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“You know,” she hissed. “Books.”
“Do you mean the one about the sultan’s harem?” There was a glint in his eyes.
“Yes.”
“I’m impressed,” he said, his gaze dropping to her mouth.
The lemonade and water arrived, and Antoinette made a great production of sipping the cold, sweet liquid.
“So why did you carry on with matters when you weren’t the experienced woman I thought you to—”
Her glass thumped down onto the table. “I knew you were going to ask me that! I don’t know why. I just…it just happened.” But she wasn’t being honest and she knew it. Not being honest had got them into this mess in the first place.
Her hands tightened around the glass, and she stared fiercely into the pale lemonade. “Lord Appleby had already seen to it that my reputation was ruined and he was going to force me into marrying him. I wanted to fight him, to do something to spoil it for him. I used you, Mr. Langley, to revenge myself upon my abductor. It was as simple as that.”
Chapter 29
Gabriel was disappointed, although he hid it well—he was good at masking his feelings. He’d been hoping she’d say she made love with him because she couldn’t resist him, although he realized how foolish that was. Antoinette was trapped, frightened, and she must have seen the giving of her body as a way of taking control of the situation. What they did wasn’t about love, it was purely a physical attraction.
“I see,” he said. “Aphrodite has told me the story you told her, and you’ve just filled in most of the blank pages. The only question you haven’t answered is what you’re doing here in London.”
She gave him a wary look.
“We seem to be on the same side,” he said, watching as she took another sip of her lemonade. “Do you agree?”
“If you mean by being on the same side that we’ve both been wronged by Lord Appleby, then yes, we’re on the same side.”
“Then we need to help each other.”
“I don’t need your help.”
It was so patently untrue that he burst out laughing.
“Stop it, people are looking,” she said, glancing around. “What if Lord Appleby were to come by?”
“For his glass of lemonade and cream cake? Come, sparrow, let’s shake hands and be friends.”
She eyed his outstretched hand suspiciously.
“Remember,” he said slyly, “I wasn’t the only one pointing pistols at people. We’ve both been at fault. Now let’s put it behind us.”
She struggled a moment, but in the end her better sense won. She took his hand. Immediately he tightened his grip. Her eyes widened.
“Let me go!”
“I will. Tell me about this letter.”
A sideways glance under her lashes, flirtatious and wholly adorable. “If I tell you…”
“I can help you, Antoinette.”
“Let me go and I’ll think about it.”
He gave her the time she asked for. As she finished her lemonade he glanced at his fob watch, sighed, and leaned back in his chair, watching the patrons come and go from the refreshment room. The Crystal Palace was truly a wonderful thing, but just now he wanted to be somewhere else.
Preferably in bed with Antoinette.
The image made him smile. He embellished it further, imagining her mouth on his, and the little sounds she made when he was pleasuring her.
