One Night with Prince Charming (Aristocratic Grooms #2)(24)
Author: Anna DePalo

He glimpsed the deep pink color of the nail polish on her toes, and his gut tightened.

Heaven help him, but she packed a wallop in a small package. It was almost as if she’d been sent to entice him—to test his best resolutions.

He started toward her, but was suddenly stopped by a staying hand on his arm.

He turned his head to look inquiringly at Colin, Marquess of Easterbridge.

Colin gave him a careless smile. “Careful there. Your lady-killer ways are showing.”

Hawk let the side of his mouth quirk up. “The opposite is more likely the case. She looks harmless but—”

Colin laughed shortly. “They all do.”

Hawk had no doubt the marquess was also referencing his own wife, Belinda Wentworth, who legally remained the Marchioness of Easterbridge. Hawk was curious about the exact state of affairs between Colin and Belinda these days, but he didn’t want to pry. Colin was an enigma even to his friends at times.

“I have it covered,” Hawk responded. “I’m proceeding only with the best reconnaissance.”

Colin gave another knowing laugh. “I’ll wager you are.”

Hawk shrugged, and then started toward Pia again, leaving Colin standing where he was.

So what if the look he’d given Pia made it clear that he found her desirable, and everyone knew it?

Pia was looking at him expectantly right now, though there was also puzzlement in her eyes—as if she wondered about his brief exchange with Colin.

“I won’t offer you a drink,” he quipped as he reached her. “You look fabulous, by the way.”

There was no by the way about it, he thought. Everything else was tangential.

Pia flushed. “Th-thank you. I wouldn’t mind a glass of wine.”

He snagged a couple from a waiter who happened by, and handed one to her.

“Cheers,” he said as he clinked his glass to hers. “How is the wedding planning going? I understand from my sister that she’s been to your apartment twice this week.”

Pia took a sip of her drink. “Yes, we were discussing invitations and décor. Fortunately, she already had a dress picked out.” She smiled as if sharing a joke. “Everything with this wedding is going smoothly, so far.”

“I’ve only been to your apartment once. Can I express envy?”

Pia raised her eyebrows for a moment, and then laughed. She tapped him on the wrist. “Only if you play your cards right.”

Hawk hesitated. If he’d heard her correctly, she’d just met his flirtation with a bit of her own. He was used to banter between them, but it wasn’t usually so…receptive.

“How is Mr. Darcy?” he tried, testing. “Perhaps he’s in need of a male role model?”

“If he is, would you be one?”

Ah. “I am more than willing to try.”

Pia gave an exaggerated sigh. “Are you ever serious?”

In response, he banked his amusement.

“Would it matter if I said yes?”

Though he could lapse into well-practiced flirtation—he remembered his old self well—he felt the weight of his responsibilities too much these days to be anything other than what was expected of him. A duke.

Pia searched his eyes, and he held her amber ones solemnly.

“That comment was rather unfair of me,” she said. “I’ve seen how you feel a responsibility to your sister as the head of the family. A-and you’ve certainly helped me.”

“Lucy has been talking?” he queried, not answering her directly.

She nodded.

“Burnishing my image, that’s my girl.”

Over Pia’s shoulder, Hawk glimpsed Colin approach Belinda before Pia’s friend turned on her heel and stalked toward the door. Colin followed at a more leisurely pace, drink in hand.

Realizing that she no longer held his attention, Pia turned in the direction of his gaze. “Oh, dear,” she said in a low voice as she swung back to face him. “Was that a confrontation I just missed?”

Hawk looked down at her. “A near-miss. Belinda walked away before Easterbridge could approach her.”

“In contrast to you and me.”

He shot her a surprised look, and then gave her a game smile. “Some of us are lucky.”

Pia sighed. “Easterbridge should give Belinda the annulment that she’s looking for, and let her move on with her life. Instead, he seems to enjoy tormenting her.”

“My friends are not unlikable, despite what you may believe.”

“In a way, it’s hard to believe that you and Easterbridge are friends. He can’t get unmarried, while you—”

Hawk quirked a brow. “Yes?”

“—have never been married,” she finished lamely.

He could tell from the look in Pia’s eyes, however, that she had intended to label him a commitment-shy player. The fact that she hadn’t said something, at least.

Had Lucy’s words had a salutary effect on Pia’s opinion of him? There was only one way to find out.

Hawk took a sip of his wine. “Let’s turn back to a more soothing subject for my ego. Lucy has been singing my praises.”

A small smile rose to Pia’s lips, and she nodded. “Lucy mentioned that you’ve been working nonstop these past three years as you’ve moved into your role as duke, learned the running of the estates and started Sunhill Investments.”

“Are you surprised?”

Pia hesitated, and then shook her head. “No. You’ve acted…differently than you did three years ago.” She paused. “It must have been very hard for you after your father and brother died.”

He didn’t recollect stories about his father and his brother every day anymore—not like three years ago—but their joint passing had set his life on a new trajectory. “William and I were two years apart. We grew up as friends and playmates as well as brothers, though I always knew I got a free pass as the younger son while William had his life and responsibilities mapped out for him.”

It was more personal information than he was accustomed to divulging.

Pia didn’t look as if she was sitting in judgment, however. “And then one day the free pass disappeared…”

He nodded. “As fate would have it.”

“You had a reputation as a player,” she stated without inflection. “The stories—”

“Old news, but reports will hang around the internet forever.” His mouth twisted. “I do have two jobs that often take up more time than one person can handle, believe it or not. I do need to be serious for those.”