She could feel her skin heating, the blush undoubtedly evident to anyone in a three-block radius, thanks to her pale skin. “With a ride home?”

“Eventually. I have more than that planned, however.” He faced Mamie and Justine. “Ladies, may I steal her away?”

“Please do,” Mamie said. “Justine and I will take the long way home, just in case our parents are still awake.”

“And we’ll tell your maid you’ve come down with a stomach ailment,” Justine added. “That’ll buy you even more time.”

“Thank you,” Florence told them before meeting Clay’s gaze. “Are you actually here?”

“Come along and I shall prove it to you. My carriage is just ahead.”

Waving to her sisters, she allowed Clay to escort her to his carriage. On Fifth Avenue. Outside Sherry’s. In evening clothes. It hardly seemed real.

He stopped alongside a large black closed carriage. Clearly expensive, the conveyance was no rented hack. Gold accents and pearl inlays decorated the lacquered wood. He handed her up then called for the driver to depart. When he followed her inside, he sat across from her, his bulk almost comically large for the intimate interior.

“The way you look tonight,” he rasped. “You take my breath away.”

The compliment burrowed under her skin and wrapped around her heart. She’d never had a man stare at her as Clay did, so intently. Hotly. Like he burned for her. She felt that heat in her belly, in the thrumming of her blood. “You . . .” She could barely articulate her thoughts. Her, the woman never at a loss for words. “You look quite handsome.”

“Thank you.”

“What happened to not playing the gentleman with me?”

The side of his mouth hitched in a roguish, playful manner. “Allowances must be made on your birthday, don’t you think?”

“I wasn’t sure you remembered.”

“Of course. Twenty-two. Which is still too young but certainly older than you were yesterday.”

She bit her lip. Who was this man? This was an entirely different side of Clayton Madden. “Where are we going? Just a ride about town?”

“Now, what kind of present would that be?”

“You bought me a present?”

“In a roundabout way. But it’s a surprise.”

She peeked out the window. They were heading south on Fifth Avenue, already past Thirty-Fourth Street. “Are we going to the club?”

“That would be disappointing, were I hoping to surprise you. You’ve already seen the club.”

“So you’re taking me to a place I haven’t been before.”

Chuckling, he shook his head. “No more questions. You’ll not worm it out of me before we arrive.”

She nearly bounced on her seat with excitement. She couldn’t remember the last time she had this much fun. Though it was hard, she’d try to curb her curiosity for now. “Was there an intruder at the Bronze House last night?”

“No.”

“And your guard, the one knocked out. How is he faring?”