Page 66 of Love and the Shameless Lady

He shook his head. “I’ll take one volume at a time.”

“For heaven’s sake, why?”

“So I will have more opportunities to kiss you.”

“Tsk.” She glanced up and down the passageway. “Why bother? There’s no one here.”

“Precisely.” He pulled her close and lowered his lips to hers, and she should have resisted, but she didn’t. In one hand she clutched the books, and she brought the other between them, pressed against his chest, but she didn’t push him away.

Because it felt so very good. His hot breath, the sweetness of his lips moving on hers, the teasing movement of his tongue, tempting her to open her mouth beneath his.

Desire shimmered through her, all the way to her core.

She broke away. Her heart drummed, and she was breathless and most likely flushed. How annoying, because he couldn’t help but notice her response.

She stepped back. “That was unnecessary, Sir Julian. There’s no point in kissing me to prove we’re betrothed if there’s no one to witness us.”

“We don’t need to prove that. Everyone already believes us.” He smiled. “I kissed you because I wanted to, and you seemed to enjoy it, too.”

Yes, far too much, but she didn’t intend to discuss that. “Our association, Sir Julian, is not for the purpose of enjoyment. It’s to save my life. Kindly take these books and leave.”

He sighed gustily, accepted the books, and turned away.

Daisy shut the door. She was halfway across the room when she heard a strange sound. She whirled, to see the second and third volumes of The Lady’s Revenge lying on the floor. He had pushed them underneath the door!

Drat the man, why? Because he wanted to kiss her again—and she knew full well where that might lead. He’d said he wouldn’t seduce her . . . No, he’d said he wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want. And there was no doubt about it, she wanted him in a very physical way.

But wanting something and doing it were entirely different propositions, and she wasn’t a foolish eighteen-year-old anymore. If he wanted the next volumes, he would have to take them without a kiss.

Maybe he wouldn’t need them at all. She would make the list he had suggested, and she would also dredge her memory for what had inspired the bracelet in the first place. The only way to get rid of him, of the danger he presented to her comfort and peace of mind, was to take control and solve this mystery herself.

Thus fortified, she seated herself at the writing desk, took out pen, ink, and paper, and set to work. She had to refer constantly to her copy of The Lady’s Ruin. Just because she’d written it, didn’t mean she remembered every little detail or the sequence in which events had taken place! She rang for coffee and rock buns and persevered, despite having to mend her pen twice.

Soon the list of charms, and where they were lost, was in excellent shape. Only a few were described in the book, since they were too small for any detail to matter.

Candlestick — London

Crown — Cambridge

Goddess — Melton Mowbray

Medieval Triptych — Scarborough

Bones (like the crossed bones of a pirate flag) — Newcastle

Rose — York

Queen (in a plant pot) — Manchester

Book — Shrewsbury

Vase — Oxford

The only charm with a suspicious connection was the crossed bones, but most of the other towns were not on the coast, so a tie to piracy made no sense.

Onward to The Lady’s Revenge, which she’d written more recently and therefore remembered better. In the first volume, Dianthus sailed via a smuggling vessel to France, to rescue her mother’s aristo-turned-prostitute friend, Cécile. The two adventuresome ladies then collaborated first to recover the candlestick charm from London. On the way to Cambridge, they detoured to Huntingdon for Cécile’s sake, to play highwaymen in a daring recovery of a parure that had been stolen from the Bourbons in France.

At this point, Cécile proved a bit deceptive, for she’d led Dianthus on by intimating that she knew how to recover the crown charm, but she’d had it in her possession all the time, having gained it by some convoluted process which Daisy didn’t bother explaining in the book. Which was sheer laziness, Daisy knew, but she’d been in a hurry to get to the end.