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“But…” She gulped down her feelings of uncertainty. “We just…”
“I know.” He took a liberal swallow. “It was glorious.”
“You promised,” she whispered, not knowing what else to say, hurt pulsing in her chest.
He took another long drink. “My uncle has this effect.”
She grabbed the drink from his hand before he could even realize what she was about to do and swallowed the rest. “You let him have an effect.”
“I suppose I do.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Ever since I was a boy, he’s been telling me I’m no good.”
“You’re not a boy, you’re a man, and you are plenty good.” She stomped a slippered foot as he removed the glass from her hand.
“Are you certain about that? I seem to be corrupting you.” He frowned fiercely, lifting the bottle to pour himself another glass.
“Ethan.” Her voice broke on his name. “Please don’t.”
He set the bottle down again. “All I’ll do is ruin you, Red. And I don’t mean your reputation. I mean you.”
“Call me Natalie.”
He looked at her as he raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t dare.”
“Why not?” Her breath hitched. “Red isn’t my name.”
“That’s the point, I suppose.”
“Natalie,” she repeated emphatically. “Please, Ethan. Don’t break my heart again.”
His hand fell away. “Natalie, I’m no good for you.”
Her hand smacked into his chest, anger rising in her like the tide. “Ethan Somersworth, you are going to listen to me.”
Damn, this was harder than he thought. He’d determined to not just walk away, nor would he leave her wondering how he felt, but somehow, he’d realized two key factors when he’d seen Natalie and his uncle. First, that he was a bad influence on Natalie, and second, when it came to his uncle, Ethan was a huge part of the problem between the two men.
His uncle was a cad. There was no denying that. But Ethan had taken every opportunity to be defiant, every chance to be wicked, until it had become a deeply engrained habit. One he was uncomfortable changing.
Had he just done the same with Natalie? He should know better than to pull her into a room alone and then touch her in the most indecent of ways. Well, not the most indecent. He could think of a few acts that would be worse, but he’d been wicked when it would have been more beneficial if he’d stayed on a straight path. Unlike with his uncle, however, he couldn’t quite regret what had just happened with Natalie.
The sight of her coming undone had been glorious. His cock still ached in his breeches. His eyes fixed on the bottle once again.
“Don’t.” She placed her hand over his. “If you don’t want to change, that’s fine. I mean, I hate it, but I’ll accept it. But if you do wish to be a different man, then you start right here, right now.”
He scoffed. “By corrupting you?”
“Is that what you did? You were corrupting me? Because I just let you touch me?” She shook her head. “In my opinion, what we did is the natural order of the world.”
Oh, how he loved that answer. The physical side of their relationship could be so good. She had a wild streak that she was desperate to unleash. He wanted to be the man to help. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t still worried he was no good for her. “No. I corrupted you when I had you lie to my uncle.”
She sucked in a breath. “But…” She shook her head. “I was holding up my end of the bargain. I couldn’t tell him that you’d vomited on my shoes or made up the kitten to get rid of the footman.”
“I know, but that’s the problem. That’s how I act. You shouldn’t.”
She crossed her arms. “But that’s what I wanted to accomplish. I was tired of being a boot scraper for everyone else. I needed to learn to stand up for myself.”
