A Scandalous Portrait (The Rose Room Rogues #1) - Callie Hutton Page 0,61
from you seeing it.”
“So, instead, the male population of the ton got to see it.” She paused for a moment. “If you had only burned it like I asked. . .” She sighed and turned her head to look out at the darkness. “Why didn’t you demand they take it down?”
“Because, once I began to make demands, Driscoll and Dante started to look at me strangely. I did not want them to figure out it was you.”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Oh, God, no!”
The carriage rolled to a stop in front of their townhouse. Hunt dismissed the driver back to The Rose Room and escorted Diana into the house.
“Good evening, my lord, my lady.” Peters bowed as they entered.
“Good evening Peters,” Diana said with a smile. “Will you please have tea and a light repast sent up to our bedchamber?” As they climbed the stairs, she said, “I have the beginnings of a headache, and tea and a little food oftentimes helps.”
Once they were in Hunt’s bedchamber behind closed doors, Diana pulled off her gloves, dropped them onto the dressing table, and sat on the bed. “I had great plans to have you groveling at my feet, you know.”
“I deserve it, sweetheart. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you. And yes, you can trust me.” He walked to where she sat and took her hands, kneeling in front of her.
She smirked. “Is this the grovel?”
“Whatever you want from me to make it up to you, I will do.” He kissed her knuckles. “I don’t want to lose you, Diana. I love you and have probably always loved you.”
Her brows rose. “You thought me a nuisance your whole life.”
“No. I’ve been doing some serious thinking, and I realize the reason I kept pushing you away was because I was scared. A marriage to you will not be the calm, very boring one I had imagined all my life.”
She shook her head with a slight laugh. “No, Hunt. No one has ever accused me of being boring.” She leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. “I love you too, even though you are a cad.”
He climbed up alongside her just as a tap on the door announced the arrival of their tea. Hunt hopped up and allowed Peters to enter with a tray. The butler placed the tea and small sandwiches on the table, bowed, and offered Hunt a wink.
Hunt pulled Diana up from the bed. “Come, my love. Let’s eat and then go to bed. It’s been a long day.”
Diana walked with him to the comfortable chair in front of the fire. “One thing as yet we have to decide on.”
“What’s that?” Hunt said as he poured tea for them both.
She stirred her tea and took a sip. “When are we going to break into The Rose Room and steal the portrait?”
23
Again, Hunt found himself dressed in all black to steal the same damn portrait. Only this time, like Melrose’s house, Diana would be right beside him. He had a feeling she insisted on coming along to assure herself that the blasted thing was burned.
“These trousers are much too big.” Diana entered his bedchamber from the sitting room between their rooms, her hands clutching the gathered waistline. “I’ll need something to hold them up.”
One look at her fine figure outlined by the trousers was enough for him to want to forget the plan and take her to bed. “I have a pair of braces you may use.” He walked to the dresser and pulled out a pair. “Here, try this.”
She grinned and held them up, dangling from her fingers. “Um, what do I do with these?”
Hunt took them from her hand. Who would have known he would have to act as valet for his wife? But then again, he played lady’s maid to her on their honeymoon. He quickly fastened them then placed his hands on her shoulders and studied her, his eyes eating up all her curves. “You will never pass for a man, if that is your intended ploy.”
She shook her head. “No. I just don’t think a dress would be convenient attire for thievery.”
It was close to four in the morning and, since The Rose Room closed at three, they were allowing time for the last of the gamers to leave and his brothers to indulge in their nightly wind-down brandies in the office. By the time he and Diana arrived, all should be quiet and empty.