Chapter Six
Miss Taylor’s remark caught Wayne off guard, and he gaped wide.
Thankfully, his eyes hadn’t popped right out of his head.
But now everything made sense. As much as he had been arguing with himself over this, there was no doubt now that she had climbed into his coach last night with plans of seducing him.
She was certainly not the woman Jane thought she had as a best friend.
Perhaps she was finally feeling guilty for what she’d done. After all, her attitude this afternoon had turned from slightly irritable to downright rude. More than likely, she was trying to make everything look as though it was his fault.
Wayne wasn’t used to arguing with women, but Miss Regina Taylor was one he would break the rules with. He hoped their conversation wasn’t overheard, because the news would get back to Jane of how awful he had been to her friend.
He glanced at the door Harold and the boys had exited not long ago, and it seemed they were taking longer than first suspected. Perhaps this was a good thing, since Wayne could now say what was on his mind.
Exhaling slowly, he turned his focus back to Regina.
Her silver-blue eyes blazed with heat, and he silently cursed her hair for being too long to hold her ringlets as they brushed her slender shoulders and hung lower on her back.
However, it was her perfectly shaped lips that drew his attention.
Suddenly, a memory flashed through his mind, and he remembered kissing her with the urgency of a wild animal.
He recalled enjoying it and knowing she did, as well.
He mentally shook the thought out of his head and peered back into her eyes.
“Then I must have given you the wrong impression, because I’m not the kind of man who dwells on the wealth of a woman.
Neither do I seek out a woman for the sole purpose of taking advantage of her.
Ask any one of my friends, and they’ll tell you that I’m a true gentleman. ”
Biting his tongue, he silently criticized his own words. Who was he trying to convince? Regina or himself?
Quizzically, she raised her eyebrows and gave him a look so humorous he almost laughed, but he didn’t. This was certainly not the time.
“I swear if I didn’t know better, I would think your large ego covered Britain.” She folded her arms. “The problem is, Mr. Worthington, I know firsthand that you are lying.” Twin spots of pink stained her cheeks, but she continued in a lower voice, “Have you forgotten about last night?”
Wayne glanced at the men sitting behind them. Thankfully, they were involved in the boxing match. Scanning the others close around him and Regina, he was also grateful for their loud cheers.
“No,” he said quietly.
“Then why do you have the nerve to say what you did when I know better?”
He rubbed his sweaty palms on his trousers in a nervous reaction. How could he explain to her about last night when he couldn’t even explain it to himself? “Last night was…different.”
“Different?” she barked. “How can you say that? Because I’m Jane’s childhood friend? Do you know what kind of animal’s back end that makes you, Mr. Worthington?”
He leaned closer and took hold of her wrist in a tight grip.
“It probably makes you the same kind of person for climbing in my coach and kissing your childhood friend’s fiancé so passionately it could have started a fire.
You, Miss Taylor, have a talent. Your sultry kisses make a man’s mind spin out of control. ”
Once the words left his mouth, he wanted to retract every one, especially that last part. He didn’t want her knowing how much he had enjoyed their time together.
The color left her face, and she inhaled quickly.
At least his words had hit their mark. Yet, as tears filled her eyes, it broke his heart, and the anger left him.
He wasn’t the type of man who could be so mean to a woman.
Yet this extraordinary woman made him react so quickly, no matter what she did.
She shook her head in denial. “I don’t know what happened,” she whispered. “All I know is how ill I felt, and I wanted to sleep in my family’s coach, which is where I thought I had fallen asleep.”
He loosened his hold as he narrowed his stare on her pretty face. Slowly, his anger disappeared as confusion filled him once more. “You don’t remember either?”
“Not much.” She licked her lips and swallowed noisily. “I recall waking up with you next to me…and not much more.”
“This is too coincidental,” he mumbled as anger filled him again, but for different reasons this time. “Miss Taylor, tell me truthfully. Had you been drinking at the ball last night?”
“No. I only had one glass of wine.”
“And I assume”—he kept his voice low—“that you are not accustomed to kissing men you don’t know?”
She gasped, and her eyes widened. “I am not like Jane. We are as different as night and day.”
Suddenly, Wayne heard Harold’s voice not far away and quickly released his hold on Regina’s wrist.
“Put a smile on your pretty face and pretend we are getting along,” he instructed Regina before giving her one of his brilliant smiles. “And so,” he said, acting as if he were right in the middle of another conversation, “that is how my father came to own five jewelry stores in Britain.”
Wayne turned to greet Harold as he and the other four men took their seats. Harold’s gaze bounced between Wayne and Regina. Wayne hoped she would appear normal for the earl’s sake.
“What did I miss?” Harold asked, looking toward the boxers.
“Both men are very good at what they do,” Regina said. “I’m glad I didn’t bet on anyone because, at this point in the match, I don’t know who will win.”
“Splendid.” Harold beamed, keeping his eyes on the boxers. “Matches like these are the best type.”
“Indeed, they are,” Wayne replied, pretending to be involved in the sport.
Although he enjoyed the occasional boxing match, today’s event wasn’t what interested him at all.
Instead, it was the beauty sitting next to him with the impossible temper.
She was a viper of the worst kind—so pretty and alluring, but could strike at you at any given moment and injure one’s pride. It saddened him that he was her target.
As the match continued, he tried to keep his attention on the boxers.
However, as he relaxed, his gaze felt the magnetic pull, and he looked at her lovely face, especially her tempting mouth.
She had been the perfect kisser. Usually, after kissing women, he didn’t ponder on it the next day, but Regina was different, and he wished his mind would close to everything that had happened while they were in the coach… what he recalled, anyway.
Wayne still wanted to believe he had been poisoned in some way, and now he wondered if Regina had, too.
After all, she couldn’t remember much either.
If only there were a way to know if his feelings were because of the poison in his body or if his confused attraction toward her was real.
Yet why would Harold do that to Regina when he thought of her as a daughter?
Soon, the boxing match had ended, and Wayne was relieved. He didn’t know who had won. Thankfully, he hadn’t placed a bet on anyone. Obviously, he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to make any rash decisions.
The earl’s group walked outside and to their coaches. Harold moved with his so-called nephews but stopped and pointed to his own coach. “Regina, dear, I will be a moment longer, so you and Mr. Worthington can wait for me inside the vehicle.”
Wayne could see that Regina wanted to argue, but instead, she squared her shoulders and nodded. The footman assisted Regina inside, and Wayne climbed in behind her.
Silence lagged between them and grated on his nerves.
Something had to be said, but what? He glanced out the window, wondering how long the earl would be gone.
If Harold didn’t hurry, Wayne wasn’t sure what would happen between him and the beautiful woman sitting across from him.
He wasn’t sure how he would react if she kept looking at him with her curious silver-blue eyes.
*
Regina nibbled lightly on her thumbnail, growing wearier by the second of the endless disturbance in the air between her and Wayne.
If he had been any other man, under different circumstances, she would have concluded that her odd feelings were those of attraction.
But because this was Wayne Worthington, she hadn’t known what could have possessed her to think of him in such a romantic way.
If he didn’t say something soon, she’d scream.
Since their little discussion in the stadium, she had been rehashing in her mind every word he had said, and most of it confused her.
He led her to believe that he hadn’t remembered much of last night, either.
He had even said something about it being too coincidental.
Everything that had happened to her lately made her head pound with confusion, and she was tired of it.
Taking a deep breath for courage, she turned in the seat and faced him.
He looked out the window, which gave her a moment to study his profile.
He was certainly one handsome man. His dark hair was thick, but thankfully, it wasn’t long and unruly as on some men she knew.
Wayne’s wide chest and shoulders let her know how powerfully built he was.
He was taller than most men she knew. Yet she recalled how well she fit while in his arms.
“Mr. Worthington?” Her voice squeaked softly from not being used for a while.
He whipped his head around and looked at her. Surprise registered on his chiseled features. “Yes?”
“I need to know something.” She paused, putting her thoughts together. “Why did you say what you did about last night?”
His brows drew together in puzzlement. “What do you mean?”