Lady in Demand by Wendy Vella

then he had ruined it.
    Horrid beast. Well, she would waste no more time on a man that found her so lacking. Instead, Phoebe would push him and his kisses from her head and concentrate on her new business venture.
    It had been wonderful, though, being held in his arms and pressed against his solid chest while he had stroked her body to life with his kisses and hands. Phoebe had lost every rational thought in seconds when Finn had touched her. He had woven a sensual spell around her in just a matter of minutes, and had he decided to strip her bare she would have allowed him to, and that was a terrifying thought. She had always vowed to never let a man control her, yet she had done just that.
    “Phoebe, come and meet my father.”
    She smiled as Hannah appeared before her, and hoped it did not appear forced. “I would love to meet him,” she said, taking the hand her friend held out towards her.  
    “Papa, I would like to introduce you to Miss Langley.”
    Phoebe felt a genuine smile on her lips as she looked at Hannah’s father. Big in every way, from his girth to his height, Lord Wooller bowed elegantly over her hand. His hair was white as snow and his black eyes were filled with the same intelligence as his daughter’s. Thick eyebrows rose and fell as he studied Phoebe.
          “Well now, this is a pleasure to be sure,” he said in a voice loud enough to reach all four corners of the room. The fingers that engulfed hers were large and warm and Phoebe felt some of the tension inside her begin to ease.
          “I have heard so many wonderful things about you, Lord Wooller, that I told Hannah we must meet”  
    He wore his clothes effortlessly, also like his daughter, and to Phoebe’s eyes he suited the title of Lord Wooller perfectly.  
          “Did she, now,” he said, releasing her hand to pat his daughter’s cheek. “Tis not often I hear praise coming from her mouth, if truth be told.”
          “And you have no one but yourself to blame for that, Papa, as it is you that have taught me to speak as I find.”
          He shook his head. “It is a sad day, Miss Langley, when your only child finds you lacking.”
          “You old phony,” Hannah said, placing a smacking kiss on his cheek which produced a deep belly laugh from her father and a hug that surely crushed Hannah’s ribs.
    Phoebe did not often see such genuine affection or emotion in the hallowed walls of a society gathering, yet there was no doubt that Lord Wooller and Hannah loved each other very much. Phoebe suddenly felt the loss of her own father and the bond they had shared. She wondered if she would have given him such a kiss were he standing beside her now. Yes, she liked to think that she would have and that he would have reciprocated with a hug.
          “I would be honored if you would call me Woolly, Miss Langley.”
          “Thank you, Woolly, it would be my pleasure,” Phoebe said, the name sounding funny on her lips. “And you must call me Phoebe.
    “I was just heading in for another piece of strawberry cake, ladies. Would you like to join me?”
          “I love strawberry cake,” Hannah sighed.
          “I had hoped to coerce our hostess into the recipe as it is the best I have ever tasted,” Lord Wooller said, “but I fear she is not willing to share it.”
          “Lead on then, Papa, strawberry cake beckons!”
          Lord Wooller took his daughter’s hand and then Phoebe’s, much to her surprise, and started towards the supper room, rather like a large ship towing two smaller vessels.  
          “It is not really done, Papa, to hold a woman’s hand as you are doing. We should really be holding your sleeve,” Hannah said, “and we should be walking at a sedate pace.”
    “You are not a woman. You are my daughter, therefore those silly rules do not apply.”
          And as far as Phoebe could tell that was the end of the