A Scandalous Portrait (The Rose Room Rogues #1) - Callie Hutton Page 0,32

sound of an uprising at Newgate. “Hunt, I have to get out of here. I can’t breathe.”

“Come.” He moved her forward and the crowd began to divide. “My fiancée and I have had enough celebration for one evening. If you will excuse us.”

Before anyone could recover enough to stop them, they made their way through the group. Hunt directed Diana past the ballroom, which amazingly enough still held quite a few people, and into a small drawing room that he’d noticed before had a French door to the patio.

Diana took a deep breath of the fresh air from the garden which helped to fade the black dots in her eyes. Then she began to shiver, the chill coming from deep inside. Hunt removed his jacket and placed it gently over her shoulders.

“Thank you.” It warmed her both inside and out. The light scent of bay rum emanated from the jacket, reminding her that this time she was not alone in disaster. No, somehow she had managed to drag her life-long rescuer into her mess.

She stared out over the shrubbery, her thoughts so convoluted she was starting to feel the beginning of a megrim. Best to get this over with before the headache hit her full force and she had to go to bed. She took a deep breath. “I appreciate you attempting to save me once again, Hunt, but you do realize we cannot marry. Not each other, anyway.”

He studied her for a minute. “There is no choice here, Diana.”

“There are always choices. Admit it. You would never marry me unless you were forced.”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “That’s not true.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please. I thought I could at least count on honesty from you.”

“I am being honest.” He pulled her into his arms, his eyes boring into her, making parts of her body she generally ignored come to life. “I must admit I can’t stop thinking about taking you to my bed ever since I saw that portrait.”

Despite the arousal his words were doing to her insides, Diana glared at him. “I will dismiss for now my request that you not look at the portrait and point out that lust is not a reason for marriage.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Is that what you were taught in the schoolroom? Perhaps marriages of convenience or forced marriages might not be for lust only, but otherwise I am sure most grooms lust after their brides.”

She pulled away from him, giving herself some space. She couldn’t think when he was close like that. “Hunt. This is a forced marriage. Or should I say it would be a forced marriage if we went through with it.”

“Diana, we cannot not go through with it. You will be ruined.”

She waved her hand. “I’ve been ruined like this before and survived.”

“I would hardly call running off to Italy for a year surviving. If you refuse my offer of marriage it will be the second time that happened. There will be no recovering from it this time.”

They both remained silent for several moments. Then Hunt said, “This is my fault anyway.”

Diana’s brows rose. “How did you come to that conclusion since I followed you into the library? And it was a note supposedly from me that drew you there.”

Hunt shook his head. “You saved me from potential hell. If you hadn’t followed me into the library, it would be Lady Eunice and me having this conversation right now.” He shuddered. “I can’t imagine the horror of being tied to her for the rest of my life.”

Diana smirked. “Yet you can imagine being tied to Lady Trouble for the rest of your life?”

He frowned. “Where did you hear that?”

She walked away from him and wrapped her arms around herself trying to sort out this newest muddle. She couldn’t think when he was near. “Oh, come now, Hunt. Certainly you don’t think that such a moniker has slipped by me?” She waved him off. “I’ve known about that for ages.”

Hunt drew himself up, a bit of arrogance and, surprisingly, a bit of uncertainty in his visage. “Perhaps you don’t wish to marry me.”

Had he asked that question a few weeks ago she would have easily said, No I don’t want to marry you. We would never suit. He’d been no more than her friend, confidant and savior all her life.

Until recently.

Then everything seemed to change, and she found herself thinking about him in ways she never had before. She considered how it would feel