ale. “Brother, come. This anger toward our parents grows tedious and immature. You against them, they against you. A constant battle of stubborn wills. Why not just enjoy the day?”
I raked my hair back from my forehead. He was calling me immature? Hell and damnation, perhaps it was time to rethink my life.
“She told her friends about my engagement before I’d asked the woman,” I growled. “Before I’d even decided to marry her.”
He crossed his arms, his gaze sliding to Tessie’s lovely cleavage. “Well, yes, but surely you were planning to anyway…”
I stared hard at my brother. Was he still fucking Miranda? Escorting Ginny to the ball those months ago had done nothing to dissuade my mother, nor Miranda, of their goal to combine our families. If anything, Miranda had been even more tenacious.
But I’d known, hadn’t I? I’d known what I was doing by escorting her to that ball. Ginny could never fit into my world, and I wouldn’t give up what I had worked so hard for.
“After all,” Chris continued. “As you implied, one pale English rose is as good as the next.”
The wench in my lap wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her breasts into my chest as she whispered sweet words. So why didn’t I ignore Christopher, scoop Tessie up into my arms, and take her upstairs? “Yes, but I never thought to marry the same woman my brother had fucked.”
Tessie went still in my arms. I’d even managed to surprise Chris.
I quirked a brow, waiting for his response, his denial, anything.
“That…that,” he blustered. “Was in the past. Surely you won’t hold it against us. We were young fools. Had enjoyed a little too much wine, and she was trying to make you jealous.”
Interesting, he’d decided to admit the truth, when he so rarely did. Then again, was he being completely honest? Was their relationship in the past?
“My room?” Tessie pouted, twirling a dark lock around her finger. It wasn’t as silky, as thick as Ginny’s. Her facial features weren’t quite right. Her body not as curvy. Her scent not…
Damnation.
Why, after close to a year, was I still obsessed with her? Because Chris, curse his wretched soul, had made me think about a woman I’d done my damnest to forget.
A group of farmers entered the pub, bringing with a gust of cold wind. The fire behind me crackled and hissed, sputtering in indignation. I pulled the pocket watch from my vest, and shoved thoughts of Ginny aside. The hour grew late.
“I can make you forget your troubles,” Tessie whispered in my ear.
I replaced the watch. “Later, Tessie. I have an appointment.”
My brother stared directly at me, not bothering to hide his curiosity. I had a mind to ask for a paper and pen so that he might take notes on my actions. No doubt my parents had sent him.
Tessie pouted as she jumped from my lap, leaving behind her rose scent. “Soon then.”
I couldn’t help but watch her go as she sauntered toward the bar. Damnation, but I would like to forget for a while between her lovely thighs. The woman might have been merely a bar wench, but she had talent in bed, as I’d discovered last month. Holding out for a farmer down the lane, she’d told me that night. Not that I’d asked. I wondered if her farmer knew how many men she’d slept with while waiting for him to come to his senses. Would it bother him if he uncovered the truth? Would it bother me if I found Ginny the mistress to another man?
“Please tell me you aren’t still fawning over that Landcaster maid,” Chris interrupted my thoughts.
Annoyed, my hands fisted on the tabletop. There were too many times when my brother over-stepped lately. “I don’t fawn over anyone. And how the hell do you know she worked for Landcaster?”
He snorted. Tessie returned, placing a mug on the table in front of Chris. She gave him a seductive grin, then sauntered away once more. She was already looking for her next easy prey. “He might have mentioned it, after I said I’d spotted you groping the girl during his ball.”
Hell. Had Landcaster been the one to tell the housekeeper? Was he the reason Ginny had been fired?
“Why not just set her up as your mistress?”
Why indeed? Because deep down I’d known having her as my mistress wouldn’t have been enough. Not enough for Ginny, and not enough for me.
“It’s irrelevant,” Chris said. “Let’s talk about something new. Why I’m here…”