“No, but he will want to see me,” she muttered. “You must know about the newspaper flashing my name with his and I cannot afford for him to smear my name anymore.”
“Dear me,” the man muttered. “Come in, please. I will see if His Grace is—”
“No need, Lane,” the duke’s voice came from the landing atop the sweeping staircase. “Send her up.”
Drawing the cowl from her head, Bridget gazed up to see him and was shocked to catch him improperly dressed. When the butler led her up to the landing, she swallowed a little at seeing his thick arms bared.
He looked like he had rolled out of bed and dunked his head into a basin of water to shock himself into wakefulness, with how his midnight hair curled at the collar of his brocade dressing robe. The deep V of his lapels showed the corded column of his throat, an intriguing glimpse of his muscled chest.
Levering from the balustrade, he asked, “No chaperone?”
“I did not think I needed one,” Bridget notched her head up. “I figured I only needed to spend less than a quarter-hour to get my point across.”
“Well, speak your piece then,” the duke said, while they stepped into a breakfast room, the sideboard oddly scant. “I would offer you tea but I do not think we have any. Coffee, perhaps?”
She wrinkled her nose. “No, thank you.”
“Suit yourself,” he shrugged, while pouring a cup and slumping into a wingback, head lolling to the side. “What do you need?”
“Ineedyou to stop ruining my life,” Bridget declared emphatically while pulling out the folded newspaper and dropping it on his lap. “After last night, half of London mistakenly believes we’re…involved.”
The duke didn’t even spare a glance at the paper. “Aren’t we though?”
Her head jerked back. What did he mean by that? Nervously, she added, “No, we are not.”
“So, we have not kissed twice already?” He pinned her with a knowing look. “The alley and the masquerade, hm?”
Her heart sank and her blood chilled. He knew, and it felt like he had known all along. Still, she did not want to admit it. “N-no, we have not.”
Lifting a single shoulder, he scoffed. “Stop trying to deceive yourself, my lady.”
After swallowing her shock—and pride—she finally confessed, “I hoped you didn’t know, Your Grace. You acted like you did not for so long.”
“You would be hard-pressed to find something I don’t know,” he grinned wickedly. “And call meWilliam, since we are already acquainted. As for how I knew who you were, I hired spies to tail Hansen which eventually led me back to you. And as for me acting like I didn’t know you—” He shrugged again. “—it was fun.”
“You—” She gaped, irritation sparking in her chest. “You—you—”
“If you are seeking a word to insult me, my dear, you will have a time of trying,” William said indolently. “I have been called some things that are worse than your delicate sensibilities could ever imagine, and they have slid off me like water off a duck’s back.”
Irked and mortified, she still bit back, “Nevertheless, I need you to not interfere with me and Lord Hansen. Leave us alone.”
He looked up, his eyes liquid amber as he swirled his drink. “I will do so… if you tell me one thing. Does his kiss light you up inside?”
Startled, she asked, “What does that have to do with anything?”
Setting the cup on the side table, he stood and approached her. With every step he took forward, she retreated measuredly, until her back met a wall and his both palms planted on either side of her shoulders, trapping her.
His body blocked the light from the window, so in the flickering dimness, a wildfire turned his eyes into faceted amber gems. Intensity pulsed off him in waves of barely-controlled flames, and every drop of blood in her body responded to his potent energy.
“Do not lie to me,” his tone was dark. “Does his kiss spin your eyes to the back of your head? Does it make your toes curl in your slippers? Does it make your heart beat like a drum under your breastbone?”
The word slipped out in a whisper. “No.”
“Then why the hell will you marry him?” William pressed closer.
Her eyes flashed in defiance, “It is not as if I can marry you, can I?”
“What if I asked you to,” William declared, his eyes flitting from one of her eyes to the other. “Would you marry me?”
