Page 40 of The Seduction of an English Scoundrel

His touch sent another sparkling tremor all the way down to her toes. She inhaled slowly. “Until yesterday, I would have been able to answer that question quite convincingly. Sedgecroft, you are such a hypocrite.”

He blinked, totally taken aback. “I am?”

“You are!”

He sounded embarrassed and amused at the same time. “I am not.”

“You are. What do you think we were doing a few minutes ago? Or is such imprudent behavior so standard for you that you are not even aware of it?”

He lowered his handsome face to hers. “Of course I haven’t forgotten. I don’t think you have either. It was something, wasn’t it?”

“Will you kindly not stray from the subject? It is a critical rule of polite conversation.”

The corners of his mouth quirked in the heart-stopping grin that had brought stronger gentlewomen than Jane to their knees. “Isn’t the subject kissing?”

He removed his fingers from her chin, but his sensual mouth hovered only a breath from hers. His magnetism was distracting. “This is a diversionary tactic on your part to lure me from the true topic.”

“Oh? And how am I luring you, may I ask?” he said.

“The true topic,” she said forcefully, praying for the strength to resist the pleasures of his enticing mouth, “is that you and I were guilty of the same sin for which you berated Chloe and her officer.”

There. She had done it, made her point and resisted him at the same time, an effort that left her quite exhausted. Let him refute that logic.

“That was different,” he said airily.

Her lips parted on a gasp. “How do you come to that startling conclusion?”

He was infuriatingly cool. “For one thing, my motives were not in question. I take full responsibility for my sins. Contrary to popular belief, I am not in the habit of seducing every woman I meet.”

“Are you a celibate scoundrel?”

“A selective one,” he replied. “I have no idea why my few indiscretions are of such interest to everyone.”

“You brought two of your past mistresses to my wedding!”

“But did anyone actually see me in the arms of these women?”

“Of course not. It was a chapel, after all.”

“Well, then. No one has really come forth with any evidence that I am a reprobate.”

“The fact that the civilized world is afraid to confront you with your sins does not in any way absolve you of them.”

“The proof, Jane?” His deep chuckle sent a shiver down her back. “The witnesses?”

“The point, Sedgecroft,” she retorted, fully aware he had diverted her. “The topic of conversation. If you want Chloe to conduct herself in a seemly fashion, then it is not enough to lecture and threaten her. You must set an example.”

He blinked his gorgeous blue eyes. “That is why I am making amends to you, Jane. That is why I am helping to straighten out the scandal my cousin made of your life. To show my family how a Boscastle must behave.”

“And kissing me in the pavilion demonstrates this in what way?”

“All right. I admit it. That was a slight detour on the road of my decent intentions. Did it hurt anything?”

“Well.”

He smiled. He meant to help her, to heal her. She was an unusual woman, possibly too much of a personality for Nigel to manage. Perhaps being betrayed had altered her perception. She had felt defenseless and delicate in his arms. But her mind was not defenseless. Oh, no. She had hidden weapons that assaulted a male before he could raise a shield. It would take a long time for her to trust again. Could she trust him? Grayson was not sure.

“I could have kissed you for days,” he murmured ruefully. Shaking his head, he traced the prominent curve of her cheekbone with his thumb. “You wouldn’t mind, would you?”