Page 11 of A Rogue Worth the Risk

What an unexpected delight.

Caspian firmed his lips against the grin tugging at the corners.

Her brother was right. Corinna Brockman was a unique young woman. A woman Caspian would very much like to further his acquaintance with.

As he led her onto the dance floor, he whispered close to her ear, “Thank you.”

She turned her rounded eyes up to his, her innocent blue irises ringed with a dark gray-indigo searching his face. Rather than pretend she didn’t know what he referred to, she said, “I despise bullies and hypocrites. Gossips too. The ton is overrun with those types of vermin.”

A chuckle throttled its way up his throat.

By thunder, she was refreshing.

Le beau monde would not appreciate her unsavory comparison.

They took their places across from each other as the musicians played the first few chords of the waltz. Caspian bowed, and Miss Brockman curtsied.

They didn’t speak the first several stanzas. It had been a long while since Caspian had danced and even longer since he’d held a beautiful woman in his arms.

Corinna’s perfume, that tantalizing mixture of honeysuckle and almond, teased his nostrils as her silky hair brushed his chin every now and again. She wasn’t a particularly graceful dancer, and she missed a step more than once. Several times in fact. Nonetheless, her exuberance and sheer joy in dancing more than compensated for her lack of finesse.

The tempting bundle in his embrace felt so right, so perfect. As if her supple curves had been made to fit with his masculine contours. It almost made him want…

Never mind.

Traipsing down bumpy paths of what-ifs and mayhaps wasn’t productive or helpful.

Would Corinna share the supper dance with him?

Should Caspian ask her to reserve it for him now?

No. That might give her the impression that he held more than a passing interest in her.

He did, devil take it.

But not enough to pursue or court her.

He was a confirmed bachelor, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Besides, no woman was eager to join with a man rumored to have killed his entire family—even if there wasn’t a grain of truth in the tattle.

“What happened to your face?”