Free To Tame a Highland Earl by Tarah Scott

way to the door.
Eve waited while he checked the hallway, then he grasped her hand
and didn’t bother to close the door, but strode down the corridor
back toward the ballroom. Thankfully, they didn’t encounter anyone
and, when they passed the refreshments room, Lord Rushton
immediately turned back and led her inside.
    He didn’t ask, but placed her in a chair and
left her to go to the refreshment’s table. As he picked up two
glasses at the table, a woman sidled up alongside him and brushed
her hip against his. Eve stared. Good Lord, had the woman actually
rubbed against him? He didn’t react, and for an instant Eve thought
she was mistaken. Then he turned and said something to the woman
Eve couldn’t hear. The woman’s gaze cut to Eve and her cheeks
flushed. She yanked her eyes back to him, chin high, and replied.
The woman spoke so low, Eve waged no one could hear her, but the
flash of anger in her eyes made plain the set down she intended to
serve up.
    Lord Rushton’s brows shot up in amusement and
the woman’s hand balled into a fist at her side. Lord Adkins neared
them and she jerked her gaze onto him. She broke into a sudden
dazzling smile, and Eve realized it was a ploy to distract him from
her flash of anger. Lord Adkins fell straight into her trap and
bowed over her hand with a flourish. Her eyes caught on Eve,
narrowed, then shifted back onto Lord Adkins as he
straightened.
    “ She looks as if she would
like to scratch his eyes out, does she not?”
    Eve started at the female voice beside her
and swung her gaze onto Lady Dorothy Benson. “I beg your
pardon?”
    Lady Benson sat on the chair beside hers. “No
need to pretend you didn’t see her little tantrum.” Her gaze
shifted in the direction of the group. “Louisa does not respond
well when a man rebuffs her.”
    “ I do not know her,” Eve
said.
    “ It is no loss.” She
paused, then added, “He is a fine specimen of masculinity.” Lady
Benson looked at her. “And you are to marry him.”
    Eve stiffened. This was the one thing she had
hoped to avoid tonight: direct confrontation with one of Lord
Rushton’s lovers. Eve glanced at Lord Rushton, but his attention
remained on Lord Adkins.
    “ You have no cause to be
jealous,” Lady Benson said.
    “ I am not jealous,” Eve
blurted.
    Amusement danced in her eyes, but she said in
an amiable tone, “You are wise.”
    Yes, Eve thought. Wise. For if she allowed
herself to worry about his lovers, she would worry all day—every
day.
    “ Louisa simply couldn’t
enjoy her good luck while it lasted,” Lady Benson said. “She got
greedy.”
    “ Greedy?” Eve
said.
    “ Yes. She thought she could
trap Lord Rushton into marriage.” Eve stiffened and Lady Benson
lifted her brows. “Oh, you are under the impression I think you
trapped him. No. Unlike those who thrive on turning every piece of
gossip against a lady, I find the truth much more
interesting.”
    She paused and Eve realized she was waiting
in hopes of hearing more. Eve thanked heaven that Grace’s deception
hadn’t come to light, then realized she might turn this
conversation to her advantage.
    “ A case of mistaken
identity,” she said.
    Lady Benton’s gaze sharpened. “He mistook you
for your sister.” Eve didn’t reply, letting silence condemn, and
Lady Benton gave a little laugh. “Forgive me for saying so, Miss
Crenshaw, while your sister is perfectly lovely, Erroll would never
have married her.”
    Eve stiffened. “I beg your pardon?”
    “ Do you honestly think she
would have held his attention?”
    “ You know very little of
Grace, my lady—nothing, I daresay.”
    “ You may be right, but I
know a great deal about him.” She nodded toward Lord
Rushton.
    “ Indeed?” Eve said, and the
lady laughed again.
    “ You have no cause to be
jealous of me, Miss Crenshaw. Unlike Louisa, I know how to enjoy a
man—especially a man who enjoys pleasing a woman—and I never make
the cardinal mistake of asking for more than