As a footman passed by, she caught his jacket sleeve. He glanced down at her hand then gave her a look of surprise. “May I help you, my lady?”
“Yes,” she said, trying hard not to sound as dizzy as she felt. “My father sent me to fetch him a drink. He’d like a glass of scotch.”
“Scotch? Yes, my lady. I’ll fetch it immediately.” He disappeared into the crowd and Audrey stifled a nervous giggle.
Oh, she was doing something very wicked. If her mother discovered her, it would be the end of her. But she didn’t care.
“Here you are, my lady,” the young man said when he reappeared at her side.
She grabbed the tumbler from his tray and very nearly toppled it over. “That will be all.”
As she watched the young man walk away, she slowly sidestepped toward a large bush at the foot of the marble staircase. Once safely hidden behind it, she looked at the drink in her hand. The brown liquid swirled when she moved.
With a deep breath, she downed the entire contents of the tumbler. For a brief moment she didn’t feel the effects, but then hot fire roared down her throat before it wove through her chest into her stomach. Coughing, she dropped the tumbler into the grass and bent over to gasp for breath.
“I’ll be right back darling, I promise you.”
Audrey hiccupped. She had to be drunk, for she was hearing voices. Griffin’s voice to be more specific, and he was calling her darling.
“Just don’t be too long, there are many important people still to greet.”
This time it was a female voice that answered. Lucinda. Audrey realized the couple was standing just on the other side of the bush where she was hidden. When she heard them kiss, she nearly retched. Then she saw the top of Griffin’s head disappear up the stairs toward the house.
Audrey peeked around the edge of the hedge to watch Lucinda weave her way back into the crowd. Creeping around the bush, Audrey walked up the stairs into the Ashton house.
It was quiet as she shut the glass door behind her. She leaned back against the doorframe to take a few deep breaths. Her head spun, her vision was unclear and her stomach unsteady. Finally, she took a few steps forward, toward… what?
And then she knew. Griffin’s office was just a few feet away. In the distance, she could hear him shuffling papers and humming some tune she couldn’t place. Turning the corner, she looked inside.
Good Lord, how could a man be so handsome? He ran a hand through his hair, tousling it as he lifted up a book to look for something on his desk. He scanned over the piles of paperwork scattered without order on the cherry wood.
“Are you looking for something?” She stepped into the room with a small hiccup.
He looked up, obviously surprised by her sudden presence in his private room. But then his face softened with pleasure. “Audrey, you startled me. What are you doing here?”
She took another step closer and shrugged one shoulder. “A good question, to be sure, but one without a good answer. I simply found myself here.”
His eyes flickered as he looked her up and down, taking in her slightly disheveled appearance.
“Audrey, have you been…” His voice dropped a level. “Drinking?”
Another hiccup escaped her lips before she could hold it back, completely belying the denial on the tip of her tongue. “Only a glass of champagne. To toast your happy day.” The words tasted bitter.
He arched an eyebrow as he came around the desk and stood a few feet away from her. She could smell his skin, warm and musky. The scent filled her senses with the same potency as the alcohol she had consumed.
“Well, two glasses,” she admitted as she braved another step closer.
“Robert!” Griffin called into the hallway as he continued to stare at her. “Come in here, please.”
A young man appeared in the doorway almost instantly. “Yes, sir?”
“Will you fetch Lord Lockhart for me?”
“No, don’t bring Noah into this,” she pleaded with sudden panic gripping her. Noah would pity her for this and she hated that idea. “I don’t want him to see me-”
“Shh, don’t worry. This will be fine, Audrey,” Griffin reassured her as he caught her shoulder gently.
The heat of his fingers burned through the silk of her gown. Closing her eyes, she swallowed back a groan. Why did he have to touch her? Didn’t he know it made it all worse?
He yanked his hand away and cleared his throat uncomfortably before he leaned back against the desk edge. “Why did you come up here? Whatever you said a moment ago, you must have a reason.”
“I wanted to tell you-I wanted to say-” She swallowed back the emotions that had begun to overwhelm her. “I’ve only ever wanted you to be happy. But Luci, Luci won’t…”
He straightened up from the desk. “What about Luci?”
“She isn’t what she seems, Griffin.” Immediately she covered her mouth. What had she done? Ruined everything, that was what, for Griffin was now staring at her with the sharpness of a hawk.
“What do you mean?” he snapped. She turned away, but he placed a hand on her lower arm and held her steady. “What are you saying, Audrey?”
She shook her head. All she knew was that Lucinda Sutton… Lucinda Berenger… was a cruel, vindictive woman who managed to hide it very well behind a veneer of beauty and grace.
“Answer me,” he repeated and now his voice was as sharp as his expression.
He was so close she could feel his breath against her cheek. And it would be so easy to just…
“I have always loved you, Griffin Berenger,” she whispered before she rose to her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his.
He stiffened against her, but didn’t release her arm. In fact, he seemed too shocked to do anything, neither release her nor respond. But she didn’t care. All she knew was that he tasted like mint, and his lips felt like heaven against her own. Then those lips moved and for a brief moment she thought he kissed her back. Before she could be sure, a sharp female voice pierced the silence of the room.
“What is going on in here?”
Griffin wrenched his mouth from hers with a stunned expression. He took a step toward the door where Lucinda now stood. Her normally pretty face was red and twisted with anger and hatred.
“Luci,” he began, shaking his head as he nudged past Audrey with only a quick, guilty side-glance. “This isn’t what it appears.”
Luci barked out a disbelieving laugh. “So that little trollop wasn’t just kissing you, Griffin?”
Audrey dipped her head in response, unable to look at either one of them. Had Griffin kissed her? Really kissed her? No, it had to be a trick of her drunken imagination.
“She is highly inebriated, Luci,” he said with an edge to his voice. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
“Really?” Luci stormed into the room to plant herself directly in front of Audrey. “I don’t believe that for a moment. You know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you?”
Audrey could hardly hear over the rush of blood in her ears and the pounding of her pulse in her veins.
“I’m sorry,” she offered as stinging tears began to slide down her cheeks. And her words were true. What she had done was so very, very wrong. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t you even dare cry!” Luci screamed, slapping Audrey with enough force to send her stumbling back.
“Lucinda!” Griffin rushed forward to catch his wife’s hand before she could repeat the action. “That’s enough!”
He dragged Luci away and turned her to face him, but before he could say anything more, his wife yanked his head down to her and kissed him hard. Audrey bit back a loud sob as she turned her head away.