“You shall be my partner, Mr. Swift,” cried Miss Leighton.
“A privilege,” Matthew returned politely, and she giggled as if he had said something vastly amusing. Matthew had never met a woman who giggled so incessantly. He was half-afraid she might cause herself seizures if she didn’t stop.
A hat filled with slips of paper was passed around, and Matthew plucked one out and read it.
“Cow,” he informed Miss Leighton stonily, and she tittered.
Feeling like an idiot, Matthew stood aside while Miss Leighton and all the other ladies left the room.
Men positioned themselves strategically, chortling as they anticipated the fun of being bumped into and groped by various blindfolded women.
A few practice calls from around the parlor—
“Squawk!”
“Meow!”
“Ribbit!”
Rumbles of laughter ensued. As the blindfolded ladies paraded into the room, the place erupted in animal cries. It sounded like a rabid zoo. The ladies set out to find their partners, bumping into braying, cheeping, snorting men.
Matthew hoped to God that Westcliff, Hunt, or God forbid, Bowman, wouldn’t chance to come into the room and see him like this. He would never live it down.
His dignity was dealt a mortal blow as he heard Cassandra Leighton’s voice—“Where is Mr. Cow?”
Matthew heaved a sigh. “Moo,” he said grimly. Miss Leighton’s giggle sailed through the air. She gradually came into view, her hands groping every male form in proximity. A few unplanned squeaks and squawks were emitted as she made her way through the crowd.
“Oh, Mr. Co-ow,” Miss Leighton called. “I need more assistance from you!”
Matthew scowled. “Moo.”
“Once more,” she trilled.
It was lucky for Cassandra Leighton that her blindfold shielded her from Matthew’s murderous glare. “Moo.”
Giggle. Giggle. Giggle. Miss Leighton approached, arms outstretched, fingers opening and closing on empty air. She reached him, her hands fumbling at his waist and sliding downward. Matthew seized her wrists and tugged them firmly upward.
“Have I found Mr. Cow?” she asked disingenuously, leaning into him.
He pushed her back with a firm nudge. “Yes.”
“Hurrah for me!” she cried, removing her blindfold.
Other couples had also been reunited, the animals quieting one by one as they were claimed. Finally only one sound was left…an awkward attempt at some kind of insect vibration. A katydid? A cricket?
Matthew craned his neck to see who was making the noise, and whom his unfortunate partner turned out to be. There was an exclamation, and ripples of friendly laughter. The crowd parted to reveal Daisy Bowman removing her blindfold, while Lord Llandrindon shrugged apologetically. “That is not the noise a cricket makes,” Daisy protested, flushed and laughing. “You sound as if you’re clearing your throat!”
“It was the best I could do,” Llandrindon said helplessly.
Oh, God. Matthew closed his eyes briefly. It would be Daisy.
Cassandra Leighton seemed inordinately pleased. “Too bad,” she said.
“No quarreling,” Lady Miranda said gaily, coming to stand between Daisy and Llandrindon. “It befalls you to pay the forfeit, my dear!”
Daisy’s smile faltered. “What is the forfeit?”
“It’s called ‘play the wallflower,’” Lady Miranda explained. “You must stand against the wall and draw one of the gentlemen’s names from a hat. If he refuses to kiss you, you will remain against the wall and continue drawing names until someone consents to your offer.”
Daisy’s smile held fast, although her face turned white, leaving two red flags of color at the crests of her cheeks.
Damn it, Matthew thought savagely.
This was a serious dilemma. The incident would start rumors that could easily produce a scandal. He couldn’t allow it. For her family’s sake, and her own. And his…but that was something he didn’t want to think about.
Automatically he started forward, but Miss Leighton grabbed his arm. Her long nails bit into the fabric of his coat sleeve. “No interfering,” she warned. “Everyone who plays must be willing to accept the forfeit!” She was smiling, but there was a hardness in her eyes that Matthew didn’t like. She intended to relish every second of Daisy’s downfall.
Dangerous creatures, women.
Glancing around the room, Matthew saw the anticipation on the gentlemen’s faces. Not one man there was going to turn away an opportunity to kiss Daisy Bowman. Matthew longed to crash heads together and yank Daisy out of the room. Instead he could only watch as the hat was brought to her and she reached inside with unsteady fingers.
Withdrawing a slip of paper, Daisy read it silently, her fine dark brows knitting together. A hush fell over the room, a few breaths caught in hope…and then Daisy said the name without looking up.
“Mr. Swift.” She thrust the slip back into the hat before it could be confirmed.
Matthew felt his heart catch violently in his chest. He wasn’t certain if the situation had just improved drastically or become exponentially worse.
“That’s impossible,” Miss Leighton hissed. “It couldn’t have been you.”
Matthew glanced down at her almost absently. “Why not?”
“Because I didn’t put your name into the hat!”
He made his face unreadable. “Obviously someone did,” he said, and jerked his arm from her clutches.
A nervous hush fell over the room as Matthew approached Daisy, and then excited titters scattered through the group. Daisy controlled her expression admirably, but there was a frantic riot of color on her face. Her slender body was as tense as a bowstring. She forced a careless smile on her lips. Matthew could see the violent pulse in her throat. He wanted to put his mouth on that visible throb and stroke it with his tongue.
Stopping in front of her, he held her gaze, trying to read her thoughts.
Just who held the upper hand in this situation?
Ostensibly he did…but Daisy was the one who had called his name.
She had chosen him. Why?
“I heard you during the game,” Daisy said, so softly that no one else could make out the words. “You sounded like a cow with digestive problems.”
“Judging from the results, my cow was better than Llandrindon’s cricket,” Matthew pointed out.
“He didn’t sound at all like a cricket. He sounded as if he were clearing phlegm from his throat.”
Matthew sternly choked back a sudden laugh. She looked so annoyed and adorable that it was all he could do not to snatch her against him. Instead he said, “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”
He wished Daisy wouldn’t blush so hard. Her fair coloring made it even more apparent, her cheeks like scarlet poppies.
There was a collective intake of breath from the group as Matthew stepped closer until their bodies were nearly touching. Daisy’s head fell back, her eyes closing, her lips slightly pursed. Reaching for her hand, Matthew lifted it to his lips and pressed a chaste kiss to the backs of her fingers.
Daisy’s eyes snapped open. She looked stunned.
More laughter from the group, and a few playfully chiding cries.
After trading a few good-natured quips with some of the gentlemen, Matthew turned to Daisy and said in a pleasant but decisive tone, “You had mentioned earlier, Miss Bowman, that you wanted to look in on your sister at this time. May I escort you to her?”
“But you can’t leave!” Cassandra Leighton exclaimed from the back of the room. “We’ve only just begun!”
“No, thank you,” Daisy told Matthew. “I’m certain my sister can wait a bit longer while I enjoy myself here.”
Matthew gave her a hard, penetrating glance. He saw from the sudden change in her expression that she understood.
He was calling in the favor.
Leave with me now, his gaze commanded, and no arguing.
He saw also that Daisy wanted badly to refuse him, but her own sense of honor would not allow that. A debt was a debt.
Daisy swallowed hard. “On the other hand…” She nearly choked on the words. “…I did promise to sit with my sister while she had her tea.”
Matthew presented his arm to her. “At your service, Miss Bowman.”
There were a few protests, but by the time they had crossed the threshold, the group was busy organizing another game. God knew what minor scandals were brewing in the parlor. As long as neither himself nor Daisy was involved, Matthew didn’t give a damn.
Daisy snatched her hand away from his arm as soon as they entered the hallway. They proceeded several yards and came to the open doorway of the library. Seeing that it was empty, Daisy charged into the room without a word.
Matthew went in after her and closed the door for privacy. It wasn’t proper, but neither was brawling in the hallway.
“Why did you do that?” Daisy demanded, rounding on him immediately.
“Take you away from the games?” Disconcerted, Matthew adopted a censorious tone. “You shouldn’t have been there, and you know it.”
Daisy was so furious that her dark eyes seemed to be shooting sparks. “Where should I have been, Mr. Swift? Reading alone in the library?”
“That would have been preferable to causing a scandal.”
“No it wouldn’t have. I was exactly where I belonged, doing exactly what everyone else was doing, and everything was just fine until you ruined it!”
“I?” Matthew couldn’t believe his ears. “I ruined the evening for you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
She glared at him accusingly. “You didn’t kiss me.”
“I…” Caught off-guard, Matthew stared at her in bewilderment. “I did kiss you.”
“On the hand,” Daisy said scornfully, “which means absolutely nothing.”
Matthew wasn’t certain how he had been so abruptly derailed from self-righteous superiority to affronted protest. “You should be grateful.”
“For what?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I saved your reputation.”
“If you had kissed me,” Daisy retorted, “it could only have improved my reputation. But you rejected me publicly, which means Llandrindon and Mardling and all the rest know there is something wrong with me.”
“I didn’t reject you.”
“It certainly felt like rejection, you cad!”
“I am not a cad. If I had kissed you in public, then I would be a cad.” Matthew paused before adding in baffled irritation, “And there is nothing wrong with you. Why the devil would you say that?”
“I’m a wallflower. No one ever wants to kiss me.”
This was too much. Daisy Bowman was furious because he hadn’t done the thing he had craved and dreamed of for years of his life. He had behaved honorably, damn it all, and instead of being appreciative she was angry.
“…am I that undesirable?” Daisy was ranting. “Would it have been so disagreeable?”
He wanted her for so long. He had reminded himself a thousand times of all the reasons he could never have her. And it had been a hell of a lot easier to bear knowing she detested him and there was no reason to hope. But the possibility that her feelings might have changed, that she might want him in return, filled him with a dizzying thrill.
Another minute of this and he would become unhinged.
“…don’t know how to do whatever it is women are supposed to do to attract men,” Daisy was saying irately. “And when I finally had a chance to gain a little experience, you—” She broke off and frowned as she saw his face. “Why do you look like that?”
“Like what?”
“As if you’re in pain.”
Pain. Yes. The kind of pain a man felt when he had lusted after a certain woman for years and found himself alone with this woman and then had to endure her complaints that he hadn’t kissed her when all he wanted was to tear her clothes off and have her right there on the floor.
She wanted experience? Matthew was ready to give her the experience of a lifetime. His body had become so unbearably hard that the brush of his trouser fabric was enough to make him wince. Struggling to control himself, he concentrated on breathing. Breathing. But there was only more arousal, until red mist had gathered at the edges of his vision.
He wasn’t aware of reaching for her but suddenly his hands were on her, hooked just beneath her arms where the yellow satin was permeated with the warmth of her body. She was light and supple, like a cat…he could lift her so easily, pin her against the wall…
Daisy’s dark eyes were wide and startled. “What are you doing?”
“I want the answer to one question,” Matthew managed to say. “Why did you call my name in there?”
Emotions crossed her face in rapid succession…surprise, guilt, embarrassment. Every inch of exposed skin turned pink. “I don’t know what you mean. Your name was on the paper. I had no choice but to—”
“You’re lying,” Matthew said tersely. His heart stopped as she refused to reply. She wasn’t going to deny it. Her flush deepened to crimson. “My name wasn’t on that paper,” he continued with great effort. “But you said it anyway. Why?”
They both knew there could only be one reason. Matthew closed his eyes briefly. His pulse was so hot and fast that its reckless momentum stung the insides of his veins.
He heard Daisy’s hesitant voice. “I just wanted to know what you…how you…I just wanted…”
This was temptation at its most brutal. Matthew tried to make himself let go of her, but his hands would not release the slim curves encased in yellow satin. It felt too good to hold her. He stared at her exquisite mouth, the subtle but delicious indentation in the center of her lower lip. One kiss, he thought desperately. Surely he could have at least that. But once he started…he wasn’t certain he could stop.
“Daisy…” He tried to find words to defuse the situation, but it was difficult to speak coherently. “I’m going to tell your father…at the first opportunity…I can’t marry you under any circumstances.”
She still wouldn’t look at him. “Why didn’t you tell him so right away?”
Because he had wanted to make her notice him.
Because he had wanted to pretend, just for a little while, that the thing he had never dared to dream about was just within reach.
“I wanted to annoy you,” he said.