Debutantes Don’t Date (16 page)

She looked around the bedroom, taking in the four-poster bed, the window seats, the
ornate dressing table and wardrobe. She had to get out of here! This place was doing
her head in. She didn’t belong here. If she could only figure out how she’d got to
this time to begin with then she should be able to figure out how to get back home.
Home; where everything is how it should be. Where you don’t have to get engaged if
you kiss a man, where you don’t bring dishonour upon four families with said kiss.
Where your heart stays firmly in your own chest and strange men don’t curl your toes
with just one look. Home, where she was all alone, where she had shut out everyone
important, where her house greeted her, empty and quiet after every hard day of work.
Home.

If she could find a way back she could get out of this place that made her feel too
much. There must be something about the night of the ball that had something to do
with her disappearance.

She was shaking out the contents of her reticule looking for a clue when the door
burst open. Jasper stood in the doorway, his presence filling the room. The delicate
bag slipped from her fingers as she took in his appearance. His hair was frazzled,
his clothes askew and his breath puffed from his heaving chest.

She took a step towards him. “Are you all right?” she asked. He looked horrible. What
the hell had happened to him?

He stepped into the room and knocked the door closed with his foot. “I am now,” he
said as he gathered her into his arms and pressed her close to his body. She could
feel him sniffing her hair and breathing in her scent as if trying to memorise it.

“Jasper? Are you all right? What is going on?” She tried to pull back to look at him,
but he wouldn’t loosen his grip for her to do so. His hands moulded her to his body.
He ran his hands up and down her back, each time getting closer and closer to her
bum.

“I thought they had taken you. I couldn’t find you anywhere. Thank goodness I ran
into Victoria, she told me you were here.”

“Who is taking me? What are you talking about, Jasper?” Her words came out muffled.
He held her so closely she couldn’t raise her head off his chest.

Jasper finally loosened his grip on her and let her take a step back but still kept
his hands on her hips. “Those voices we heard? They belonged to Lord Alderton and
Lord Wester. I couldn’t figure out what they were talking about at first, but I think
Robin wants to get rid of you.”

“What?”

“He said that you wouldn’t be missed.”

“What are you talking about?” She couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.

“Listen.” He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a shake. “Wester has spent all the
money I would have given his family for marrying Lady Anne. He needs the money. His
father wants nothing to do with any of his plans but he seems bound and determined
to get his hands on my money. I’m not sure what he’s planning but when he said ‘she
will not be missed’, the only person that I could think of is you. No one knows you,
although that may be different after today, but Lady Anne would be missed so he couldn’t
mean her.”

“Jasper, are you listening to yourself? Let me get this right, you heard half a conversation
that may or may not be about Robin ‘getting rid’ of someone who may or may not be
me. Is that right?”

“Yes.” He looked relieved she finally understood what he was saying.

“That doesn’t make any sense. You are overreacting; no one is going to ‘get rid’ of
me.”

“You are wrong, Grace. You weren’t there, remember, you ran out. I heard him talking.
He is desperate; he will stop at nothing to get his hands on some money. His debts
must be huge. Too huge for him to even ask his father to pay, which is saying a lot.
That boy does not care one iota about how his family is affected by his actions.”
He shook her again and her teeth cracked together. “I will not let him take you, do
you understand?”

“But…” Grace lifted her head to argue again, but before she could form a question
his lips claimed hers in a demanding kiss, a kiss that she felt all the way to her
toes. His hands cupped her bottom and pulled her closer still. She could feel his
erection through the layers of clothing and she forgot what she was going to ask him.
Heat pooled down deep inside her as their tongues mated. His hand caressed her breast
and her nipple leapt to attention, begging to be touched. He did not disappoint.

He broke the kiss but before she could utter a protest he trailed hot wet kisses down
her neck to her breasts pushing out the top of her dress. His tongue flicked across
the exposed peaks. Her body responded, thrusting her breasts towards him; her hips
jerked and a moan escaped her open lips. His other hand reached her mound. The heat
of his palm warmed her to an inferno. Her hips jerked again and liquid heat rushed
to her core. Her knees gave out completely when his mouth found her nipple and sucked
her through the fabric of her dress.

“Jasper,” she breathed, begging him for more as she clung to his shoulders.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you go,” he whispered as his arms tightened around her body,
supporting her weight as he bent her backwards for better access to her breasts.

His words sent ice through her veins and she pushed away from him and stumbled out
of his arms. She wasn’t thinking clearly, how could she with blood rushing in her
ears? “I don’t belong to you.” She needed to distance herself from him. Her body was
still calling out for his touch but she couldn’t afford the temptation. She couldn’t
afford to fall in love with him. She was leaving. The heat from his body disappeared
as she moved away, leaving her chilled to the bone. She stood shivering alone in the
centre of the room.

“What are you talking about, Grace? All I said was I wasn’t going to let you fall.
I would hate to see you hit your pretty little head and maybe knock some sense into
it.” He sucked air in through his teeth trying to refrain from letting lose his frustration.
He couldn’t help but advance towards her, his hands clenching at his sides as if they
already held her neck. “One minute you are begging for more and the next you are pushing
me away. How am I supposed to react, Grace? You are confusing to no end.” He reached
the spot where she was standing and he stood before her unsure what to do next. “You
know I want you.
Feel
how much I want you, Grace.” Jasper grabbed her hand and placed it onto his erection;
his penis jumped at the touch of her hand. “I know you want me too.” He reached out
and flicked her nipple. A moan escaped from her lips. “See? We are right for each
other. You must know that. Don’t you know that, Grace?”

“No.” She stepped back out of reach. “No, Jasper, I can’t do this.” She played her
trump card. “We aren’t yet married.”

A dreadful profanity forced its way past his lips; he didn’t care if he offended her.
But he couldn’t ruin her more than she already was. If she turned up pregnant before
they were married and if something happened to him…She was right, damn it, they couldn’t
go through with it. He turned and walked out her door before another word was spoken.

Grace watched the door shut behind him. It wasn’t until he’d left the room that she
felt she could breathe again. She filled her lungs with a shaky breath. This couldn’t
be happening. She couldn’t have feelings like this. She wouldn’t allow it. She felt
safe when he was around. She felt loved.

She told herself it was only because they we are stuck together and were planning
this infernal wedding that might never happen. She might be home long before she had
to say I do. She didn’t want to think about how time was running out and it was only
a matter of weeks before the wedding. And she definitely didn’t want to think about
leaving the man she was starting to love. She didn’t want to stay but she certainly
didn’t want to go either. Life was too confusing for her now. She needed sleep.

She undressed and climbed into bed, pulling the covers all the way up to her chin.
She slept fitfully, dreaming of car crashes on icy roads and the death of ones she
loved.

Jasper spent the night in Neal’s study with a bottle of brandy after stationing one
of the footmen at Grace’s door for the night. No one was allowed in, including himself.
No matter how much he drank, Jasper couldn’t seem to get drunk. He couldn’t get the
memory of Grace off his hands or her taste off his lips. He was going to have to drink
the whole damn bottle. He got up and swayed over to the decanter to refill his glass.

“I thought I heard some fumbling around down here.” Neal entered the room and poured
himself a drink from the half-filled decanter before lounging in his favourite chair.
“Now, tell me dear brother, why are you down here drinking my good brandy and why
is there a footman sitting outside my wife’s guest’s door? Is there something going
on in
my
house I need to know about?”

Jasper studied his brother-in-law for a long time before answering. “Are you a spy?”

“That was not exactly the information I was looking for, Jasper, but no I am not…not
any more anyway.”

“Huh, I always wondered.” He took another long drink from his glass. “Grace and I
were exploring your secret passages this afternoon. We ended up…somewhere. It was
dark and we couldn’t see much…”

“I can see where this is going and I don’t think I want to know the details. Actually,
I’m surprised you would offer them to me.”

“What I was
going
to say was, we couldn’t see much and as we were fumbling out of a dark room we heard
voices on the other side of the door. At first we couldn’t hear what they were saying
but after Grace left the voices started yelling and I was able to make out most of
the conversation. I of course, did not hear all that was said so there may be more
than what I heard. They were talking of a kidnapping. One was saying not to go through
with it but the other was saying it was the only solution to the problem and it was
the only way to restore their good name. It was Lord Alderton and his son, Lord Wester.
Wester wants to kidnap Grace.”

“What?” Neal’s hand jerked in surprise, knocking his glass to the floor. Amber liquid
flowed over his new Persian rug which had just arrived last week; shards of crystal
lodged themselves into his stockinged feet. “Why in heaven’s name would he want to
kidnap Grace?”

Jasper observed the tiny streaks of blood escaping from Neal’s socks mixing with the
brandy on the floor. “He wants me to marry his sister so he can get his hands on my
money. Rumour around town is he’s spent up large in anticipation of our wedding and
now with Lady Anne and me not getting married, he is in the mire, to say the least.”

“But kidnap Miss Lancaster? How does he think that is going to help? He must know
you would never give up trying to find her and as long as she was alive you would
never marry Lady Anne.” Neal bent over to start pulling the crystal from his socks.

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. I think he means to kill her, Neal.”

“Get me something to put this in would you?” Neal held up a piece of glass and motioned
to the side board where the decanter and glasses sat.

Jasper rose and passed an empty glass to his brother-in-law. “I don’t imagine he anticipated
I would overhear his plans either. I expect he would make it look as though Grace
had run away. Who knows, if I didn’t hear him, he may have pulled it off. God help
me if it is the other alternative.”

“What other alternative?”

“That Grace isn’t alive for me to marry. If he killed her, in his mind I would then
be free to marry Lady Anne.”

“Would you?”

“Not damn well likely!” Jasper’s voice rose to a roar. How could Neal even think he
would be able to replace Grace? A tightening formed in his chest at the thought.

“Very well. So tell me this: why would Miss Lancaster run away and why would you let
her?”

A large sigh was forced from his chest. “Where do I start? She doesn’t want to be
here. She keeps pushing me away, she’s afraid of getting too close to someone again.
Did you know her whole family was killed at Christmastime a couple of years ago? She
says she can’t deal with losing someone again. I could imagine her running away, never
to be seen again. How on earth am I supposed to deal with that? How am I supposed
to make her see we are perfect together?”

“Whoa, Jasper, I am not the man to talk to about happiness and women. You need to
talk to your sister. She may not know about happiness either, but at least she’s a
woman. Leave me out of it.”

Jasper sighed. “Sorry. You’re right of course.” He took a long pull of brandy and
ran his hand through his hair, his hopelessness almost overwhelming him, before he
continued. “Grace wouldn’t believe me about Lord Wester. I had no choice but to station
one of your men at her door.”

“Does she know he’s there?”

“Surely you jest? She would have my head if she thought she was being kept under lock
and key over this.”

“You locked her in as well?”

“Wouldn’t you do the same if it was Victoria?”

“Right. Good point. Pass the brandy please.”

Chapter Seventeen

Today is going to be a better day
, Grace repeated to herself for the fiftieth time in the last hour. Whoever said positive
affirmations work, was full of shit. Today sucked. She had awoken this morning with
a headache to end all headaches and now she was being tortured by Victoria’s seamstress.
She had been forced onto a small pedestal in the middle of her room, Victoria insisting
that Grace have some more dresses made.

“I don’t see why, Victoria, when I will be leaving soon.”

Victoria dismissed her comment with a wave of her hand. “All the same, we’ll get them
made anyway. Besides, we need to start on your wedding dress, don’t we, Mme Beauparlant?”

Everything was going fine until Victoria mentioned to the seamstress that it was Jasper
she was to marry in six weeks. Mme Beauparlant had her mouth full of pins and Grace
was sure she made every effort possible to make sure at least one out of every two
pins she used ended up stuck into Grace herself.