’m-going-to-take-you-home-with-me-and-do-you-right kind of smile.

Yeah, he was a red-blooded man, but there was no way in hell he’d take advantage of her.

“Ready?” he said as everyone else stood.

The music began, and several couples took to the floor while others waited for the first course to be served. The laid back approach had to be Daisy’s influence, he thought. Romanov looked like he invented rules and had people killed for not following them. Not that Noah couldn’t handle a guy like him, but a man didn’t go around courting trouble unless he was stupid.

“Can we,” her small, pink tongue touched her bottom lip, “go somewhere more private than the terrace?

“This is a crush—too crowded,” she added, as if he needed an excuse to leave with her.

“How about somewhere else entirely?” he heard himself suggest.

Down boy.

He had to tread lightly with Kate. She was a lady, after all. An honest-to-goodness lady with rules and manners that hadn’t been taught to him. For all he knew, he could be insulting her. But he had been raised to respect women, to treat them with kindness and chivalry.

A bit old-fashioned. But he didn’t give a good damn. In his opinion, there was a considerable lack of respect, kindness, and chivalry for anyone going around these days, so he did what he could to make up for it.

Now that was entirely his grandparents’ influence.

“Yes, please,” she said, reaching down to gather her things. Her expression turned stricken. “I’m... I need to convey my—”

“You don’t need to do anything but follow my lead, Duchess.” He placed her hand over the crook of his elbow and began to walk.