To Bed a Beaty

by her warm character and lively wit.

Her eyes were still warm, he noted, but her gaze turned thoughtful as she contemplated him over the rim of her glass. “Perhaps we could simply be friends. My sister is married to Marcus now, so we may be seeing more of each other in the future. And I don’t wish there to be any awkwardness between us.” An elegant dimple flashed in her cheek. “You can treat me as you do Eleanor, as a younger sister.”

He couldn’t possibly think of this woman as his sister, Drew reflected. Not after kissing her the way he had, after tasting her delectable body the way he had. Not with the powerful lust he still felt for her.

And yet he was surprised to find that he could relax in her company. Perhaps it was because she didn’t toady to him as most everyone else did. Or perhaps he was just no longer concerned that she might try to trap him in marriage.

“Friends it is,” he said, raising his glass in salute.

They both drank to the agreement, before Drew settled in a wing chair across from her. “So tell me about your husband-hunting plans. You mean to assist Haviland with his ball next week?”

“Yes,” Roslyn answered. “Before my mother left us, she taught me a good deal about running a genteel household and hosting social entertainments. I believe I can help his lordship make his ball a success.”

“And after that?”

“I’m not certain, but I will need to decide soon, since Haviland plans to remain here at his country villa for only a week or so after the ball to hold a houseparty for his relatives. Fanny promised to advise me, but I’ve had no time to give it much consideration with all the preparations for the wedding.” Roslyn cocked her head, her eyes still glimmering with laughter. “To be truthful, Fanny suggested that I ask you to instruct me. I think she was jesting, but the idea has merit.”

“Instruct you on what?” Drew asked warily.

“On the tricks a mistress uses to make her protector enamored of her.”

He nearly choked on his wine. “That is hardly a topic for a proper young lady to be discussing with a gentleman,” Drew rasped.

Roslyn laughed again. “Now who is being missish, your grace? I think we have already gone well beyond the bounds of propriety, don’t you? A little further won’t hurt.”

“You are actually serious.”

“Yes, of course. It is brazen of me, I know, but I have a great deal at stake, so it would behoove me to use any resources I can find. You are an acknowledged expert in mistresses, so I should like to hear your views on the subject.”

Drew frowned. “I doubt my views could help you.”

“Will you allow me to be the judge of that?”

He stared at her a long moment before giving in. “What do you want to know?”

“To begin with, why do you even employ a mistress?”

“For the usual reasons. Entertainment, companionship, pleasure.”

“So what makes you choose one over the other? What qualities do you look for? I suppose beauty is a chief requirement?”

Drew gave the question some thought, trying to remember his criteria for his last inamorata. “Beauty is desirable, but I mainly want one who is undemanding.”

“Who isn’t possessive? Fanny said that was what made you give up your last mistress.” When his eyebrow shot up, Roslyn smiled. “I am not asking to know the intimate details of your affairs. My question is purely academic-so I won’t make the same mistake with Lord Haviland. What else appeals to you in a mistress?”

She wasn’t going to relent, Drew realized. With mingled feelings of admiration and resignation, he settled back and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “I want one with enough wit to carry on an intelligent conversation. And, of course, she must be skilled at lovemaking.”

That last qualification made Roslyn blush, but she pressed on. “Yet there must be more to making a man become enamored. According to Fanny, a good mistress knows how to drive her protector a little wild and even enslave him.”

“And you want to enslave Haviland.”

“I don’t wish to go that far with the earl, merely rouse his ardor. I think you could advise me on how to achieve it.”

Drew found himself unable to stifle his amusement. “You truly are unique, Miss Loring.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “I doubt you mean that as a compliment, but no matter. I don’t mind that you have a low opinion of me, as long as you are willing to help me.”

He didn’t have a low opinion of her in the least. On the contrary, he was intrigued by her, even fascinated. He also liked that she was so refreshingly honest. But that didn’t mean he wanted to have anything to do with helping her snare Haviland for her husband.

When he hesitated, she made a tsking sound. “I think you must be afraid of me.”

“Afraid of you?”

“Yes. You are still concerned about compromising me. But I told you, you needn’t worry. I wouldn’t marry you under any circumstances.”

“I am not afraid of you, darling.”

“Then you should have no objection to teaching me what I need to know. You are reputed to be a magnificent lover. I would think you would want to prove it.”

His body’s response to her lighthearted words was quick and intense: His loins abruptly tightened.

“Are you challenging me, Beauty?”

“I believe I am.”

Her musical laughter rippled through him. Drew stiffened, not liking the way arousal made itself felt in his groin.

When he didn’t automatically take up her challenge, she took another tack. “Don’t you realize it is in your self-interest for me to attach Lord Haviland?”

“How do you conclude that?”

“So Lady Freemantle will cease hounding you. As long as you stay here, she will keep pushing us together. But we can foil her efforts if I acquire Haviland as a suitor. She won’t want to spoil my chances with him if he is truly courting me.”

Roslyn’s disarming smile affected Drew more than he cared to admit. She was intent on getting her own way with charm, much like Marcus’s minx of a sister. He could see Eleanor making such an outrageous request of him.

“You want me to tutor you in how to captivate Haviland so he will be eager to court you?”

“Yes, and so I can make him fall in love with me. I would be very grateful. And you would be doing Marcus a favor. He would be pleased if I could secure the earl for my husband. Marcus wanted to marry us off to perfect strangers, you know, when he first assumed our guardianship.”

Drew shook his head in wry disbelief. “I must be daft to even consider it.”

“But you want to,” she pressed.

He couldn’t respond with a denial. He had to admit he sympathized with her situation. Roslyn hadn’t deserved the difficulties she’d faced for the past four years. And it was certainly true that Marcus wanted to see her wed so he could cease worrying about her.

“I will have to give it some thought,” Drew said at last. “I am no authority on feminine arts of seduction.”

“But you know what appeals to you…how a woman could captivate your interest.”

I know how you could captivate my interest, Drew reflected silently. Judging from her wide-eyed innocent look, though, Roslyn had no idea how lascivious his thoughts were just now. How he wanted to lay her down and remove her gown very slowly, kissing each luscious creamy inch of her body…

Drew shook himself, focusing on her request. His mouth curled sardonically as he debated. He recognized the irony of helping a scheming debutante lure a man to his matrimonial doom when he himself had always been so set