Home > 'Twas the Night Before Scandal(7)

'Twas the Night Before Scandal(7)
Author: Merry Farmer

“I’m hardly that,” Bea said, her insides fluttering. She lowered her eyes enough to be able to send him what she hoped was a sensual look and leaned slightly toward him.

Evan chose that moment to reenter the room so that he could take their soup bowls away. Bea snapped straight, inwardly telling herself to behave. Though Bianca’s voice in her mind instantly told her that behaving herself was precisely what she shouldn’t be doing that evening. She and Harrison sat in stiff silence until Evan brought out the main course—blessedly already arranged on their plates in the style of a restaurant—then retreated to the shadows once again.

“I am very much looking forward to Christmas Eve,” Bea started up the conversation again as both she and Harrison sliced into their roast. “I’ve been looking forward to the magical moment for a long time.”

Harrison nearly choked on the bite he’d just taken. “How…how did you know?”

Bea was so startled by his reaction that she nearly swallowed her own bite wrong. “Know?”

“About…about Christmas Eve,” Harrison said, fidgeting with his fork.

“It happens every year at roughly the same time,” Bea said with a burst of humor. “And the May Flowers have been planning the benefit for Bianca’s cause for over a month now. Well, half of the May Flowers. We won’t talk about Lady Claudia’s cabal.”

“Oh.” Harrison let out a breath of relief that had Bea more confused than ever. “The orphan event. Of course.”

“What did you think I meant?” Bea asked, wondering what had gotten into Harrison. But, of course, it was obvious. She’d ambushed him with supper and seduction. He must have sensed that they were about to cross the Rubicon into a whole different level of their friendship.

“I…I assumed you meant the orphan event, of course,” he said, sawing his roast as though it had offended him, though Bea suspected that was merely a way for him not to have to meet her eyes.

The whole evening was taking a turn for the decidedly strange. She had to focus and bring things back around to where she wanted them. Proposal. That was her aim. Spending the rest of her days with Harrison as his wife. Getting there by using her feminine wiles. Though, if she were honest with herself, she wasn’t sure how many feminine wiles she actually possessed.

“Harrison, there is something I have wanted to say to you for so very long now,” she said, forcing herself to be bold.

“Yes?” He leaned toward her, expectation and affection in his eyes.

Bea took a breath, steeling her courage. “I do so love—” she gulped, losing her nerve at the very last moment. “Christmas,” she finished with a croak, feeling her face heat. “I do so love Christmas.”

“So do I,” he said, his smile widening. “It’s been one of my favorite holidays since I was a boy.” He paused, then reached across the corner of the table to take her hand. Bea’s pulse sped up to the point of making her feel dizzy. “Christmas is the perfect time of year for…for declarations of a…a particular sort.”

“Yes, it is,” she agreed breathlessly. It was coming. She could feel it. The proposal she’d longed for was just on the other side of Harrison’s lips.

“Bea,” he said, gazing earnestly into her eyes. “I was wondering if you would—”

Evan stepped around the screen shielding the butler’s pantry and came forward to refill their wine glasses. Immediately, Bea snapped straight, lowering her head guiltily and focusing on cutting her potatoes.

Harrison shifted back to his place as well. “This roast is delicious,” he told Evan as the young man topped off his wine glass. “Please give my compliments to the cook.”

“Yes, my lord,” Evan said, then headed back to the butler’s pantry.

For the briefest of moments, Bea thought that perhaps she could hear the soft giggling of one or more of the maids. She put the possibility out of her mind, though, unable to contemplate that on top of everything else.

“I was thinking of wearing this gown to the party on Christmas Eve,” she said, though she’d been thinking no such thing. She didn’t think she could bear the silence that Evan’s interruption had brought with it, though.

“It’s a simply divine gown,” Harrison said, studying her with an increasingly amorous grin. “But I’m not certain it’s appropriate for a party in Clerkenwell.”

“No?” Bea took the opportunity to shift her chair back and stand. She stepped away from the table and executed a quick turn that flared the soft fabric of her skirt. “I thought it was perfect for a Christmas party.”

“It is,” Harrison said, standing as well. “But one in Mayfair, not Clerkenwell.” He took half a step closer to her, studying her.

Bea felt her moment to act. “You don’t think it’s too revealing?” she asked, brushing her hand along the low neckline.

“I—” Harrison started, but seemed to lose his train of thought. “I think it suits you beautifully,” he said, his voice hoarse.

The tension in the air between them was almost unbearable, but in the most delicious of ways. Bea knew she had to act. If she was going to live up to the example her friends had set for her and grab onto her happiness with both hands, she had to be bolder than she’d ever been before. She was ready. She could do it. She would dive into the breach with—

Before she could finish talking herself into action, Harrison stepped into her, resting his hands on her waist. He leaned in, slanting his mouth over hers and drinking in a kiss that had her head spinning and her heart racing. His lips tasted of wine and herbs, which encouraged her all the more to open to him and let him slide his tongue along hers. She’d never been kissed at all before and was delighted to discover there was more to it than simply lips bussing lips.

She made a noise deep in her throat and slid her arms over Harrison’s shoulders, losing her fingers in his hair. She’d never touched his hair before and was thrilled to discover how soft it was. It was a delicious contrast to the firmness of his chest against hers and the strength in his arms as he pulled her closer and deepened his kiss. If this was seduction, she couldn’t get enough of it, whether he started it or her. All she wanted to do was lose herself in Harrison’s kiss, and he seemed more than happy oblige.

“My darling,” he murmured against her lips, teasing her cheek and the top of her neck with feather-light kisses. “You know I adore you. I love—”

“What on earth is the meaning of this?”

Her father’s booming voice from the doorway to the dining room had Bea feeling as though she’d been struck by lightning. She yelped and jumped away from Harrison, nearly toppling over as she did.

“Papa,” she gasped once she had her footing. “You’re home.” Her face burned so hot with guilt at being caught in an embrace with Harrison that she rivaled the fire crackling in the fireplace.

“Your sister felt unwell,” her father said, sauntering deeper into the room. His expression was as grave and ferocious as a lion, but if Bea wasn’t mistaken, there was a measure of humor in his eyes. “Landsbury.” He nodded to Harrison, the single word spoken as a pure challenge.

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