The Problem with Seduction - By Emma Locke Page 0,61

he could no longer delude himself into believing he was anything more significant than the dreaded bauble on her arm.

He’d always considered himself a man about town. He wasn’t universally known like Montborne, or well-respected like Bart, or feared like Antony. He didn’t have the wild reputation of his twin. But he was known. He’d always liked his distinction as the perfectly normal Alexander brother, in fact.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was recognized by all. Even straitlaced Lady Gantry, riding high and mighty on a prime piece of flesh, knew Elizabeth by sight well enough to turn her long beak of a nose and her horse in the opposite direction.

And as Mr. Tewseybury and Lord Scotherby approached, they didn’t give any indication they’d even seen Con.

“Miss Spencer,” Tewseybury intoned as he took her hand and pulled her right out of Con’s grip, “it’s been far too long. What on earth has kept you hidden? And don’t tell me it’s none of my business.”

Hearing her called Miss Spencer grated on Con’s nerves. She was Lady Elizabeth. Or had everyone forgotten?

Her laughter would have irritated him, too, if he didn’t catch the slightly strained note to it. “You must think me dimwitted if you believe I’ll fall for that, Tewsey. You, not know every morsel of gossip about one of your favorite girls?”

Mr. Tewseybury chuckled. Then he sent Con a furious look so fleeting, only the two men seemed aware of it.

Lord Scotherby elbowed Tewseybury in the arm hard enough to jostle him to the side. He deftly slipped into Tewseybury’s place. “Miss Spencer, allow me to apologize for my buffoon of a friend. But of course we know why we’ve missed you.” He, too, shot Con an evil eye. “What we don’t know is when we’ll have the pleasure of a night with you again.”

Con took a menacing step forward but stopped his advance when she placed her hand on his arm.

She patted his forearm patronizingly as she addressed the interlopers. “You must be clear when you address me, my friends. Lord Constantine will think you mean something wholly inappropriate. I wouldn’t fault him for defending my honor.” She bestowed a worshipful smile on Con. “He’s been nothing but kind to me.”

Her public adulation should have made Con feel better. Instead, he felt lacking. He should be the one to defend her, not the other way around.

“But of course I meant—” Scotherby stopped when Tewseybury got a good jab at his ribs. “Pardon my vulgarity, Lord Constantine. And my piss-poor observational skills. I was blinded by the beauty before me.” He gave Con another blazing scowl. “Hyperbole aside, we will be looking for you at every engagement. Our set is unconscionably bored. We have only youth and inexperience to entertain us, without you and Celeste to grace us with your wit.”

“You’ve left us at Mariah’s mercy,” Tewseybury said with a shudder.

“That’s what you’ve done, Miss Spencer,” Scotherby agreed. “New girls have their momentary appeal, but at our age, a man prefers a woman with a little substance to her chatter.”

“Or no prattle at all,” Tewseybury joked.

Elizabeth chuckled. Con couldn’t be more disgusted by the subject. He didn’t even try to hide his revulsion.

Thankfully, she didn’t encourage the lummoxes further.

Tewseybury looked from her placid smile to Con’s dark glower then back to Elizabeth. His head shook ever so slightly and he sighed. “Ho, there, Scoth, I see Jessica. You will excuse us, won’t you, Miss Spencer?” He bowed and blinked soulful eyes at her before tapping the brim of his hat. “Let’s be on with it, then.”

A lungful of air hissed from Con’s lungs when the men finally took themselves off. He’d never felt so tightly sprung in his entire life.

Elizabeth’s slanting glance revealed nothing of her reaction. Frustratingly. She went to Oliver in Mrs. Dalton’s arms and clucked over him for a moment, then returned to Con’s side to continue their walk.

“You’re all the rage,” he said abruptly when they’d gone about a dozen feet. It wasn’t an accusation. Not quite. He’d known she was sought-after. He just hadn’t realized how invisible it would make him feel. As if he were a well-compensated human shield that she’d placed between herself and the father of her child.

Montborne wouldn’t have felt that way, or really, any of his brothers. Any other Alexander would have brought along his own consequence.

Con was overwhelmed by her fame. “You’re beautiful, I’ll grant you that, but many women are. Why do men nearly come to blows to gain