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A half hour later, he was tucked against Miss Cowan in a hired hack, which was fortunate, for a light rain had begun to fall.
“I don’t know what to say, Captain, except thank you.” Her eyes were wide but there was no mistaking the pleasure in those depths. “Also, please don’t tell your mother.”
“Of course I won’t. I don’t need the lecture.” Bartholomew chuckled. Warmth filled his chest, but he didn’t just want her gratitude. He wanted… Hell, he didn’t know exactly what he wanted, for he was put at sixes and sevens in her company.
She turned toward him, her arm brushing his chest in the tight confines. “But the handkerchiefs I’m embroidering for you are not nearly equal to—”
Apparently, his mind had chosen that opportunity to leave, for he cupped her cheek, leaned into her, and stemmed the tide of her words. It was maddening how their first kiss beneath the mistletoe had addled his brain, but this one had the capacity to strip him of every defense he’d ever thrown up to guard against all women. Her mouth was warm beneath his, her soft lips trembling, cradling his as he explored with tiny nips and nibbles, and when she rested a gloved hand upon his chest with a tiny sound of approval in her throat, heated awareness came over him. His shaft awoke and tightened in surprising arousal, prompting him to stifle a groan of pure need.
But Grosvenor Square was a quick trip from the shops of Brook Street, and that meant there wasn’t time to deepen the embrace or teach Miss Cowan the things she should know about kissing a man back… or to unlock that banked desire gathering deep in the depths of those gorgeous, rich eyes. Once she was introduced to passion, would she grasp it with enthusiasm?
Bartholomew pulled away. He smiled into her upturned face. “Suffice it to say, Miss Cowan, you have already given me more than enough. There’s no need to feel compelled for anything more.”
Except let me kiss you in the way I want.
Damn, but he’d been without a woman for far too long if he was lusting after his mother’s companion who, by all accounts, wasn’t a great beauty or had anything to recommend herself. So why, then, did he find her beyond fascinating to the point he wanted to know so much more about her?
“Well, this day has certainly been full of surprises,” she said in a barely audible whisper that held a throaty edge which sent want shivering down his spine.
“Indeed.” What the devil was he to do now, for this was rather a sticky wicket, and he surely didn’t need a woman mucking up his life.
