Free Always a Princess by Alice Gaines Page A

brown eyes on a level with her own, thanks to the stool. He studied her, his nostrils flaring slightly, like a predator scenting his prey. “Very beautiful.”
    Behind him, Sadie let out a delighted chuckle. “I meant the dress.”
    “Ah, yes.” He glanced down at it. Eve covered her bosom with trembling fingers and felt her heart flutter. She’d been closer to him. She’d even kissed him, but he’d never subjected her to scrutiny like this.
    “Well done,” he said finally, slowly.
    “She picked the silk herself,” Sadie said. “Good choice, if you ask me.”
    He smiled at Eve—a genuine expression that lent warmth to his features, especially the deep brown of his eyes. “Very well done, indeed. I hope Sadie’s been treating you well.”
    “She has.” Eve lowered her eyes and her voice. “I’m glad she was the one who has waited on me. Madame LeGrand herself might have been too much for me to face.”
    He laughed outright at that. “Sadie didn’t tell you?”
    “Tell me what?”
    “Sadie is Madame LeGrand.” He held out his hand, and Sadie stepped up to his side and allowed him to drape his arm over her plump shoulder.
    “You?” Eve asked, looking down into the woman’s face.
    “Mais oui, mademoiselle,” Sadie said, in perfectly ridiculous French. “I am, how you say, the dressmaikerre to royaltee.”
    “How did you know that?” Eve demanded of Lord Wesley.
    “Sadie here’s been my mother’s dressmaker for years. Mother doesn’t care to know about anything but dresses, but I recognized Sadie for a faker the moment I saw her.”
    “’e ’as a good eye, this one,” Sadie declared.
    Eve didn’t say anything, as Lord Wesley had already proven his good eye to her, the scoundrel.
    “Leave us alone for a moment, won’t you, Sadie?” he said.
    “Right enough. I’ve plenty to do out front.”
    Before Eve could object, Sadie slipped out from under Lord Wesley’s arm and exited the fitting room, leaving Eve face-to-face with him. Close enough to see the golden flecks in those eyes.
    “How did you know when I’d be here?” she asked.
    “I didn’t. Sadie sent word around just after you arrived.”
    “So you’ve both been in on the little game.”
    “A gamester like you can’t object to a little fun.”
    She ought to. She ought to get down off the stool and order him from the room so that she could get back into her own clothes. But somehow the smile on his lips and the warmth in his eyes were too tempting to send away just yet. “So, why did you come?”
    “I wanted to see you again, and not in some depressing place like St. Giles.”
    “That’s my home.”
    “I’d still like to know why,” he said.
    “And I’m still not going to tell you.”
    He sighed. “Very well, as you wish.”
    He reached into his pocket and withdrew a box that was covered with satin. It was the sort of box that usually contained jewelry—expensive jewelry. He opened it and took out a single earring that looked to be an emerald pendant. He lifted it to her ear, the backs of his fingers brushing the skin of her throat in the process. She ought to tell him to keep his hands away from her, but settled for merely holding still instead. Or as still as she could manage. He let his hand linger for several seconds, while her heart did a little jig in her chest.
    “Yes, these will do nicely,” he said as he replaced the earring in the box and handed the whole to her.
    “What’s this?”
    “I should think that would be obvious.”
    “Where did you get them?” she demanded.
    “I bought them. I could hardly loan you some of my mother’s jewelry, she’d recognize it at the ball.”
    “Your mother is going to the ball?” Eve said.
    “Nothing could keep her away. Not even my father.”
    “Will she be coming to St. Giles to meet me at the church?”
    “Good God, no,” he said. “They’ll be attending with friends.”
    “Well, thank heaven for that.” She picked up his hand and shoved the jewelry