Then Came You (The Gamblers #1)(15)

A vague expression of interest crossed her face. “Oh, my lord? Was there an accident of some sort? A collision?”

“You could call it that,” he said dryly. “I met your sister.”

Penelope gasped. “Lily was there? Oh, dear…” At a loss for words, she closed her mouth and looked at him helplessly.

“She’s quite extraordinary.” Alex’s tone was far from complimentary.

Penelope nodded and gulped. “There is usually no middle ground with Lily. One either likes her tremendously, or…” She shrugged helplessly.

“Yes,” Alex said sardonically. “I’m of the latter persuasion.”

“Oh.” Penelope’s forehead puckered in a dainty frown. “Of course. Both of you are rather decided in your opinions.”

“That’s a tactful way of putting it.” Alex stared at her closely. It was unnerving to see the echoes of Lily in Penelope’s sweet, gentle face. “We talked about you,” he said abruptly.

Her eyes turned round with apprehension. “My lord, I should make it clear that Lily does not speak for me or the rest of the family.”

“I know that.”

“What was said between you?” she asked timidly.

“Your sister claimed that I must frighten you. Do I?”

Underneath his cool appraisal, the color rushed to her face. “A little, my lord,” she admitted.

Alex found her sweet shyness somewhat irritating. He wondered if she was capable of snapping back at him, if she would ever take him to task when he did something to displease her. As he stood and walked over to her, he saw her flinch involuntarily. Coming to stand next to her, he put his hands on her waist. Penelope bent her head, but Alex was aware of her quickly indrawn breath. Suddenly he couldn’t rid his mind of a disturbing image—picking Lily up from the ground, holding her lithe body in his arms. Although Penelope was taller, more voluptuous than her older sister, she gave the impression of being much softer and smaller.

“Look at me,” Alex said quietly, and Penelope obeyed. He stared into her brown eyes. Exactly like Lily’s. Except these eyes were filled with startled innocence, not dark fire. “There’s no reason to be uneasy. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Yes, my lord,” she whispered.

“Why don’t you call me Alex?” He had asked it of her before, but the use of his name seemed to be difficult for her.

“Oh, I…I couldn’t.”

With great effort, he suppressed his impatience. “Try.”

“Alex,” Penelope murmured.

“Good.” He bent his head and touched her lips with his own. Penelope didn’t move, only brushed his shoulder with her hand. Alex prolonged the kiss, increasing the pressure of his mouth. For the first time he sought more than docile acceptance from her. Her lips remained cool and still beneath his. All at once Alex was puzzled and annoyed to realize that Penelope considered his embrace a duty she had to endure.

Lifting his head, he looked down at her placid face. She looked like a child who had just obediently downed a spoonful of medicine and was suffering the aftertaste. Never in his life had a woman considered kissing him to be a chore! Alex’s tawny brows drew together in a frown. “Dammit, I won’t be tolerated,” he said gruffly.

Penelope stiffened in alarm. “My lord?”

Alex knew he should play the gentleman and treat her with tender respect, but his full-blooded nature demanded a response from her. “Kiss me back,” he commanded, and crushed her against his body.

With a surprised squeak, Penelope twisted away from him and slapped his face.

Not exactly a slap. He would have welcomed a vigorous, hearty slap. This was more like a reproving pat on his cheek. Penelope retreated to the door and regarded him tearfully. “My lord, are you testing me in some manner?” she asked in a wounded voice.

Alex looked at her for a long time, keeping his face expressionless. He knew he was being unreasonable. He should not expect something from her that she was not able or willing to give. Silently he cursed himself, wondering why he was in such a devilish mood. “I beg your pardon.”

Penelope gave him an uncertain nod. “I suppose you are still excited from the hunt. I have heard that men are very affected by the primitive atmosphere of such events.”

He smiled sardonically. “That’s probably it.”

“May I be excused now?”

Wordlessly he waved her out of the room.

Penelope paused at the door, looking back over her shoulder. “My lord, please don’t think badly of Lily. She is an unusual woman, very brave and headstrong. When I was a child, she used to protect me from everyone and everything that frightened me.”

Alex was surprised by Penelope’s little speech. It was rare that he heard Penelope put more than two sentences together. “Was she ever close to either of your parents?”

“Only to our Aunt Sally. Sally was an eccentric in the same way my sister is, always seeking adventure and doing unconventional things. When she passed away a few years ago, she left her entire fortune to Lily.”

So that was how Lily had obtained her means to live. The information hardly improved Alex’s opinion of her. Probably she had deliberately courted the old woman’s favor, and then danced upon the deathbed at the thought of the money she had inherited.