Debutantes Don’t Date (8 page)

She wouldn’t mind meeting the woman who tempted him. He always came across as someone
who didn’t let passion into his life. Maybe she
should
call upon Miss Lancaster. She couldn’t see the harm in going along with her brother’s
plan of befriending her, besides she would love to have another friend whom she could
call upon when she needed to escape the oppression of her overbearing mother.

Chapter Eight

Victoria waited until Grace retired to her room and Jasper left to do whatever it
was he did, before seeking out her husband. She couldn’t tell him the truth about
Grace. She’d have to think of another way to help her. “Neal, we need to talk,” she
said as she leaned against his study door she had just closed behind her.

“Hmmm.” He didn’t even look up from the papers on his desk.

“Neal, we
need
to talk.”

“Oh, what is it, woman?” Neal finally tore his eyes away from his work and looked
at her.

“It’s Miss Lancaster. We need to do something about her.” Victoria paced, trying to
find the right words; talking to Neal always made her tongue-tied. “We can’t have
the granddaughter of Old Lancaster here in our house and not tell him. He will find
out. He may already know.”

“So send her there to live with him. It would solve our problem of having to house
her.”

“
Neal
, we can’t just kick her out. What would people say?”

“What do I care what people say about what goes on in my own house!” He slammed his
fist onto the desk. “Why not visit the old coot and see what he says? If he doesn’t
invite her to stay, throw her into the street for I all care, she is not our problem.”

“She’s my brother’s fiancée! We can’t just abandon her.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Neal, you can’t mean that. Even if you don’t care…” He eyed her from beneath his
lashes. “Very well, even
though
you don’t care what people say, surely you care about life? You can’t just throw
a young woman on the street knowing what will become of her, even if you don’t like
the lady in question.” Victoria sank into the vacant chair in front of his desk with
a sigh. “What do you have against Grace? As far as I know she hasn’t done anything
to you, has she?”

“You mean apart from the black eye and split lip?” He raised his eyebrow at her.

“Oh you know perfectly well, Neal that she was scared. We were holding her against
her will. Of course she fought back.”

“She has brought disgrace to your family. She is only after your brother’s money!”
Neal pushed back from his desk and walked around to her chair. He trapped her there
by placing his hands on the arm rests. His face was inches to hers, and as his warm
breath fanned her cheeks, her breath caught in her throat; it had been years since
they were this close. “How can
you
not hate her? She has ruined your father’s plan of expanding the estate. Because
of her, Jasper will have to forgo his…”

“He doesn’t want that! Jasper never wanted to marry Lady Anne. He never even wanted
to expand the estate; he only wants to make it better. I think it’s excellent that
Grace has managed to make him think with his heart and not his head for once.”

“It is not his heart he was thinking with,” Neal murmured before angrily pushing away
from his wife and stalking across the room. “God damn it, woman! Can’t you see? Old
Man Lancaster is going to have a fit because of this. And whom do you think he will
blame, Victoria?”

He agitated her so much she couldn’t stay in her chair. Oh, how she wished every conversation
with him didn’t end this way. “And how are we responsible for this, may I ask? You
and I were not there, pushing their lips together so Mrs Barrett could see!” Calmly,
Victoria, calmly. She forced herself to sit back down, fold her hands gently in her
lap (no don’t clench them) and continued softly. “How is it a bad thing that because
she is now engaged to my brother, she will meet a grandfather she doesn’t seem to
even know about?”

As Neal walked back to her chair, her heart quickened.

“I’ll leave it all up to you then,” he said.

She watched in amazement as he abruptly turned from her with clenched fists and walked
from his study, leaving her to stare at the slammed door still quivering in its frame.

Two days later Grace found herself travelling to see her ‘grandfather’. Victoria and
Jasper accompanied her, along with Victoria’s maid, Isabel, in the carriage for the
two-day trip. Victoria claimed they only required one maid for the duration of their
trip which was fortunate as there wasn’t enough room in the carriage for another person.
Grace vowed she would never complain about the temperamental heater in her car again
when she managed to return home. The carriage was freezing! Even covered with two
fur blankets and the warm winter clothing Victoria had bought her, her toes and fingers
were numb and her nose was dripping. Jasper was sitting next to her but he was trying
to keep a respectable distance, so she couldn’t feel much heat coming from him. They’d
stopped for lunch at noon, and the hot food had warmed her from the inside out, but
that was hours ago now. She stubbornly tried to control her shivers. No one else in
the carriage seemed to notice the frigid temperatures even though the fog from their
breath filled the small space.

The carriage slowed and it was with great relief Grace saw a small inn appear on the
right. However once they came to a stop, getting her muscles to work proved difficult
and she was glad to have the assistance of Jasper’s hand as she forced her knees to
bend in order to step down from the carriage.

“Go and stand by the fire, Grace,” Jasper said as he led her inside the Fox Gloves
Inn. They were staying here the night and would travel the rest of the way tomorrow
morning. They could make it all the way to the Lancasters’ Estate tonight, but then
Lord Lancaster would be obligated to put them up and if things didn’t go well…

“Thanks.” Grace’s teeth rattled together as she neared the fire’s warmth, and the
heat of it burned her frozen face. Jasper left her there at the hearth while he went
to talk to the innkeeper. Grace marvelled at his butt in his tight trousers as he
walked away from her.

“I didn’t expect the cold to be quite so bitter,” Victoria said as she joined Grace
in front of the fire. “Maybe we should have waited another day or two.”

Grace tore her gaze from the much too tempting vision and took a closer look at Victoria’s
face; her nose was red and dripping and her eyelashes glittered with moisture. So,
she wasn’t the only one feeling the cold after all. “At least it isn’t snowing. It
could be worse; we could have been lost in a blizzard.”

By the time Jasper returned, Grace was able to feel her toes again and the numbness
was gone from her cheeks.

“I managed to get us a couple of rooms for the night,” he said as soon as he rejoined
them. “We’re in luck, it appears they’re not too busy, even on a night like this,
although you two will have to share a room, I hope that is to your satisfaction? I’ve
also taken the liberty of ordering you ladies a hot bath each. You go up and we’ll
meet in the private dining room for dinner in an hour.”

A bath sounded heavenly. Grace’s mind turned to steamy water and luxurious bubbles.
A moan escaped her lips before she could stop herself. “A bath sounds divine,” she
said a bit breathlessly and saw Jasper’s eyes flick with hot need before she turned
to follow Victoria and the round landlady up the stairway to their room.

It was small, but cosy, a fire roared in the hearth and the baths were being filled.
The chambermaid placed a partition between the two baths so they could both indulge
at the same time and still be able to maintain privacy. The tubs were a far cry from
the one sitting in her bathroom at home, complete with massaging jets, but the water
was steaming and Grace could hardly wait to climb in and thaw herself out. She barely
waited for the maid to pour the last bucket of water before she stripped off and slid
into the water.

“Oh God, it’s hot,” she sighed with pleasure as she lowered herself in. The water,
briefly painful, worked its magic and she forgot to feel guilty for having servants
carry her water up the flight of stairs. The water slowly dissolved the icicles that
had formed inside her, and her mind filled with fog as she relaxed into its warmth.

Victoria hadn’t even taken her gloves off yet, “Goodness, you must be cold.” She reached
in to test the water with her finger. Isabel undressed her and helped her glide down
into the water. “Ah, bliss. You were right; it’s so nice and hot.”

While the ladies enjoyed their baths, Jasper planned on trying to warm up in his room
as well. The fire was going when he entered and there was a pitcher of warm water
ready for him to wash with. Wishing he too could climb into a tub of steamy hot water
he made do with dragging the lone chair in the room right in-front of the fire. He
took his boots off and propped his feet on the grate, being careful not to scorch
his socks, and looked about him. The bed looked clean and comfortable, if a bit on
the small side. There was the chair he was sitting on and the side table that held
the water and that was about it, besides the doors. One door led to the hallway, but
there was another door on the side wall. “I wonder?” he asked himself.

Curiosity overtook the comfort of the fire. He must have a look. The door was not
locked; the handle turned easily in his hand. His palms sweated as he pulled the door
open as though they knew what he was going to find on the other side.

The first thing his eyes located was a smooth, extremely naked leg hanging out of
a bath tub. The breath rushed from his lungs. His sister’s voice came from the other
side of a partition. Relieved it was not his sister’s leg he saw, as his eyes followed
it up to reveal the rest of the body, his hand tightened on the door knob. Grace’s
head leaned back against the tub, her eyes closed with a look of sheer bliss on her
face. His trousers tightened at the thought of putting that look on her face himself.
Her nakedness warmed his body faster than any fire ever could.

Dear God, she was getting out!

Water fell in rivulets down her beautiful body, catching on her nipples before dropping
back into the water below. The fire behind her illuminated the droplets on her skin,
causing her body to glow like an apparition come down from heaven. He grasped the
door frame to stop himself from entering the room.
Jesus
, he hadn’t felt this aroused since his first time with a woman, and he wasn’t sure
if he’d felt this way even then. Jasper knew if his sister hadn’t also been in Grace’s
room he wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation before his eyes.

Isabel came around the partition to help Grace. He drew back into his room so he wasn’t
discovered leering, but he was almost certain Grace looked his way just as he shut
the door.

Dinner was a quiet affair. They were the only ones in the small private dining room
provided by the inn. Grace pushed her food around her plate trying to come to terms
with finding Jasper looking into her eyes as Isabel wrapped the soft, fluffy towel
around her after her bath. Liquid heat had rushed and pooled in her groin making it
almost impossible to continue to stand. Isabel had to help her out of the tub and
she had to sit down, claiming it was the heat of the water that made her feel woozy.
In fact she still felt woozy. She hadn’t told Victoria about Jasper perving through
the door. The way things went around here, she wouldn’t be surprised if she found
herself married to him by morning if anyone found out he’d ‘compromised’ her in such
a way. She still couldn’t get her head around the rules of this bizarre society. How
on earth was it acceptable to marry someone just because they kissed you, or looked
at you naked? God, everyone back home would be married several times over if that
rule still applied in the 21st century.

She found it hard to concentrate on her meal, especially with Jasper seated next to
her. His thigh brushed against hers every now and then, sending shivers up and down
her body.

Because it was just the three of them, they dined informally. Thank God for that,
she still couldn’t figure out where she was supposed to sit at the table, no matter
what chair she sat in, guaranteed it was the wrong one. She felt like Julia Roberts
in
Pretty Woman
when Vivian was trying to learn what fork to use only to find out she was to eat
escargot. It was as though the rug was constantly being pulled out from under her.

By the time she retired for the night, Grace was so agitated she briefly thought if
there was any water still in her bath she would climb in just to cool herself off.
What she wouldn’t give for a cold shower. But alas, she had earlier watched as the
water was emptied and the tubs were carted away.

In her room and tucked up in the warm bed, she couldn’t sleep. The connecting door
seemed to call to her all through the night, until finally she threw off the covers,
checked that her roommate was still asleep, marched over to the door, grasped the
handle and…she couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t bring herself to turn the knob and
pull the door open. She knew where it would lead and although she was horny as hell
she wasn’t ready for the next step, so instead she stood there in the cold room shivering
and swearing under her breath, before taking a huge sigh and climbing back into bed.
She pulled the covers up to her chin, rolled on her side with her back to the damn
door and finally went to sleep.

Jasper struggled with the door between their rooms as well. He knew he needed to stay
away from it…and her. Dinner had been torture. He sat beside her with his leg almost
touching her thigh, in fact he couldn’t help but ‘accidentally’ brush against her
while she ate. He had to wait a good quarter of an hour after Victoria and Grace left
before he could get up from the table without embarrassing himself. Now he lay in
his bed thinking of the damn unlocked door, his erection just as hard as it was at
dinner. It took all his willpower to stay where he was and not sneak into her room
and carry her back in here to his bed and slowly, slowly lift her nightgown to reveal
all of what he saw today. He would trace her skin with his lips and tongue, just to
see if she tasted as sweet…