The Problem with Seduction - By Emma Locke Page 0,59

lip glistened with drool.

Con drew out a kerchief and knelt to swipe the baby spittle away. “There now, that’s much better.” He set his elbow on his knee and looked up. Elizabeth’s longing expression tightened around his gut like a fist. Why was she looking at him like that?

“He’s been trying,” she said slowly as Con rose, “but he could only flail against the carpet. That was quite adorable, though I did feel his frustration.” Her uncomfortably intimate expression was replaced by wry amusement. “Now I feel sorry for Mrs. Dalton and me. Next he’ll learn to sit up, and crawl soon after that.” She sighed contentedly.

Oliver made a wobbly reach for Con’s shiny Hessians. He leaned forward too far and caught himself with one hand before he fell onto his face. His mouth opened and closed against the carpet like a fish as he blinked up at Con. “Gah. Gah!”

“Good morning to you, too, little man. But you don’t look ready to meet my mother, so I suggest you apply your energy to a different pursuit.”

Elizabeth shook herself a bit, as if she’d been in a trance. “Oh! I’d entirely forgotten. Heavens, I’m late. Does this really need to happen today?”

Con staved off a flutter of annoyance. “Yes. She’s been looking forward to it and besides, this was a commitment. I took you at your word.” He felt bad enough about pulling the wool over his mother’s eyes without disappointing her today, too.

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. “If I were a man, I would slap my glove across your cheek for your tone.”

Ah, he had been a bit sharp. Con grinned. “If you were a man, you’d be ready to leave.”

“Huh!” She shook out her skirt. “Isn’t this frock good enough for stepping out?”

“To the contrary, I think you look lovely. But do you want to meet my mother in that gown?”

She looked momentarily nonplussed. “I thought I wasn’t going to meet your mother.”

“Oh,” fell out of his mouth before he could stop himself. It hung there between them: the honest, unvarnished truth. He’d almost forgotten. How had their arrangement become so natural to him that he’d misplaced the fact that she was a courtesan?

She paled. “I’ll freshen up.”

Taking command was an odd feeling for Con, yet one he was coming to like and growing accustomed to. “Mrs. Dalton, please ready the young master for his excursion while your mistress sees to her toilette. We’re already dreadfully late, so your timeliness is appreciated.”

Elizabeth made a small peep of protest then visibly, she attempted to contain her objection to that one squeaked syllable. She appeared stricken. She hated the idea of him taking her baby. He tried not to feel offended, tried to put himself in her place. The last man to take her baby had stolen him. Was it any surprise she didn’t trust him?

Then again, maybe she did…just a little. He’d finally managed to get her to agree to this excursion. Could it be that little by little, he was earning her faith? Did she want to trust him, but was afraid?

The idea of her coming to depend on him placed so much pressure on his shoulders that he turned to the door. He wasn’t needed while they readied themselves. He’d retire to the drawing room, have a stiff drink, and try not to play out the scene about to unfold in his mother’s sitting room.

He’d feel more comfortable if he could bring Elizabeth along, for he wasn’t at all ready to manage Oliver on his own, but that was obviously out of the question. Even if he was willing to ruin his own reputation, he could hardly take it upon himself to skewer that of his brothers and his own mother. He’d never risk his mother’s social standing just because he’d feel more comfortable with Elizabeth at his side. Ruining his own life was one thing, but he refused to ruin anyone else’s.

He felt better grounded by the time Elizabeth breezed into the drawing room with Mrs. Dalton behind her. The latter carried a pristinely wrapped Oliver.

Elizabeth stopped just short of him and dared him to disrupt the confidence she’d apparently armed herself with. “We’re ready to depart, my lord. I trust you weren’t bored in our absence?”

He wasn’t about to admit he’d done nothing but think of her and the complicated yet welcome disruption to his life she presented. “Not at all. Let’s kick on, then. It’s a bit of a walk.” He looked at both women, neither