“No, I... I didn’t mean that... you... that we... I simply meant that if there’s any chance in the world that I might change my mind and someday marry... my husband should be the first to... plow, so to speak.” Or so her mother had told her countless times.A man isn’t going to purchase the cow if he can get the milk for free.Such a flattering way to make her point, to ensure her daughter felt like livestock.
“A couple can fuck without actually fucking.” His low voice hinted at secrets that he was willing to share. “To be honest, I have considerable experience at proving that true. You need only grant me permission...”
His voice trailed off, leaving much unspoken but far too much communicated. She had little doubt thatwhen you’re readywas implied, a foregone conclusion he’d reached, thinking her unable to resist his allure. But she would resist because if she’d learned anythingtonight, it was that he held far too much power, could turn her into a wanton with little more than the darkening of his eyes promising a kiss.
“My mother is no doubt frantically searching for me.”
He bestowed upon her a broad smile that practically shouted, “Coward!”
Stepping back, he began to straighten his disheveled state, tucking the ends of his shirt into the waistband of his trousers. She could hardly believe she’d been unabashed enough to practically undress him. And yet she couldn’t seem to regret knowing exactly how warm his skin was.
“I’ll escort you to the path,” he said evenly, “but from there it would be best if you carried on alone. We don’t want to be seen together.”
“Don’t like being written up in the gossip sheets?”
“Worse than that would await, I’m afraid, judging by the eagerness of your mother to see you married to a titled gent.”
Was he implying that he considered marriage to her to be a horrible fate? Well, she needed to set him straight regarding her own feelings on the matter. “She may be eager for it, but I’m not. I think a husband could prove... stifling.”
He canted his head and studied her. “Not if he’s the right husband.”
“How does one determine that when courtship, for the most part, involves sitting around and drinking tea?”
“What is it that you’d prefer to marriage?”
“Managing the business.”
“Do you not have a competent man to oversee it?”
She reeled with disappointment. A short while ago, his mouth was doing wonderfully delicious andwicked things to hers. And now it was spouting obnoxious advice on a matter that was truly none of his concern. “Women are competent.”
His eyes widened at her sharp tone. “I didn’t say they weren’t.”
“You implied it.”
He seemed at a loss, or perhaps he wasn’t accustomed to arguing with women. Or having one challenge his assumptions. “I didn’t mean to give offense. I’ve simply never known a woman to oversee a large, complicated enterprise.”
“You don’t think managing a household is complicated?”
“I’ve never really given it any thought.”
“Most men don’t. They think everything happens magically or is seen to by fairies during the night.”
His gaze was once more homed in on her with an intensity she couldn’t read. “I shall hope you get your investors, Miss Garrison.”
To see her succeed? To see her fail? She dared not ask. Nor did she want to know his opinion on investing with them. Didn’t want to learn that the kiss might influence him one way or the other, to discover she had no womanly wiles with which to entice. But if she did, she didn’t want them to be the reason for his endorsement. She wanted the business to stand on its own as she’d never been allowed to do. “We should go,” she said instead, coward that she was.
“By all means.” He offered his arm, but if she touched him again, she might ask—beg—for another kiss, even if it was a farewell one. But she’d been begging all along, hadn’t she?
Still, she wrapped her fingers around the crook ofhis elbow and welcomed his leading her toward the path. “Did your valet appreciate your filthy coat being handed over to him?”
“He was giddy with excitement.”
She liked having that special moment shared with him, a few minutes that were hers to own. Unwisely, she yearned for more of them. “There seem to be a lot of places in this city where women can get into mischief,” she said.
“Indeed.”
“Have you ever been to this Fair and Spare?”
