第9部分(第6/7 頁)

th　a　mouth　full　of　scrambled　egg。

？Darling；？　Lord　Marcus　Beaton…Rhodes　greeted　her　in　his　charming　British　accent。　？I？m　ing

round。　Just　wanted　to　make　sure　you　were　up；　love。？

？I？m　up；　I？m　up！？　Blair　was　unable　to　control　her　excitement。　She？d　spent　the　last　two　nights

alone；　and　her　horniness　was　bubbling　over　into　near…frenzy。　How　they？d　made　it　this　far　without

actually　doing　it；　she　wasn？t　sure。　Was　this　their　chance　for　a　morning　interlude　sans　knickers？

？Right；？　he　continued　in　his　charmingly　straightforward　way。　？I？ll　be　by　shortly。　And　I？ve　got　a

surprise。？

A　surprise！thought　Blair　giddily　as　she　shut　her　phone。　That　wasjust　the　kind　of　wake…up　call　she

needed　to　get　her　out　of　bed。　She　scurried　to　the　bathroom；　discarding　clothes　as　she　went。　Could

it　be　roses　and　caviar？　Chilled　champagne　and　oysters？　It　was　kind　of　early　in　the　morning　for　that；

but　judging　from　the　last　present　he？d　given　her？the　Bvlgari　pearl　earrings；　with　their　dangling

goldB　s？it　was　bound　to　be　good。　Some　equally　exquisite　symbol　of　his　undying　love？　Everyone

back　in　New　York　was　so　insanely　jealous　of　her　perfect　English　boyfriend　that　they？d　spread

rumors　Marcus　was　already　engaged。　There　was　only　one　way　to　putthat　rumor　to　rest　forever：

return　to　New　York　wearing　his　ring。　Preferably　a　flawless；　four…carat；　emerald…cut　diamond；

although　an　old　family　heirloom　would　do。

How　humble　of　her。

Lord　Marcus　had　initially　invited　her　to　spend　the　summer　at　his　father？s　Knightsbridge　mansion；

but　when　he？d　picked　her　up　from　Heathrow　in　his　chauffeur…driven　cream…colored　Bentley　he？d

taken　her　straight　to　Claridge？s。　？We　simply　haven？t　got　the　room；　sweet