Free The Midnight Rake by Anabelle Bryant Page A

realize you have only requested an escort, but were you to tell me the gentleman’s name I could help with expediency.”
    Indecision forced the butterflies in her stomach into a panicked flutter. She strove to keep her courage intact and breech the uncomfortable silence. “I wouldn’t want you or your mother to feel any type of involvement on my behalf. You have already shown me great generosity.”
    Sensing his disappointment, she focused on the domino lying beside him. His fingers worked idly at the edge of the mask, his skillful movements manipulating the ribbon in a repeated pattern. His hands, large and powerful, exuded a sense of control and she exhaled with calm. Transfixed, she watched his fingers bend, then smooth, the thin ribbon in a repeated motion. How might it feel were those same fingers tilting her chin to capture a kiss? Or intertwined in hers as they shared a waltz? Good lord, she was every kind of fool. Having once risked her heart with disastrous results, why could she not learn to be more prudent?
    Upset she may have spoiled the evening before they’d arrived, Penelope fumbled for any explanation he would accept. “I’m sorry I cannot explain further. It’s a private matter and as such, is imperative I find and speak to him alone.”
    “Then you leave me no choice.” He turned to her with a serious look, his face half lit by the lantern, handsome and unwavering in the fractured light. “I will shadow you, protect you and keep you under my watchful eye until this business of yours is concluded.”
    His statement pre-empted argument and she wondered at his protective attitude. Did she imagine his tone implied something beyond friendship? The niggling thought refused to sit right. Wasn’t this how she found disaster the first time? By not seeing things clearly?
    The carriage pulled to a stop interrupting her muddled considerations and Penelope promptly exited, grasping Phin’s arm as he led her away from the drive and down the candlelit walkway. She almost stumbled when he stopped without warning, his purposeful strides veering them off the path and behind a tall hedgerow.
    “Phineas?” Her voice dropped to a whisper, as if they played a child’s game.
    Without a word, he positioned her gently, his fingers embracing her bare shoulders and with a twist, she no longer faced him. Then he slipped from her grasp the mask she’d long forgotten, bringing it over her head while he deftly sorted the ribbon ties.
    “It won’t do for us to walk inside without our disguises in place.”
    Although his words rushed past her ear, his fingers stalled in motion. Two of the ribbons fell and brushed against her shoulders. Phineas fumbled to recapture them, his knuckles sweeping across her cheekbone in an unexpected caress. Then he shifted position, and muttered something under his breath.
    After a motionless minute, she could no longer contain her giggle. “The mask is slipping.” Her cheeky smile buoyed it into place. If only she could see his face and understand what he was thinking.
    Instead standing in the intimate shadows, she heard him mumble words undecipherable as his fingers tightened the knots. After a rough sounding exhale, he stepped away busy with his own disguise, his body slanted from her view. They followed the slate path together and found themselves in the ballroom trailing an endless receiving line. There was nothing to do but wait, although the momentary delay offered the perfect opportunity to absorb the lavish decorations and opulent splendor surrounding them.
    Brilliant crystal chandeliers, glistening with candlelight and shimmering reflection hung from the ceiling amidst streamers and bowers strewn with orchids. Servants, bedecked in their finest livery and laden with trays of sparkling wine, mingled through a crowd composed of pirates, shepherdesses and assorted wild animals, the masks perfectly matched to silk and satin formal attire in every color of the spectrum. Lively music