“Of course.”

Matt met her gaze squarely and told her, “I always keep my promises, CC.” With that, he moved off through the crowd.

CC started to follow Matthew, but John grabbed her by the arm and halted her progress.

“John?” She turned to look at him quizzically.

“I want to talk with you…” he said through gritted teeth.

“What? Why, of course…”

She went along unresisting as he pulled her back into an even more secluded corner.

“What is it? Are you worried about Matthew?”

“No, I’m not worried about him,” he dismissed quickly, having believed Matthew Kincade to be totally honest. “He’s the least of my worries…”

“Then what?”

“I want to know what’s going on with you and Kincade.”

“Matthew and me?” She was confused. There’s nothing between-”

“I know that, CC. Don’t play stupid. I don’t mean Matthew, I mean the older one…Noah.”

“Nothing,” she denied as firmly as she could.

“I don’t believe that, CC. I want to know how you came to be calling Lord Kincade by his first name!”

It was only then that she realized her mistake, and she hurried to try to cover her slip.

“He asked me to call him by his first name…” she managed.

“When, CC?” he demanded, his hold on her tightening. John had heard rumors that CC had been out in the garden with Lord Kincade the night of the ball, but she had been so attentive to him that night that he had dismissed them as unimportant. Now, though, they had taken on a whole new meaning for him, and he was consumed with jealousy. “When you were in the garden alone together?”

CC felt herself flush, and she jerked free of his bruising grip. “It’s none of your business, John! You have no hold on me!”

“Oh yes I do!” He tried to grab her again, but she eluded him and raced away outside into the night.

Her running out drew only a minimum of attention, but John knew all would be watching if he pursued her. Frustrated, angry, and seething with jealousy, he tried to bring his emotions under control as he turned his attention back to the speakers.

Noah’s mood was black as he sat alone in the plush interior of his hired coach. Nothing was turning out as he’d planned. Nothing.

The shambles that was his life seemed to be growing even more complicated, if that was possible. The differences between Matt and himself were pronounced, and it troubled him that they had little common ground anymore since their last fight.

Noah knew that he had been hard on Matt at the time, but he’d truly felt that he was making a mistake in deciding to marry Faith and stay on in Boston, and he’d wanted to convince him of the error of his ways. Noah sighed heavily as he admitted to himself that all he’d managed to do was to alienate Matt even more. Now, whenever their paths crossed, they spoke briefly, but not of anything of importance. The encounters always left him feeling oddly bereft.

Noah had hoped a return to his old devil-may-care ways would cheer him, and for that reason he had accepted Eve’s invitation to dinner. He scowled sullenly into the darkness as he thought of the past few hours. The evening had been a complete fiasco. He wondered again why he hadn’t been able to banish the emerald-eyed vixen, CC, from his thoughts when he had been holding the lush, willing Eve in his arms. He could have taken Eve. She would have reveled in it.

What the hell was the matter with him that he didn’t want a voluptuous, wanton, willing woman? A woman was a woman… Weren’t they all alike? The answer that forced its way into his consciousness left him completely stunned, and he immediately denied it as ridiculous. There was no way that CC Demorest meant anything to him. He knew what kind of woman she was. She was a deceitful, cunning witch, and he wanted no part of her.

As the image of CC making love with John Robinson flashed through his thoughts and tormented him, Noah cursed out loud at the vicious flare of jealousy that ignited within him, but he still refused to admit that he cared anything for her. The reason she was affecting him so, he decided with as much logic as he could muster, was because she’d been a virgin when he’d taken her. That was the only reason. There was nothing more to it than that.

The carriage was moving along at a goodly clip when suddenly it lurched to an abrupt, unexpected halt that threw Noah roughly against the wall.

“What the…” Swearing loudly, he thrust open the coach door and yelled out to his driver, “What’s happened?”

“A young boy, sir…run right out in front of me!” the driver told him as he jumped to the ground from his perch.

“Where? Is he injured?”

“I don’t know yet. He’s layin’ there kind of still…”

Concerned, Noah climbed out and hurried with the driver to see to the youth. The darkness hid the boy’s identity until Noah got close enough to recognize her. He stood in shock for a moment, staring down at CC’s inert form.

“CC…dear God…” He felt as if someone had torn his heart from his chest.

“You know ’im, sir?” The driver gave him a curious look as he wondered how such a fine gentleman could be acquainted with such an urchin.

“Yes, I know him,” Noah growled, kneeling beside her and touching his fingers to the delicate pulse point in her throat. The steady rhythm of her heartbeat sent blessed relief through him, and he was grateful when she opened her eyes and looked up at him.

“Noah…” Her voice was soft and confused.

“Yes,” he replied gruffly as he quickly disguised the feelings of joy that possessed him.

CC saw a flicker of some unknown emotion in his gaze but had little strength then to question it. “Noah…” It was a helpless sigh that wreaked havoc on his emotions, and with a muttered curse, he swept her up into his arms and strode back toward the carriage.

“Sir?” the driver asked, not knowing what to do as the gentleman placed the young boy in the carriage and then climbed in after him.

“Just drive for now. I’ll give you directions in a moment…” Noah instructed as he pulled the door shut.

The coachman stared at the closed door for a moment before returning to his seat and once again taking up the reins.

CC sat quietly in the comfort of the coach, her heart, her mind, her soul filled with Noah’s overpowering presence. When she’d opened her eyes after the accident and had seen Noah’s handsome face hovering above her in the darkness, it had seemed for just a moment that she had been dreaming…that there had been no one else in the world but the two of them. The feeling had been rapturous.

Ever since their encounter in the parlor the other day, he’d been constantly in her thoughts. CC didn’t understand why his touch and kiss could affect her so, but she knew that there was something about Noah Kincade that left her weak-willed and hungry for his touch. It worried her even as it fascinated her. She knew him. She knew what he was about and what he valued. He was not a man she could love, and yet she found herself irresistibly drawn to him.

CC sighed as the reality of the situation intruded on her. Running away from John, as she had, had been stupid. She shivered as she imagined the repercussions of anyone discovering her true identity. She was glad that she’d taken the time to anchor her tricorn so firmly, for that extra care had prevented it from being dislodged during the accident and had saved her from possible recognition.

Wearily she reached up to remove the pins that held the hat so securely. As she removed the tricorn and unpinned her hair, Noah turned to her. The relief he was feeling over the fact that she had suffered no lasting harm in the accident was quickly forgotten as his eyes met hers, and he read there what he thought to be her usual dislike of him. The thought infuriated him. He had just saved her from who-knows-what, and she had the gall to glare at him as if he were some kind of monster.