The Wallflower Wager - Tessa Dare Page 0,37
But then we wouldn’t have had a single clean article of clothing between us.”
They lay on their backs, staring up at the ceiling. As their breathing eased, an awkward silence fell over them both.
When two people were in love, or at least true lovers, Penny supposed they would spend this time cuddling and settling in for a good, deep sleep. But she and Gabriel weren’t in love, and despite what had just happened, they weren’t truly lovers. They were neighbors with little in common, save for a shared interest in not being neighbors anymore. What were the rules for this? What did she want them to be?
The questions hovered above them like a cloud.
He offered the worst possible suggestion. “I should probably apologize.”
“If you dare, I will beat you mercilessly with a pillow.”
A loud knock came at the door of the suite. The voice on the other side of the door belonged to a sleepy innkeeper. “Sir, you asked to be roused at once if your coachman arrived.”
“The hell I did,” Gabriel muttered. “He just wants to be certain he’s paid.” He pushed to his feet and buttoned his trousers, then cleared his throat. “I, er . . . I’ll need my shirt.”
“Oh. Of course.” Penny slid her arms from the sleeves, pulled it over her head, and buried herself beneath the quilt before passing it in his direction. Despite all her bravery a few minutes ago, she’d grown vulnerable and shy.
He pushed his hands through his hair in a vain attempt to tame it, and then he left her alone with that looming, unanswered question.
What now?
Chapter Thirteen
They returned to Bloom Square very late. Or very early, depending on how one looked at it.
For most of the journey, Gabe drifted in and out of sleep. He felt like a coward avoiding conversation, but he hadn’t the faintest idea what to say, and drowsing gave him a chance to gather his memories and fix them in his mind before they could escape.
He recalled the way she’d touched him with such adorable, unashamed curiosity. The plump curves of her bottom filling his hands, and the hug of her cleft astride his cock. The lilting song of her cries as she’d climaxed.
If all that wasn’t torture enough, her pleasure had been embossed on his shirt. Her scent lingered about him even now, warm and intoxicating.
The coachman slowed the horses to a walk as they entered Mayfair, keeping the noise to a minimum. As morning dawned, a drifting fog obscured the streets and wrapped the city in a blanket of hush.
Gabe looked down the alley in both directions before he handed her down from the carriage. As expected, even after a thorough laundering and pressing, her lacy, once blushing-pink frock was a shambles.
“I’ll see you in.”
They entered through the horse stalls—or, in Penny’s case, goat and steer stalls—and naturally, she had to stop to soothe them with loving pats and generous forkfuls of hay and alfalfa. As they moved through the back garden, she paused to scatter corn for the chickens and cast a sorrowful look toward Hubert’s empty washtub.
“Come along.” He drew her arm through his and pulled her toward the house. “Stay any longer out here and someone’s bound to see you.”
“And if they do? We are merely two neighbors having a morning chat in the back garden. How could that be scandalous?”
He exhaled. “Perhaps you’re right.”
“No one pays much attention to me, anyway.”
Normally, Gabe would have paused to lecture her on the unlikelihood of this statement, or the injustice even if it were true. However, today her obscurity might work in their favor.
Maybe, just maybe, they’d gotten away with this.
When he followed Penny up the kitchen stairs to the entrance hall, however, he knew at once he’d been mistaken. They were instantly mobbed.
Her friends had been waiting. All of them. The duchess one, the freckled one, the pregnant one, the scarred duke one, and the aggravatingly charming one.
Five individuals who would defy even the closest observer to find a trait they all held in common. Except, of course, for one important quality: They all cared about Penny.
“Penny, is that you?”
“Thank heaven you’re safe.”
“We’ve been out of our minds with worry.”
“Where the devil have you been?”
“Bixby piddled on the dining room carpet.”
When they’d finished fussing over Penny, they turned to Gabe. Wouldn’t you know, these five disparate people shared a second quality.
They were, every last one of them, furious with him.
The three ladies tugged Penny to one side, subjecting her to a