Upton had said she was gorgeous last night. Had he meant it? Or was that what rakes said to all of the ladies they had assignations with in drawing rooms? More than asking her to remove her mask, telling her she was gorgeous had caused her to push him away. He couldn’t mean it. It wasn’t true. She wasn’t gorgeous. The thought that he’d lie to her like that, that any man would lie to a woman like that, had made her go cold inside.

She was plump and plain. Well, perhaps not plump, not any longer, but she’d always be plump in her head. And the plainness, that would never go away. Perhaps with the demimask on her face and the large quantity of alcohol Upton had obviously consumed last night, he’d been momentarily lulled into the belief that he was with a beautiful woman. But nothing about last night had been true. That’s why she hadn’t told Lucy or Cass about it. That’s why she could never let Upton suspect it was her. It wasn’t just the potential embarrassment. It was because it was only a figment of her imagination, or might as well have been.

*   *   *

Garrett glanced away every time Miss Lowndes, uh, Jane—he needed to think of her as Jane now that he’d kissed her senseless last night—looked at him. He was beginning to feel conspicuous about it and was certain she’d noticed. Jane was intelligent. She may have already realized it had been him last night. He couldn’t look at her. But he did. Again. As if his eyes were drawn to her. He wanted to see her, really see her. In the past he hadn’t given a passing thought to her looks. She was just Miss Lowndes, Lucy’s friend who drove him a little mad with her know-it-all attitude and penchant for making fun of him.

Now, all he could think about was her luxuriant hair, the smell of her perfume. Lilacs. Why did it have to be lilacs? That little spot just under her chin that tasted so damn sweet. Christ, what had come over him? The urge to snatch off her glasses and pull the pins out of her hair and look upon her face and see the woman he’d been with last night was nearly overpowering. If they were alone, if they weren’t at a table full of people in the open air, he just might do it. What would Miss Lowndes do if he dared?