“Can you assure us that nothing... untoward happened between the two of you?” Jocelyn asked, finally speaking up. “Because if it did... despite her station... I think that we are going to have to insist that you make it right.”
Drake swallowed thickly. How the hell was he supposed to answer that? Admitting just how many liberties he’d taken with her would be asking for trouble. He’d already considered the ramifications of what had passed between them, but he bloody well didn’t like being taken to task for it by his subordinates. And he needed to find out what Heather wanted before he talked to anyone else.
Before he could answer, Heather entered the room, her face flushed. She’d obviously heard what O’Brien had asked him. “Leave him alone,” she snapped, casting Drake a pained glance before looking away again in embarrassment. “He saved my life, and now you’re interrogating him? Demanding that he... what? Make an honest woman of me? He’s the son of a marquess, for God’s sake.”
“I don’t care if he’s the son of the bloody king!” Allison declared, shocking Drake with her profanity. “If he’s compromised you in any way, he must do the right thing by you.”
“He didn’t compromise me!” Heather assured them all, the lie making him extremely uncomfortable. “But as he said... going through that together created a... bond between us.”
How much of the conversation had she heard? Did she already know that he wanted to take her to Belgravia? If she would just look at him again, he would know. Her lovely blue eyes were so expressive...
Shaking himself, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “I’m glad that you all have such concern for Miss Fields. It is not my intention to make things more difficult for her. All I’m saying is that she might be safer with me in Belgravia. Whether she comes or not is entirely up to her.”
At last, she looked his way, and what he saw in her eyes nearly took his breath away. Pure trust and... He didn’t even know how to put a name to what else he saw. All he knew was that she wasn’t ready to end this thing between them yet either.
“I think he’s right,” she said softly. “If you could do without me for a while longer, Allison, I think I’d be safer with Drake.” Her face flushed even redder. “I mean, Mr. Blackstone.”
Her use of his first name hung heavily in the room for a few moments before Ness cleared his throat and shook his head. “Well, we don’t have to decide anything tonight. I believe dinner is ready. Shall we go in?”
Chapter Eleven
Heather followed Allisonand Jocelyn into the dining room, feeling awkward. She didn’t take her meals with Allison and Quinn when they were at home. Instead, she generally had the cook make up a tray for her to eat alone in her room. As the lady’s maid, she wasn’t really welcome amongst the rest of the staff or with the family, which made for a lot of lonely meals.
However, when she and Allison had lived with Jocelyn and Evelyn, everything had been very casual. The four of them had often eaten together, so this wasn’t the first time she’d been in Jocelyn’s dining room. But she sensed she’d only been invited tonight because of her harrowing adventure and her newfound connection with Drake Blackstone, whatever that might be.
Her cheeks still burned from the conversation she’d heard earlier. Her friends had been interrogating Drake, demanding to know what had happened between them and even insisting that he do right by her. She would have cried if it wasn’t so comical. She appreciated their concern for her, but a man like him would never consider actually marrying a woman like her. She was beneath him in every possible way.
She cast a quick glance at him as he took a seat across the table from her. He did not belong at this end of the table. If Jocelyn had abided by the strict rules of etiquette that governed the lives of theton, he would have been at the head of the table near Jocelyn herself, as they were the highest-ranking people in attendance.
He didn’t seem to question it though, simply taking his place and arranging his napkin on his lap, carefully avoiding making eye contact with anyone. To her surprise, he seemed just as uncomfortable as she did.
For a moment, she had the fleeting wish that they were back in that cellar, where only the two of them had existed and she’d felt free to talk to a marquess’s son as though she was his equal. For those few brief days, she hadn’t felt alone.
Although she was thrilled to be free, she knew that nothing could ever be the same between them now that they were back in the real world. Surely, he knew it too?
She didn’t quite understand why he wanted to take her with him, but if she was truly given the choice, she’d accept in a heartbeat, no matter the further damage to her reputation. It wasn’t as though she had a chance of landing a husband anyway, so why should she care what people thought? She wanted more of his drugging kisses... She’d like to do everything they’d done last night and more. She had the feeling that the things they’d shared had only been the beginning of the pleasures he could show her, and she wanted to experience all of it.