Tall, Duke, and Dangerous (Hazards of Dukes #2) - Megan Frampton Page 0,62

do I need to learn?”

Chapter Fifteen

“So we’re decided,” Ana Maria said. “The magenta for the main wall, the dark blue for the others.”

Octavia nodded as she looked down at the fabric samples laid on top of one of the green gaming tables. “You have an excellent eye, I never would have thought of putting those two colors together, but they work perfectly.”

Ana Maria smiled in response. “And then we will re-cover the chairs in that purple later on.”

“When we can afford it,” Octavia said with a grimace. “The club is still doing well, but Ivy is so conservative with money.” She gave an exasperated sigh. “I wish she would just leave everything to me—she could spend more time with Sebastian, but she just can’t seem to let go.”

“I suppose she enjoys having a purpose.”

“Besides kissing your brother?” Octavia said with a sly grin.

Ana Maria made a face. “I do not want to think of my brother doing that, even though I know he does.”

“She does like working, I know that. I believe Sebastian presented her with some sort of option that would require her leaving the club, but she said no.”

Being able to say no to something like that—that was what she wanted. That was what she was going to take.

As long as she could also say yes.

“And what now?” Octavia said, interrupting her decidedly inappropriate thoughts. “The Duke of Malvern’s house?” Her eyebrows rose.

Ana Maria’s cheeks flushed. “Not today, although—”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Octavia interrupted, holding her hand up. “You don’t have to, it’s all over your face.”

“He is teaching me self-defense,” Ana Maria said. Defensively.

“And he’s still teaching you other things, judging by your blush.” Octavia folded her arms over her chest and regarded her friend with a skeptical expression. “I want you to blush for all the right reasons. Just—be careful.”

“Of course I will.” It was an automatic response, one borne out of always agreeing with the other person. Something she needed to stop. “But why be careful?”

Octavia shrugged. “I’ve heard he is on the market for a bride, and I did not hear your name mentioned.”

Ana Maria’s stomach twisted. “Let me guess—Lady Felicity?”

Octavia nodded. “Yes—we have a betting book in the club, and right now she’s at 2–1 odds to land him.”

“People bet on that kind of thing?” Ana Maria said, appalled.

Octavia laughed. “People will bet on all kinds of things. Miss Ivy’s just facilitates their foolishness.”

“I’ll be careful, I promise.” Her eyes widened as she had a thought. “Is there a betting book on my marriage?”

Octavia winced. “Uh—yes, actually.”

“Tell me.”

Octavia shook her head. “You do not want to know. Just let me tell you that your self-defense instructor is at very long odds.”

Oh. So even random gamblers thought it was a long shot.

Not that she wanted to marry him, of course, since he was so firm in his resolve not to marry her. And a host of other inarticulate annoyingly irritating reasons. But she didn’t want to seem to be not wanted.

Because that was how she’d spent the first twenty-seven years of her life, except for Sebastian, Thaddeus, and—him.

“Instead of waiting until your next . . . lesson,” Octavia said with a wink, clearly changing the subject, “why don’t you come here this evening when we are open so you can take a risk yourself?”

Risks, lessons, and commands, Ana Maria thought in satisfaction as she left Miss Ivy’s clutching her fabric samples.

She was going to do what she wanted, regardless of anyone else.

She was not doing what she wanted.

The afternoon was perfect—it was the rarest of days in London, temperate, sunny, with just a slight breeze.

The horses were, as Lord Brunley had promised, attractive in their equine way. Not that Ana Maria had the slightest idea of what made for an attractive horse, but she did smile when she saw their long faces.

She’d worn a new afternoon dress that made her especially happy—it was pale blue, the color of the sky right now, with sprigs of tiny flowers all over the skirt. She had a shawl in a complementary blue shade, and her bonnet was festooned with blue ribbons.

If she weren’t seated next to Lord Brunley, she would be doing precisely what she wanted.

She made a mental reminder to ask Thaddeus about purchasing a carriage suitable for her to take out on her own.

“Did my flowers arrive?” Lord Brunley asked as he and Ana Maria nodded to the other couples currently driving in the park.

“I’m certain they did,” Ana Maria replied. “I got