Never Kiss an Earl at Midnight: How to Reform a Rake Read online

  “Nonsense.” Lily was near pulling her arm off. “You’re stunning and intelligent. Men will fall at your feet.”

  “They don’t now. Why would they in the future?”

  Lily looked over Victoria’s shoulder at her husband. “Listen, there is a dinner tonight at the Vancrofts that we’ve been invited to. They are friends of Max’s. I’ll hire a nurse to stay with Papa and Adelaide will be here. We’ll all go together. I’ll prove to you that a future is yours if you want to take it.”

  Victoria gently took her sister’s other hand. “And if I don’t…want to take it?” She gave them both a squeeze. “I like studying birds and presenting at the foundling society. I don’t want to give that part of myself up for marriage. Consider this might be the best option for me. It allows me to continue my studies.”

  Understanding dawned in Lily’s eyes. “I know but don’t close the door on marriage yet. Who knows? Perhaps you’ll meet the perfect man so that you can have both. Maybe one who shares your passion for knowledge or one who will be as committed to family as Max.”

  “Perhaps,” she answered, more to appease her sister. But the truth was that she doubted it very much. If such a man existed, she’d never met him.

  Her thoughts drifted to the man she had talked with in the morning. Lord Kissinger had none of the qualities she searched for in a man. He was neither intellectually inclined nor was he the sort of upstanding man who would help her care for their father.

  Then why did he keep popping into her thoughts? He was like an illness. She didn’t want to be sick but she couldn’t seem to get rid of him from her thoughts, which only made him that much more irritating.

  Chapter Three

  Victoria stood where she almost always did at these sorts of events. Against the wall. The crowd pressed in from all sides as the smell of food, drink, and humanity crushed in on her, making her nose wrinkle. She much preferred the open air and the sound of birds.

  Max and Lily sat just in front of her, watching the parade of dancers. Poor Lily. She held her hands to her stomach. If only Victoria could secure a partner for a dance then Lily and Max could dance as well.

  She’d add this to the list of things to feel guilty about. Her father had seemed distraught when they’d left. He wanted to be alone less and less. As they were leaving, he’d near had a fit and had even broken a vase. Victoria’s insides twisted. For so many reasons she shouldn’t be here.

  “Isn’t it lovely?” Lily said for at least the third time.

  “Lovely,” Victoria repeated automatically. “Speaking of lovely, have you seen the plume on a red-breasted gross beak? In the spring, they are a delightful vibrant shade that colors any garden beautifully.”

  Two men walking by frowned at her and Victoria pursed her lips. Why couldn’t she keep herself from talking? And why was she discussing birds now? It was an automatic response when she was feeling insecure.

  “Do tell more,” a male voice drawled to her right. She knew that voice and butterflies began dancing about her stomach.

  She looked over to Lord Kissinger, standing so close she could smell the whisky on his breath. “How do you keep sneaking up on me like that?”

  He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m not sneaking. You’re lost in thought about gross red beaks.”

  “Red-breasted gross beaks,” she snapped back. “And I wasn’t lost in thought. Lily keeps insisting this party is lovely and I was simply naming something that is actually lovely because this party is really quite…” She’d been about to say dull. Which wasn’t fair. It was likely her that was dull and not the other way around.

  “Boring,” he drawled.

  She covered her mouth with her hand to keep him from seeing her smile. “For once we are in agreement.”

  “Well I’ll be,” he muttered.

  “Tell me that you’ve brought Adelaide as well,” someone called from behind Key. His voice far louder than Key’s had been.

  It was Max, however, whose head whipped around. “What the bloody hell are you two doing here?”

  Two ladies walking by gasped. Then their fans snapped open as they began to whisper furiously behind them.

  Victoria pressed her lips together to hide her smile at their reaction. No wonder Max spent so little time in polite society.

  Chase raised a brow. “Curtis is our friend too. We were invited.”

  “To an event where there are ladies in attendance?” Max asked as he stood, crossing his arms and staring darkly.

  “To be fair,” Victoria raised a single finger, “you are the one who seems to be scandalizing passersby, Your Grace.” Then she directed her gaze to the two ladies still whispering behind their fans.

  Max shot them a withering glare as Chase let out a chuckle. “Now you, I like, Lady Victoria. Why couldn’t I have drawn your card?”

  She pursed her lips, much of her enjoyment over the last few minutes withering. Key was rakish enough, Chase was devilish and unpredictable. Though perhaps, he would have been easier in his own way. She didn’t feel the same…draw to him that Key brought every time he was close.

  Key punched his friend in the arm. Chase let out a groan as he clutched the spot he’d been hit. “What was that about?”

  “She’s far too intelligent to fall for your antics,” Key answered, his voice dropping low and deep. It skittered along her skin, sending a shiver down her spine.

  It was also one of the nicest things a man had ever said to her. Biting the inside of her cheek, she forced herself not to heat and blush. “Thank you,” she whispered, her head bending forward as she stared at her clutched hands.

  “I don’t thank you. That bloody hurt.” Chase grumbled. “Which is why I’m going to ask Lady Victoria if she’d like to join me for a dan— Ow!” Key hit Chase again.

  More people had stopped to watch the spectacle. Victoria nibbled on her lip as her chin tucked deeper. Shifting, she wished they would stop drawing attention to her. Had she been hoping someone would ask her to dance? She’d changed her mind. She now wished to fade into the floral wallpaper. Perhaps she could become one of the birds she loved and blend into the pattern. Two ladies whispering was fine, but the spectators were growing into a crowd.

  “Lady Victoria,” Key’s voice dropped even lower. “Would you care to join me on the dance floor?”

  Her breath caught. She should say no. She ignored the voice that said this might be her only opportunity to have a handsome man hold her in his arms and turn her about the floor. It was the same voice that had suggested she kiss Key. But that voice was ignoring reason. Her brain knew that Key didn’t want anything from her but to fulfill a bet. That he didn’t actually like her and, in fact, he probably disliked her. Her mind was also aware that her future held studies, and the care of her father, and that this sort of fancy was best left in her private thoughts and not acted out. Especially not in front of Lily who was still holding out hope that Victoria might marry. “I shouldn’t.”

  He ignored her words, or perhaps he picked up on her hesitation, sensed the part of her that wanted to say yes. Reaching for her hand, he tucked it in his elbow and began leading her to the floor.

  Max leaned in as they passed. “You are to bring her directly back here after the dance.”

  “Yes, father,” Key answered as he pulled her deeper into the crowd. She looked back at Lily, wanting to beg her sister to follow. Her palm was sweating in her glove as she tried to catch her breath.

  His muscles rippled under her hand and it caused her body to tremble with excitement. What was happening to her? When she returned home, she’d have to look it up in one of her reference texts.

  Key moved as quickly as he could through the crowd. What the bloody hell was he doing? This woman didn’t like him, she had made that abundantly clear and that was fine. Considering he had no desire to fulfill the bet, it was far better this way. Yet here he was, pulling her onto the dance floor.

  Perhaps it was the whisky. He’d had enough to make
his mind fuzzy about the edges. Damn it to hell, she was probably right about his drinking. He tried to remember a day in recent memory that he hadn’t been drunk.

  But another thought penetrated the fog in his head. He hadn’t wanted Chase to lay a finger on her. If he’d said one more bloody word, Key would have stopped punching Chase’s arm and hit him square in the face.

  They reached an open spot and Key turned, taking Victoria’s waist. She jumped, her gaze flying to his.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  She blinked several times. “I…I’ve never actually danced with a man before and—”

  “Never?” Satisfaction rippled along his skin, causing his fingers to tighten about her. The first strains of music filtered through the ballroom and he started the steps, swinging her in his arms. The curve of her waist fit his hand in the most satisfying way and he wanted to grasp the other side, test the flair of her hips.

  “Never,” she answered. “It would have been far better my first dance wasn’t with someone who was drunk. We’re liable to trip and fall.”

  He stopped dancing then. Damn this woman. Just when he was actually enjoying her company she had to go and make an astute observation. He’d tell her so but her warm, brown gaze had captured his. Her full, sinful lips slightly parted as though she were waiting for a kiss, and he couldn’t make his mouth work.

  “Please,” she hissed, squeezing his hand. “I beg you to start dancing again. People are staring.”

  He lifted his gaze and found that people were in fact gawking at them. How much had he drunk? “My apologies.” He began the steps again. “Does it bother you that people are looking at us?”

  She swallowed. The delicate column of her neck working. “I’m different enough without drawing any more attention to myself.”

  “Different?” he asked, his gaze narrowing. That perplexed him for a moment. He wasn’t sure if it was his addled mind or if she had said something ridiculous. “Do you mean more beautiful?”

  Her eyes sparkled in the candlelight for a moment before she gave him a wide smile. “You are charming, aren’t you? I can see why so many women fall for your…” Her gloved fingers thrummed against his shoulder. “But no, I didn’t mean I am more beautiful. I meant that the moment I start talking, both men and women find what I have to say tedious or boring, or perhaps just uninteresting, and they dismiss me or worse, begin to disparage me for being a bluestocking.”

  He pulled her a touch closer. “They likely disparage you because you make them feel inadequate with your insight.” At least, that was what she had done to him.

  Color flushed her cheeks as she looked in every direction but at him. “Thank you for saying that.” She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Finally her gaze met his. “On the rare occasions I should have to participate in society, I shall remember those words.”

  Damnation, he wanted to tell her something different. He wanted to shout she should be the one going to all the balls and receiving compliments on beauty and intelligence. But he couldn’t, because he wasn’t the man to make her see all that.

  Chapter Four

  Victoria tried to catch her breath as the Earl of Kissinger spun her about again. This morning she’d been certain she knew this man. A rake, a drunk, a handsome degenerate, used to getting his way.

  And perhaps, that’s exactly what he was. Maybe he knew the precise words that would melt her heart and allow him to collect the kiss he needed from her to make good on his bet with his friends.

  She feared it was working.

  No man had ever stripped her so bare. Figuratively speaking, of course.

  And the man was intoxicated. What skills would he have without the influence of alcohol?

  Because tonight, she wanted to allow him to kiss her. He’d made her feel smart, beautiful, and interesting. His hand at her waist had sent a flutter of sensation pulsing through her body. For one night, she wished to forget Lord Ashby, who’d called her a terrible bore or Lord Wexler, who’d laughed at one of her bird facts, exclaiming her more reference novel than woman. Closing her eyes, she pushed the memories away.

  She enjoyed her life and her hobbies, she truly did. And she’d never regret looking after her father. He deserved the loving care of his daughter. But for one night, Victoria wished to allow The Earl of Kissinger to repaint her as a beautiful and desirable woman. It would be grand.

  He was moving them toward the edge of the crowd and then, suddenly, they were in front of the doors. They’d gone to the ocean for a summer holiday once as a child and she’d remembered the water carrying her hat away, sweeping it down the beach as though it ran on legs. As Key swept her through the doors and out onto the balcony, that was how she felt. Like she was being pulled along by a force too great to stop.

  “What did you mean?” he asked, his deep baritone making her heart thump wildly.

  “Mean by what?” She looked up into his blue eyes. They were fringed by dark lashes and honestly, quite beautiful. His chiseled jaw kept them from being feminine, but still, they were lovely.

  “On the rare occasion you participate in society. Why would you participate in society on only rare occasions?” His hand remained at her waist and the other brushed down her arm, until it came to rest on the other side of her body, grasping her hip. Heat radiated from his touch, and not knowing what else to do, she rested her other hand upon his shoulder. Oh, they were divine.

  The feel of his broadness both excited and anchored her. Like a port in a storm, they seemed strong enough to protect her. “I am the least marriageable of all my sisters. It’s a fact I’ve known for some time.” She took a steadying breath, trying to control her fluttering heart. “Because my father’s health is in rapid decline, I’ve decided to not pursue a match and care for him instead. Once he passes…” She swallowed at the thought. It was a fact, and one she shouldn’t ignore but it tugged at her chest. “I’ll fill my life with academic pursuits.”

  His mouth dropped open as he stared at her. “You’re serious?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” A touch of indignation made her shoulders straighten. “My sisters have new husbands. Well except for Adelaide, but she’ll make a glorious match, I’m sure of it. Far better than me. And Max…he’s done more than enough for this family. He shouldn’t be saddled with my father too.”

  “But Rex or Si, they can help. You don’t need to give up your future to—”

  She let go of his shoulder and held her hand up between them to stop him. “Rex and Si weren’t even certain they wanted to marry. I don’t want to strain Camille and Cristina’s new marriages by burdening them. I want them to have wonderful, happy marriages.”

  His jaw worked. “Victoria that is an enormous sacrifice to make for your sisters.”

  She shook her head. “I doubt it. Let’s be honest, since you’re asking. I could spend several seasons trying and failing to gain a husband. I am simply shortening the process by going straight to the most likely outcome.” Saying the words out loud, to the most handsome man she’d ever met, made her chest tighten. She looked away, wishing she hadn’t spoken the truth.

  Key stared at her. The fresh air was doing wonders for his clarity of thought, but her words still confused him. Was she saying that she was likely to be passed by?

  He wasn’t daft, he knew what her words meant; he didn’t believe them. Before him stood a stunningly insightful, even if that was a bit annoying, woman who was beautiful and loyal. Generous beyond anything he had ever imagined. When he thought about what she was willing to give up for both her father and her sisters. If only he had that sort of commitment to his family or from them. His father had practically disowned him and his mother refused to speak with him, denying his existence. A bond like Victoria had with her sisters…how different would he be today if he’d had something like that? “How do you know there isn’t a match for you? You’re giving up before you’ve even begun.”

  She winced. “That’s what Lily thinks too.” She shook her hea
d slowly. “But I’m right. I am an observer of behavior. Always have been. And the way men treat me…I am not pleasing to them.”

  Several questions crowded into his brain. What had they said? Who had said it? Were they senseless beasts? “When you look at me what do you see?”

  She pressed her lips together. “A very handsome man.”

  He ran his hand along his jaw, dissatisfaction rumbling through his chest. She was deflecting. “I know you see deeper.”

  “I don’t,” she said and then nibbled on her lip.

  He sighed, rattling his breath from his lungs. “I suppose it’s best not to delve into it. I have every intention of staying away from you.”

  “Then why ask me to dance?” she murmured, her brows crinkling together.

  He supposed there was no harm in being honest. “The only man in England who is worse than me is Lord Averstone. There was no way I was allowing him to touch you.”

  She stared up at him, her eyes wide, her mouth open. “You were protecting me?”

  He shrugged, looking down into her warm, brown eyes. “Or maybe Chase. I do believe Max would actually kill him if he did anything untoward. I did Chase a favor.”

  Her eyes crinkled at the corners as her lips turned up, just enough to show her mirth. She cocked her head to one side assessing him. “Makes sense.”

  He narrowed his gaze as he pulled her a touch closer. “See? You’re studying me.”

  Her breath caught. “My apologies. I didn’t mean to.” Color flooded into her cheeks.

  “Now I insist. Tell me one thing you saw.” Her body was coming closer. Was he still pulling her toward him or was she drifting toward him of her own accord?

  “I saw a man who cares about the people around him,” she said. The strains of a waltz ended inside. She looked over her shoulder to the couples slowly moving off the dance floor. “We should return before Max decides to give you the death sentence.”