Forever My Love (Berkeley-Faulkner #2)(75)

“A red-faced boy who is so nervous around you that he’ll probably end up overturning your sleigh… no, for the sake of our past association, I cannot allow that to happen to you.”

“We have no past association,” Mira informed him curtly.

Alec hesitated before replying. As he looked down at her he felt a pang of hunger, and it was not a hunger similar to anything he had ever felt before. It could be relieved only by the sight of her, the feel of her, the sound of her voice, the scent of her. It was the last thing on earth he wanted to feel for her. Love was something he could have reasoned away, talked himself out of… but hunger was an inescapable reality. Love was something one could ignore, replace, mourn, forget. Hunger nagged and probed, and forced its way into a man’s thoughts until it was appeased. “Forgive me,” he said huskily. “I had assumed your memory would be as accurate as mine when it came to such matters. Not only do I recall having enjoyed a past association with you, I remember having shared a certain number of intimacies—”

“Hush. PleaseV Mira begged, looking around in the fear that someone would overhear. “Don’t be so ill-mannered as to bring that up. And you dare to criti-cize that Onslow boy—I suppose you think I’d be better off riding in a sleigh with someone like you.”

“That is exactly what I think,” Alec replied.

Shocked into silence, Mira looked into his gray eyes. There was no ridicule there, no mockery. She realized that he was asking her to ride with him, and that she had no idea how to answer.

She had more reason than ever not to trust him.

She was so desperately in love with him.

All it would take was a simple refusal. Falkner would not plead with her to accept, and she did not think that he would ask again. He grinned at her expression of indecision, and as she stared at him, Mira could not help smiling back. It was impossible for her to refuse the opportunity to be with him. You’re mad, she told herself. You deserve everything you get from now on, because you’re begging for trouble!

“I accept your invitation,” she said to Alec, and her eyes danced with sudden laughter. “But if we don’t hurry and leave, Rosalie will drag Onslow back, and then I’ll have to go with him and listen to all of his schoolroom adventures.”

“Poor brat,” Alec murmured sympathetically, and grinned again as he held out an arm for her to take.

Chapter Nine

After Mira took Alec’s arm, they crossed through the hall and walked to the doors. Within a few seconds Mira was aware that they had attracted an inordinate amount of attention. Although she was the subject of a few stares, it was mainly Alec that people were watching. There were few men like him, who could command the attention of the whole room so effortlessly; it was impossible not to notice him. It was exciting just to be near Alec… he was handsome, quick-witted, he had an audacious smile, his moods could change with dazzling speed. It was difficult to predict what things he would take seriously and what he would jeer at, but that only make him more attractive. As he escorted Mira outside, she wondered at his apparent indifference to the multitude of gazes.

“Do you attract this sort of interest wherever you go?” she asked wryly.

“Of course I do. Haven’t you heard? I’m one of a limited selection of bachelors this year, indecently high on the list of preferred catches. They won’t stop staring, or pursuing, until I’m trussed up and readied for marriage like a chicken for the pot.”

“Perhaps I should free you so you can accompany someone more desirous of your company. I have no intention of trying to ‘catch’ anyone.”

“How interesting. My impression was that you were here for precisely that reason. And with Lady Berkeley as your champion, you stand to do very well.Edgar Onslow aside, it should be fascinating to see whom she finally maneuvers to the altar with you.”

“She’s not going to maneuver anyone…” Mira said, and made a wordless exclamation before adding. “I had forgotten how disagreeable you are!”

“I haven’t forgotten a thing about you.”

“Including my taste in reading material… or wasn’t it you who sent the books?”

He made no reply as he helped her into the sleigh. A footman placed heated bricks on the floor of the vehicle for her to rest her feet on, and a thickly woven blanket was draped over her knees. Shivering a little in pleasure from the warmth and snugness of the sleigh, Mira buried her hands more deeply in her muff.

“Are you cold?” Alec inquired gently, and she shook her head.

“The books… ?” she reminded him.

“Do you like them?”

“Of course I like them. I just don’t… I don’t like feeling obligated to you.”

“You’re not obligated to me,” he said casually. “Not for a few scraps of leather and paper.”

“You wrote ‘From an admirer’ on the card,” she commented, her eyes questioning, and he shrugged.

“I do admire you.” He spoke so lightly that there seemed to be no real meaning behind the words at all. “No matter what happens, you’re the kind who will land on your feet… and you have a talent for making friends with those who can help you the most.”

“That doesn’t sound very complimentary.”

“Doesn’t it?” he asked lazily. “I meant it to be.”