The Marriage Auction: Book One(85)
I shrugged. “I’m game. Terms?”
Nile rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb. “You win Ruby’s hand, you not only secure the 2 percent governing interest, but I will gift you my beloved as a wedding present.”
I jolted to attention, sitting up straighter in my seat. “In exchange for what if I lose?” My heart raced behind my chest and sweat misted the edges of my hairline. I loved his prized Aston Martin One-77 almost as much as I adored my Ferrari FXX-K.
“The Ferrari, of course,” he challenged.
My race car was the one thing I’d bought myself that I truly loved. That car represented not only my success, as it was the first thing I purchased when I’d finally turned an enormous profit from my nightclubs, but it also filled that need I’d had for incredibly pretty, unattainable things as a boy. I even had a toy model of the same car sitting on my desk at the Pennington Entertainment headquarters in downtown London.
Could I wager the one thing that could make me weep if I lost it?
“It’s only a car, brother. Why so glum? Afraid you’ll lose?” Nile taunted, a jaunty brow cocked high up his forehead.
I hated his ability to do that. I’d tried a thousand times as a kid to cock my eyebrow the way he and our father could, but I’d never mastered it. I shook my head. My ego blistered white-hot as the familiar sibling rivalry reared its ugly head between us .
“Not concerned at all. I agree to your wager and terms.” I prodded another asparagus so hard the tines clanked off the fine bone china that had been in my family for generations.
“Noah,” the governess snapped at my crude behavior.
“My apologies.” I changed the subject wanting out of any further discussion about Ruby, the wedding, or my lovely Ferrari and the ridiculous wager I’d just made.
The next day, I entered the wing of our manor that contained a series of guest suites. Unfortunately, I was a smidge too late.
Ms. Bancroft was standing next to Ruby’s door with a house attendant who was knocking loudly on the door.
Before I could inject myself into the already tense approach Ms. Bancroft was about to take with Ruby, the door opened, and the woman herself appeared. She wore a long, elegant, blood-red robe that I recognized instantly. It was the same one she’d worn on stage when she revealed her assets underneath to the greedy gazes of the rich and famous only a few days ago.
Ruby’s hair was a knotted mess of spun gold as she rubbed at her eyes, clutching the satin precariously with one hand between her breasts. I could tell she wasn’t wearing knickers as there were no lines at her hips and her nipples were beading against the fabric delectably. If it had been just me at the door, I’d have leered openly and made a dastardly inappropriate comment to make her blush and laugh. The woman was magnificent when she laughed and let her inner light shine freely.
The governess waved her hand to the attendant who scurried away .
“Ms. Dawson, if you expect to marry into the Pennington lineage, you’ll have to do far better than to roll out of bed at a such a late hour looking like you were run over by the bin lorry. Have some decency, child.”
Ruby blinked several times and cleared her throat. “Um, I’m sorry. Am I late to y’all’s dinner?” she asked in that sweet Southern accent that made my cock take notice.
“Dinner? Child, you slept through dinner and the evening. It’s now half past ten in the morning,” the governess chided with a scowl. “There are amazing devices called alarm clocks. Please familiarize yourself with them as we have a strict schedule to keep over the coming weeks. We haven’t a moment to waste if we are to prepare you for your wedding.”
Ruby’s hand slipped from holding her robe as she covered her mouth in shock, presumably worried about having slept through not only dinner but through to the next day. Watching her fear and concern slip across her pretty face… I could have eaten up her innocence.
“I’m so sorry! My gosh! I never sleep well, but that bed was a like a cloud.” She pointed a thumb over her shoulder, and when she did, the satin at her chest parted at the lapels and a beautiful, rounded breast popped out and said hello.
The tip was a ruddy brown disc the size of a two-pence coin that I wanted to lick, nip, and sink my teeth into until she screamed for mercy.
The governess gasped, stepped back, and turned around abruptly.
Ruby frowned, and her gaze finally met mine.
I pointed to her chest without saying a word.
She looked down as a horrified expression tore across her face and she jumped into action and covered herself. Her cheeks and neck flamed a bright rosy color that almost matched the robe. Her bottom lip trembled for a moment before she firmed her jaw, pressed her lips together, and stood up straight .
I’d never been more proud of a woman than I was in that moment.
She faced incredible odds against her and yet she had the strength and grit to accept her situation and battle through it.
“I’m sorry for my appearance and for missing dinner. It will not happen again. If you will be so kind as to allow me the time to shower and pull myself together, I will happily attend anything you have planned. I’m not known for being the best student, but I’m a fast learner and that has to count for somethin’.”
“Something. Something-gah.” The governess enunciated the word.
Ruby clenched her teeth and then shockingly, smiled and repeated the word perfectly. “Something.”