in the least.” Meredith stared at him in fascination. “My, my, you are full of yourself. Your vanity knows no limits.”
Again he smiled at her and she was enchanted by him.
He said in a low voice, “Did you ever think it was your fault, Miss Remington?”
“My fault?” She almost laughed. “How would your rudeness be my fault?”
He gave her a pointed look. “You are most definitely a beautiful woman. Your beauty captivated me, and I could not look away. I was helpless. The blame is clearly at your feet.”
Ignoring the giddiness that spread through her at his words, Meredith rolled her eyes at him. “If you think I shall fall for your arrogant charm, you are sadly mistaken, Lord Waverly.”
Again, he flashed that devilish smile. “Good girl! I was just testing you!”
“And clearly, I passed.” She grinned back at him. She couldn’t help herself. His smile was so irresistibly charming.
“Clearly.”
“Do you test all the women you dance with?”
“Just the ones who stare right back at me in a bookshop.”
They both gazed into each other’s eyes then. She recognized the admiration she saw within their green depths. Meredith felt her pulse race unexpectedly.
“I liked that you stared back at me,” he said in a low voice.
“Then I wish I had not done so.”
“But you did,” he reminded her, raising and lowering his eyebrows. “Because you couldn’t help yourself.”
“I stared because I was stunned by your boldness. There’s a difference.”
“You stared at me because I’m a handsome devil.”
“You are the most conceited man,” she said. But she grinned at him while she said it.
“Guilty as charged.” He winked at her again. “But you also know I’m right.”
Luckily for Meredith, the waltz came to its inevitable end before she could respond to him. Her heart was pounding, and her cheeks were hot, so flustered was she by their conversation.
She’d never bantered with a gentleman like that before and had found it thrilling. She’d attended a few dances in New York but had never met anyone remotely like Lord Waverly. He irritated and attracted her at the same time.
With his hand on her arm, he escorted her back to where Delilah was now standing with her sister Lavinia, both of them regarding her intently.
“Thank you for a lovely dance, Miss Remington.” Lord Waverly bowed elegantly, and she caught his eyes. They flickered with amusement.
“Thank you, Lord Waverly.”
He wished her and both of her aunts a good evening and left them. Meredith watched him walk away with an odd mix of regret and relief. He had been a wonderful dancer. And as much as she hated to admit it, she had enjoyed herself with him, in spite of his being an insufferable flirt and vain rogue.
“Oh, he’d be a good catch!” Lavinia exclaimed, with a spark of excitement in her eyes. “He’s from a good family, and they have lots of money. And a simply gorgeous house in Mayfair!”
“And he’s ever so handsome, Meredith!” Delilah smiled with undiluted glee. “I hope he decides to call on you!”
Meredith froze at her aunt’s words.
To be pursued by the pompous lord filled her with trepidation. She couldn’t imagine being married to a man so full of himself, no matter how handsome, charming, and fascinating he was. A man like that would demand too much of her attention and would never allow her to write. His ego would not allow it.
With a heavy sigh, Meredith pasted a smile on her face as she met her next dance partner.
* * *
“Who was that you were dancing with this evening? The pretty brunette?” Lady Katherine Vickers asked him later that same night, when they were alone in her bedroom.
“Just the newest young heiress from America looking for an English title.”
Phillip shrugged carelessly as he eyed the front of Katherine’s low-cut gown. Her body was a delicious temptation. He reached out a hand to tug down the front of her jade-colored dress.
“Then it’s a good thing I already have a title,” she retorted in a breathy voice.
“Is that right, my lady?” he said, as he ushered her closer to the massive four-poster bed draped with pink velvet curtains that dominated her luxurious bedroom.
She began to breathe heavily. “I am your lady.”
Had she emphasized that she belonged to him or had he only heard what he wanted to hear? He thought of what his mother had mentioned to him earlier. That Katherine was telling her friends that she would marry him.
“Are you mine, Kitty?”
The words flew from his lips before he was able to stop them. He almost wished he could take them back. Almost. Phillip held his breath while he waited impatiently for her answer.
“Phillip, you know I am yours, but . . .”
A pretty pout crossed her face as she loosened her thick blond hair from the pins that held it in place on top of her head. She gave her head a little shake and her hair cascaded around her shoulders in silken golden waves.
“But what?” he asked, mesmerized by her erotic movements. He reached out to touch her hair.
She pulled away from him and sat upon the edge of the bed. “I don’t like you dancing with that young girl.”
His heart leapt with joy. Katherine was jealous! Of the American oil heiress, of all women. He smiled at her and said teasingly, “Why not? Are you afraid she’ll steal me away from you?”
She turned to look directly at him. “Yes. I am.”
Oh, how he’d longed to hear these words from her! For months she’d kept him on pins and needles, never knowing if she would see him or not. She blew hot and cold, and he had no way of knowing what to expect from her. But now . . . now he had the upper hand. He finally had Lady Katherine Vickers’s attention.
She wanted him.
Katherine crossed her arms across her chest, which only amplified her cleavage, pushing her breasts almost up and out of her gown. The motion distracted him for a moment.
“Why are you afraid?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“Because you’re mine, Phillip. . . . And I want us to be together.”
“We are together,” he said. He was baiting her, and she knew it.
“For
