Free Regency: Rakes & Reputations (Mills & Boon M&B) by Dorothy Elbury, Gail Ranstrom Page A

always been quite this…social? Or is this a new habit?”
    He laughed. “You have me there, although I do tend to be more social than my brothers. And, when there is something to interest me, I am positively unshakable.”
    “Hmm. So then am I to gather that you are testing the boundaries of our truce? Or are you sweet on someone here?”
    “Both, if I am to be honest. And, since it is my fate to dote upon someone who hates me, if you refuse me I shall be quite inconsolable.”
    He led her into the strains of a waltz and Gina sighed. She was glad he had saved their dance for last. Oh, she had dreaded it, and had even tried to avoid it, but now that the inevitable had happened, she found her excitement rising. James Hunter always made her feel as if she were about to embark on an exciting adventure.
    “So thoughtful, Miss O’Rourke? Or are you anxious to return to your friends?”
    “They are quite diverting,” she allowed, but she was more concerned with keeping him away from Miss Race. If he made the connection between the girl and the Brotherhood, hewould instantly know what she was doing. And yet, she could not help but ask, “Had you not met Miss Race before?”
    A brief look of uncertainty passed over his features. “I had not had that pleasure. I must say she is quite lovely. I find it difficult to believe I managed to miss her before.”
    “Connoisseur of lovely women that you are?”
    He laughed and swung her in a wide circle. “Are you calling me conceited, Miss O’Rourke?”
    “Heaven forbid! Fickle, perhaps …”
    “For what it is worth, I rank you among the loveliest to grace the ton, Miss O’Rourke. And by my reckoning, you are generating a good deal of interest.”
    The hair raised on the back of Gina’s neck. She had felt the stares, but she suspected they were for a different reason, and likely from men who had seen her naked on a stone altar. And interest was not what she wanted to generate. She’d rather blend into the background—the better to overhear snippets of conversation that could be of help to her.
    “There is that look again,” Mr. Hunter said. “The one that tells me I’ve said something wrong.”
    “Not wrong, Mr. Hunter. It is just that…well, I do not want to generate interest.”
    “Then why have you come out in society?”
    “I…I thought I should experience London before returning to Ireland.”
    His eyes narrowed and he drew her off the dance floor. “That is a bare-faced lie, Miss O’Rourke. It was a lie the first time you told it, and it is now. I would hazard you have experienced more than enough of London.”
    She gasped at his sudden fierceness. “The wrong London. I wanted to take a happier memory home with me.”
    He took her hand and led her into the famed Albermarle gardens among dozens of strolling couples. Still, it was moreprivate than the ballroom. He found them a bench surrounded by sculpted evergreens and gestured for her to sit. As much as she would have liked to return to the ballroom, she followed his direction.
    “Now, Miss O’Rourke,” he began as he stood in front of her, one foot propped on the bench next to her hip, as if to keep her from bolting. “I know you are up to something. Do not bother to deny it.”
    “Really, sir. I needn’t explain myself to you.”
    “You are going to explain to someone. Me or Andrew. Or better yet, your mother.”
    Gina shuddered. Her mother would have hysterics followed by locking Gina in her room until their return to Ireland. “I’ve told you the truth before. I am tired of hiding in fear. I will not live the rest of my life locked away or shunning society. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
    “Apart from sneaking out and joining in fast company to go places no decently brought-up young woman should ever go? Apart from keeping company with the likes of Henley? Apart, even, from nearly getting yourself killed?”
    She had underestimated his anger. And he had misjudged hers. He had backed her into a