Lady Lilias and the Devil in Plaid - Julie Johnstone Page 0,50

while as her mind wrestled with that question. Yes, it would be worse. She’d accepted Owen’s proposal. They were to wed. But was it fair to Owen?

“Oh, for the love of God,” she muttered and pressed her fingers to her aching temples. Was she so pathetic that she would twist the truth to suit her desires? She might be. The thought was not a pleasant one. She doubted she’d even see Nash alone ever again. She could see no reason why she would. It wasn’t as if the chances were high that she’d encounter him in the middle of the night leaving a woman’s house ever again. And who was that woman anyway? Tomorrow Lilias would—

No! No! She would not play the sleuth where Nash was concerned. It was none of her business, even if her heart wished otherwise.

Chapter Eight

The next night, Nash hid under the tree outside Lilias’s window and waited. He had a hunch that she was not going to keep her word. It was something in the way she’d so readily agreed to his demand.

Once he’d gotten home and was in his bed with time to think upon his encounter with her, he had concluded several things. First, a lady who had come and gone as she pleased for years because no one was properly watching her would not so easily relinquish her freedom. Second, Lilias undoubtedly knew Owen had been called from Town, so she knew that Nash could not immediately tell Owen her secret as Nash had threatened. And lastly, he had hurt her.

He had heard it in her voice and had seen it on her face last night, and the knowledge was a flowing pain in his veins that also made him question, once again, if her feelings for him had ever run to the depths his did for her. No. No. And yet… The possibility tormented him. He could not stop the thoughts. They burned in his head, consuming him. Considering what might have been if he’d never betrayed his brother, if he had not come perilously close to doing the same to Owen, if Owen did not love her, if Nash was truly the person she thought him to be filled him with an all-consuming, pulsing desire. He shook to battle against it. Perspiration dampened his brow and back, and his jaw ached from his clenched teeth.

All Nash needed to do was keep her safe until Owen returned, and if she tried to sneak out of her house again before that, he’d stop her. He’d attempted to pass the duty to Carrington, but the man had acted indifferent, as if it was perfectly acceptable for Lilias to be galivanting around London at night alone. It infuriated Nash that Carrington did not seem concerned, but what could he do? He could not force Carrington to do anything, so here Nash was.

The first hour passed uneventfully. In the second hour, she appeared at her window, and he watched it slide open. He thought about calling up to her to stop her foolishness, but he didn’t want to chance waking her mother. As much as he thought her mother needed someone to wake her up to what Lilias was doing, Nash could not stand the thought of being the one to cause Lilias problems with her mother. He’d simply have to stand guard here every night until Owen returned to London, and then he was going to have to tell Owen about Lilias’s little adventures so that Owen would demand she stop.

Lilias kicked one leg over her window ledge, giving Nash a view of her creamy flesh. He had to swallow a groan of desire. She sent her other leg over, and then the little hellion started down the tree, shimmying her body, which moved her hips in a way that made him think of how she might move them if he were on top of her, entering her. He hardened instantly.

He let her descend almost to the bottom before he spoke. “I said to stay home.”

She stilled, gasped, and looked over her shoulder at him. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

He ignored that obvious question. “I vow it,” he said instead, mimicking the oath she’d falsely given him last night. Then he snorted. “You force me into a position where I have no choice but to tell Owen.”

“Fine,” she growled, then surprised him by dropping very nimbly to the ground. She landed with barely a thud, which told him Lilias had descended this