Utterly Devoted by Regina Scott

only detect the strong odor of rose water. Of course, it could have come from the lady who leaned provocatively past him as he stood beside the refreshments. He purposefully moved on.
    As he did so, he considered Portia’s words again. She obviously thought to warn him away from Eloise. He had no intention of giving up his pursuit until he had won Eloise’s forgiveness, but Portia had no way of knowing that. Yet even if Eloise had forgiven him that night and freed him to pursue other women, he wondered whether he’d have the interest. He’d already decided she was the most interesting and worthy woman on the ton that Season. Why should he settle for anything less?
    Curious about his own reactions, he tried dancing with several of the other ladies present. The first was so nervous that she tripped over her own feet and fell neatly into his arms on the dance floor. She fled in mid-set, upsetting the pattern of the dance and forcing him to quit the floor. The second refused his offer to dance with a sniff of her aristocratic nose. He spotted Lady Hastings nearby, smiling with obvious satisfaction, and wondered whether she’d had anything to do with the refusal. The third accepted his offer and acquitted herself well, but he felt no more than a momentary spark of interest. So much for his pursuits.
    He decided he had better be sociable and did his duty by dancing with ladies who did not have partners. Their mothers or chaperones quickly claimed them afterward, as if he would ravish them in the middle of Almack’s crowded dance floor. He wanted to laugh. Only one woman in the hall held his interest, and she wanted nothing to do with him.
    But as the musicians tuned up for the next set, he found himself drawn to her side.
    “May I have this dance, Miss Watkin?”
    She stiffened as she turned to acknowledge him. “Mr. Darby. I thought you were otherwise engaged.”
    He followed her gaze to where Portia stood beside her stepmother. Both stared at him. Even from here, he could see that Portia worried at her lower lip. It looked as if the girl was forming an attachment to him. He’d have to disabuse that notion. He started by ignoring her.
    “If you were watching me,” he told Eloise, “you will note that I danced with other ladies before and after I danced with Miss Sinclair. In fact, I can safely say I have been the perfect bachelor this evening. Now I would like my reward.”
    She raised a brow. “You behave as you should, and you expect a reward?”
    He was beginning to feel exactly that. “I behaved as Society dictates, ignoring my own desires. I think that should be rewarded.”
    She looked at him suspiciously from the corner of her green eyes. “And just what desires did you ignore that I should find you so praiseworthy?”
    She most likely expected him to speak of his utter devotion to Portia. He bent his head closer to hers and drew her gaze to his own. “I wanted nothing so much as to cover your willing lips with kisses.”
    She swallowed, lashes fluttering lower. He could feel her breath come out in a soft gasp.
    “However,” he added, mindful of their audience, “I would settle for the next dance.”
    He wasn’t sure how she might react. It wouldn’t have surprised him had she bolted from the room. Instead, she raised her head to meet his gaze with defiance. “You are entirely too bold, Mr. Darby. I see no reason to encourage you.”
    “I have the best of reasons,” he assured her. “If you refuse to dance with me, you shall have to sit out for the first time tonight.”
    Around them, couples lined up for another quadrille. He could see the debate going on in her mind. She obviously loved to dance, yet if she declined his offer, she would be forced by Society’s rules to sit out this set. He nearly smiled as he found himself thankful for the rules for once. Yet, considering how she would react if she knew he thought he had the upper hand, he kept his face neutral.
    She shook her head suddenly, as if