Page 22 of After the Spy Seduces

“Yes.”

Her gaze trailed shamelessly over him. “Oh my.”

Oh yes. She forced a bored little sniff. “I suppose…if you find that sort of pretension attractive.”

“I do.” Her fan flitted wildly now. “I definitely do.” She arched a knowing brow. “And so doyou.”

Diana choked on her champagne. “I do not! He isn’t at all the type that stirs my interest.”

“Handsome, charming—”

“Shiftless.”

Thathe certainly was. He might have saved her that night at the tavern, might even possess the good character and competence the general claimed he saw in the man. And, drat it, she had to give him credit for that, which complicated the devil out of the changing opinion she was forming about him, that perhaps he wasn’t as bad as he portrayed himself to the world to be.Perhaps.

But the fact remained that Carlisle had done nothing to live up to his capabilities. Instead, he’d been more than content to live off his brother’s charity and eschew any attempts at a respectable living, good character or not. For that alone, she entertained no ideas about him. After all, she had to be so very careful about the men she let into her life.

Yet strange disappointment gnawed at her that he wasn’t more responsible, more set on making something of himself rather than charming his way through life. That he couldn’t be more like the sort of man she needed.

He stood apart at the edge of the room, lazily swirling a glass of Madeira in his palm. He let his gaze drift aimlessly over the crowd, unhurried in his perusal, as if bored with the party…

Until his gaze landed on her.

All the tiny muscles in her belly twisted into knots as her eyes locked with his. She saw the knowing glint of recognition spark in the blue depths of his eyes, the twitch of a grin at his sensuous lips, and sheknew—

The rascal had been searching the room. For her.

His eyes trailed rakishly over her, heating every inch of skin not covered by the satin and lace of her blue dress and long white gloves. The devil was undressing her with his eyes and surely imagining what she looked like beneath, bare in the lamplight, and an unsettling sensation of feminine pleasure sparked inside her.

“Still, I would bet that he’s a wonderful dance partner,” Julia mused, unaware of the silent communication occurring between them. “How could he not be? I mean,lookat him.”

Diana was certainly doing just that, taking her own shameless glance over him in return, from the dark gold hair that curled at his collar down to the muscular thighs accentuated by white kerseymere trousers. So dashing and handsome… If he were anyone else—anyonebut Christopher Carlisle—she would have found a way to wrangle a dance from him, to closet herself away with him at the side of the room or on the garden terrace where they could share a conversation in private, and perhaps let him kiss her again the way he had by the stables.

But fate never listened to her heart. Because hewasa scapegrace second son. The worst man in the world for her.

“Then by all means,” Diana mumbled, inexplicable loss panging in her chest, “you should dance with him.”

“Perhaps…”

His eyes returned to hers. Holding her gaze fixed beneath his, he raised the glass of Madeira to his lips and took a long, slow swallow in what she knew was a secret toast to her. Liquid warmth splashed through her, and she couldn’t help the soft catch of her breath at the heated sensation, one as palpable as if he’d skimmed his hands down the length of her bare body.

He set down his glass and ambled toward her through the crowd.

“Or perhaps he’s coming for you.”

The warmth he’d stirred inside her only seconds before froze instantly into trepidation. “No, he isn’t. He’s—”

“Headed right toward you,” her friend finished as Christopher continued forward, his eyes never straying from hers. Like a man on a mission…or a wolf stalking his prey. Julia waved her fan and began to move away. “And that’s my cue to leave.”

She reached for Julia’s arm to stop her. “You’re running interference for me with the enemy tonight, remember?”

“If he’s your enemy, then you know what they say…Keep your friends close.” She took a glance at Christopher and murmured appreciatively, “Keep your enemies closer.”

Oh, he’d already been more than close enough that night at the tavern, thank you very much. And he simply couldnotget any closer. So she refused to release Julia’s arm, despite her friend’s small tugs to pull it away, even when he stopped in front of her and sketched a bow to both women.

“Miss Warner…Miss Morgan.” His eyes sparkled when they landed on her. “Lovely party, isn’t it?”

Julia gave one more firm tug and freed her arm, and Diana was unable to grab after her without embarrassing herself. She refused to look like a goose in front of him by hiding behind her friend like a shield, even if that was exactly what she’d hoped to do.