Page 32 of The Rogue’s Offer

Chapter 8

“Should I be jealous?” The earl’s voice echoed with quiet curiosity, startling Ophelia. She turned away from Mathias’s departing figure to meet Chelmsford’s studious gaze.

“Jealous, my lord?”

“Gilchrist led me to believe there was nothing between the two of you.”

“There isn’t,” she replied as her heart twisted slightly in her breast. She ignored the sharp pain and smiled at the earl. “Mathias is a friend. Nothing more.”

“A friend who seems quite unhappy that I claimed another dance.” Chelmsford pulled her into his arms and guided her out onto the dance floor.

“Mathias’s attitude has little to do with whom I dance. We’ve argued twice this evening, and he’s ill-tempered as a result.”

“His behavior appears to be that of a frustrated suitor more than a man who’s argued with a friend.”

Chelmsford’s eyebrows arched upward as he met Ophelia’s gaze. The statement aroused a sudden wish for the earl to be right. The unexpected thought made her heard skip a beat, and she quickly dismissed it. Her relationship with Mathias was no more than that of a student to a tutor. He’d said he would teach her how to seduce a man. While she was still dubious as to her ability to feel passion, whenever she was with Mathias she experienced emotions she’d never felt before. She shook her head and smiled despite the despondency suddenly spiraling through her.

“Mathias has a tendency to badger me until I share my thoughts.”

“And did he?”

“Persuade me to share my thoughts?” She smiled slightly. “No. I can be rather stubborn. It’s a trait Mathias finds annoying.”

“And these thoughts you refused to share with him. Dare I hope they were about me?” There was a teasing note in the earl’s voice, but the assessment in his gray eyes made her stare at him in surprise. He laughed softly. “I see I’ve caught you unprepared to answer.”

“Not so much unprepared as startled, my lord.”

“My name is Gideon, and I would like for you to address me as such, Ophelia.”

“I’m not sure that’s appropriate given our short acquaintance, my lord.”

“I rarely do anything that’s appropriate, Ophelia.” A wicked look of mischief glittered in his gray eyes, and she couldn’t help but laugh at his reply.

“Clearly, I shall have to guard my words with you, my—” The earl scowled at her, and she quickly adjusted her reply. “Gideon.”

“Now that has a decidedly pleasant ring to it.”

“What does?”

“The way you say Gideon. I would enjoy hearing that on a consistent basis,” he murmured as he whirled her around in two quick circles to dodge a collision with another couple. The earl’s choice of words made her gulp in a short breath.

“As I said, we barely know one another, my—Gideon,” she said as she caught another look of disappointment on the earl’s face.

“A fact I intend to change. And I am confident of the outcome as well.”

The man’s statement made Ophelia’s heart sink. Perhaps Mathias had been right after all. The earl seemed far more interested in her than she’d realized. Bemused by the realization, Ophelia looked over the earl’s shoulder to see Mathias speaking with Percy and Rhea. He glanced in her direction, and their eyes met for a brief moment. In the blink of an eye, his expression hardened and he turned his attention away from her. The manner in which he’d dismissed her made her experience a jolt of emotion she didn’t know how to define.

“Come riding with me in the park tomorrow.” The invitation made her shake her head.

“That’s not possible,” she said as she remembered riding Mathias’s horse.

“You’ll have to do better than that, Ophelia.” Eyebrows arched in an arrogant, but playful manner, he smiled. “Shall we say nine o’clock?”

“I’m not sure who likes to have their way more, you, or Mathias.” With a rueful shake of her head, Ophelia smiled. “As I said, it’s not possible.”

“If you insist on saying no, I’ll need a much better reason than the one you’ve given me.”

Once more a hot flush warmed her cheeks. It was one thing for Mathias to loan her the use of a horse, but with the earl it would be different. She didn’t quite understand why, perhaps it was pride preventing her from telling the earl she didn’t own a horse.