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“Liar.” She jutted her finger out but he’d moved close enough that it poked him in the chest. “Tell me the truth.”
“The truth is that even when you are angry, you’re bloody interesting.” He grabbed hold of her finger but she pulled it away.
Then she took a step back. She couldn’t trust herself when he touched her. Hadn’t she proven that when she allowed a rogue too close, she crumbled? Even more so with Rex. The man had her body humming even as her mind screamed for her to step away. “I told you to stay where you are.”
“Petal, I’m not going to do anything untoward.” His voice had dropped low and soft.
She refused to be fooled by his charm. “That’s what all rakes say.”
“Do most rakes confess that they’ll never marry again?”
Chapter Six
“I beg your pardon? Again?” She heard the words. Understood them. But she couldn’t make sense of them.
He ran his hand through his hair. “I was married once. It was a marriage of convenience more than anything else. I know I’ve told you I’ve been on a ship. Well, I spent so much time sailing because I have holdings in Barbados. During one of my trips down to check on them, my wife caught a disease of the lungs and died. Here in England. Alone.”
Her heart squeezed in her chest. Why did that mean he wouldn’t marry again? If he hadn’t loved her, why was he so adamant on not taking another wife? How long ago was this? How often did he travel to Barbados? She cleared her throat. None of this should matter. He had a life waiting for him in Barbados, and she was to enjoy the new life that Violette’s marriage would provide for her. New possibilities, including a husband of her own. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Don’t feel sorry for me. I don’t deserve it. I shouldn’t have left her alone for months on end.” He scrubbed his scalp with both of his hands. “I told you I was a rake yesterday to warn you away from me. I’ve no intention of doing anything that would compromise you. I simply wanted you to understand the sort I was. I see that you do, but know that your virtue is safe with me.”
Daffodil didn’t have a clue what to say to that other than to prove he was lying. She didn’t believe for a moment her virtue was safe. He’d told her that story as a ploy to gain her trust. “Why did you scale the garden wall last night?”
“You are curious about my reasons. I knew it. I don’t know why you keep denying it.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“We’ve been over this. I am interested in proving what you just said was complete hogwash.” Her hands come to her hips. “I am very sorry for you loss, I really am. And I appreciate that your friend, my future brother-in-law, sent you here because he trusted you. But I, my lord, do not. You were not scaling a wall to my bedroom to put out a fire.”
He cocked his head to one side. “You’re awfully smart for someone who can’t cook.”
She stomped her foot. “Is that the secret to being a rogue? Never admit when you are acting roguishly?”
His mouth opened, then he shut it, then he opened it again. Then he slowly shook his head.
Her fists, which were resting on her hip, tightened. She was getting nowhere. Turning on her heel, she began stomping out of the kitchen. Might as well check on the doctor. The longer she stayed, the more she worried she’d forget her position and allow him to convince her he wasn’t a rogue even as he attempted to hold her in his arms.
“Petal,” he called. “Come back. I bought hens so that I might show you how to cook them.”
Drat. She stopped, considering for a moment. She should never have requested he teach her to cook. It was a terrible idea to spend time with him. Her sister was marrying a duke, she wouldn’t need to know how. Then again, what if she had to ask Rex to leave? As rakish as he was, needing to remove him from the house was a distinct possibility. She had no money and no means to send her sister a message. They could be on their own again for some amount of time. “You shouldn’t call me Petal, for Pete’s sake. That is a name for family.”
“We’re practically family. Your sister is marrying my best friend.” He opened the stove as he spoke.
“Where is my brother? He needs to chaperone this little lesson. The doctor can not come back and find us together. It’s bad enough he left us alone in the kitchen.”
“Excellent point. I will find him. You stay here. Lesson one is to put one piece of wood on the fire and let it burn to coals. Too much wood and your fire will be too hot.”
She turned then. “So that’s what I was doing wrong.” But he was already disappearing through the other kitchen door. The man was insufferable.
* * *
Petal was delightful. Truly. He would help Theo make a match for her, she deserved a man of intelligence and grace who would appreciate her sense of humor.
The thought, however, of another man feeling those supple curves made his insides twist into angry knots. How many men would truly appreciate her intelligence and wit and not just her beauty?
Clearly a man had tried to take advantage of her already. That was one situation he was determined to discover more about.
He found Jacob in the stable, brushing down the one remaining horse. “Hello there,” he called to the lad.
“Hello.” Jacob waved.
