Debutantes Don't Date. Kristina O'Grady

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СКАЧАТЬ Victoria. She was his voice of reason whenever he did something rash. He hadn’t gone to her for quite some time; he thought he was all grown up and could look after himself. How wrong he was. If there ever was a need for her advice, now was it. Heat from his sudden desire stilled pulsed through his veins. The protectiveness he felt towards the mystery woman overwhelmed his senses until he couldn’t think properly. He hadn’t even asked her name before he left her there.

      “Damn.” Several outraged gasps rose from the group of ladies next to where he came to an abrupt stop. “I do beg your pardon.” He nodded in the ladies’ direction, turned around and went back the way he had come. He shouldn’t have left her there all by herself. Busybody Barrett would have cornered her by now.

      “Ah, Lord Bingham, a word if you please.” It was the father of Lady Anne, the woman he was supposed to marry; Richard Higgins, Earl of Alderton.

      “Oh. Ah, umm, Lord Alderton, about our appointment tomorrow, umm, something’s come up. I won’t be able to make it.” Jasper stumbled with an excuse to un-ask the man’s daughter for her hand. Thank God he hadn’t actually asked her yet.

      “Oh, my boy, I hope it’s nothing serious.”

      Jasper choked on a cough. “No, my lord, nothing I can’t handle. But speaking of which, sir, I must run.”

      Before Jasper could escape however, Lord Alderton caught his arm. “Oh none of that ‘sir’ stuff, my boy. Call me Dick; we’re practically family now, aren’t we?” Lord Alderton winked and slapped him on the back affectionately.

      Damnation!. “Ah, I really must go now, Alderton…Dick.” Jasper quickly turned and lost himself in the crowd before he could dig himself into an even bigger hole than he already found himself in.

      “Jasper.” He stopped when a hand touched his arm and he heard a voice he recognised. “What is going on? What’s this about you going off with some girl?”

      Jasper let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank goodness it’s you. I need your help, Victoria.”

      Grace closed her eyes, took a deep calming breath and counted to three as she exhaled. When she opened her eyes a figure came around the pillar, but it wasn’t who she was expecting. It was Mrs Hillary Barrett.

      “So you are the gel that has snared him at last, are you?” the nasty old lady blurted as soon as the curtain fell back in place.

      Grace’s hackles rose. “I don’t know what you mean. All we were doing was kissing.” As if it was any of her business anyway, the old battle-axe.

      The older woman sucked in her breath. “You’re American? It’s just like you upstarts to come over here and steal our men.” She made it sound like Grace had the pox or something.

      “Excuse me? You have no right to insult me or my country. You probably haven’t even been there, so what would you know what we Americans are like? Besides, it’s none of your business anyway.” Where was that guy, it was just like a man to keep her waiting here by herself. Was he even coming back? “I’m sorry, but I have to be going now.” She pushed past the strange old lady with her head held high and into the overcrowded ballroom. Enough of this nonsense, she had to get back to work.

      Grace wandered around the ballroom trying to locate the rest of her team, but without her headset she couldn’t hope to locate them in this crowd. She looked at her phone and saw that it was 12:30 a.m., January 2014, a half hour since the lights went out and she hit her head…and dragged a man into a corner to have her wicked little way with him. A giggle escaped her lips. What had come over her? She would never behave like this on a normal night.

      She needed to get some air and clear her head. She was about to escape into the garden when a voice whispered in her ear, “I thought I told you to stay where you were?” The man that made her hot just thinking about touched her arm and said, “Come with me. My sister is waiting in the library.”

      “I would really like to meet your sister, I would. But I have to get back to work. Maybe I will see you before I go?” Her heart thumped wildly. She rubbed her hands on her skirt to get rid of the moisture. She wished she hadn’t drunk so much champagne…or hit her head on the table. This night was getting so confusing. She may have been able to figure out what was going on if she had kept away from the alcohol. Actually she wouldn’t be in this mess at all if she had managed to stay sober. She knew she shouldn’t have taken a break.

      “Sorry, what kind of work are you in?” It would be just his luck if he had made his intentions known to a prostitute.

      “I’m an event manager. I organised tonight’s event.”

      “I don’t think that the Duchess of Kensington will take kindly to you saying that out loud, even if you did organise it all. She won’t want word to get out that she was unable to arrange her own ball.” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled down at her. “Besides, everything is running smoothly, the place is packed. It is a crush! A success, don’t you think; so what more can you do here? Come with me and meet my sister and we can talk about what to do next. And I can see Mrs Barrett talking to her crones over there and it’s only an amount of time before they notice us.”

      He pointed across the room and sure enough she could see the old battle-axe deep in conversation with some older ladies. Mrs Barrett did look like she was scanning the ballroom as she talked. The man was right; it would be only a matter of time before she spotted them.

      “Come, let’s sneak out here.” He grabbed her hand and led her out the door into the garden and around the side of the balcony to the door of the library where his sister was waiting for him to explain how he had become engaged to the wrong girl.

       Chapter Two

      The first thing Grace noticed upon entering the library was the candles. There were no lights. The chandeliers hanging from the vast ceilings had candles in them. There were light bulbs in there earlier this evening; she had checked to make sure they were all in working order before the ball commenced. What the hell was going on???

      The library housed a large desk, comfortable-looking chairs, a large man leaning against the mantle and an elegant woman sitting primly on the settee. Upon their entrance from the terrace, the woman rose to welcome Grace.

      “Aren’t you going to introduce us, Jasper?” she said when it became evident that Jasper had lost his manners somewhere outside. “You must forgive me for being so bold as to do it myself then, but under the circumstances I am sure you will forgive my impertinence. I am Lady Harrison, but you may call me Victoria. This is my husband Neal, Lord Harrison,” she said gesturing to the man at the fire. He only raised his glass and nodded in her direction by way of greeting. “You must be the woman who has convinced my dear brother to marry. How nice to make your acquaintance.” She turned to Jasper then before Grace could make a reply, “Would you care to explain to me how you have managed to become engaged to this girl? It is my understanding that you are supposed to be offering for Lady Anne tomorrow.”

      “Yes, I know that, Victoria, but I can’t offer for her now can I?”

      “I don’t know, Jasper, you tell me. Why can’t you? What exactly have you done? And do you mind telling me why the gossip mill is working full-steam tonight? About our family? Again!”

      “Victoria, you know none of those rumours are true.” Jasper pleaded with his sister as though this СКАЧАТЬ