She gaped and the tea in her cup sloshed to the rim. “Pardon? You are the Beast of Brookhaven, the man every mama warns their daughter to avoid with a wide berth. My reputation will be intatters, not simplyuntouched.”
Satisfaction expanded his chest. “Admit the attraction between us is mutual.”
“It is the furthest thing from it.”
“You are lying.”
“I am not.”
“Hells teeth you are a stubborn one,” he grated out.
“And you, Sir, do not play fair,” she replied. “I have a proper marriage in the works.”
“To a staid man who will probably write a schedule for you each morning and only have intimate relations with you on Wednesday nights after his drink at Whites,” William teased.
“You are horrid,” she huffed.
“I am practical. Think; how else would you explain to others when reports blow through Town about us being together? How will your precious Hansen react to it? Do you want your brother,or do you want to pall around with this milksop of a lord? What is more important?”
William sat back, knowing he was breaking his own rule from earlier. He was hardly the epitome of morality, yet he had never forced himself on an innocent. If he wanted this to work, she would have to come to him on her own terms.
While she was the furthest thing from naïve, she held a strong passion. William had no doubt that she would accept his offer— out of loyalty to her brother, for one, but also out of curiosity to feel real desire.
Seasoned in debauchery, he knew what it meant when a woman’s bosom rose and fell when he neared, what certain flushes on her cheek meant, and how those pillowy lips of hers parted with each breath. Though she might not recognize the welcoming signs of her own body, he certainly did.
He only needed her to see it for herself.
Her frustration boiled over. “That is so unfair!” she burst out. “I have my future on the line. You cannot ask me to choose, and you made me a promise.”
“A promise, yes, but I did not say the promise wascarte blanche,” William replied smoothly. “Your heart is set on Hansen, I know,” he began softly while rounding the table and striding to her seat. “But what if I offer you something to sweeten the arrangement?”
“Arrangement? You mean this courtship or marriage?” she asked, eyelids fluttering.
“Yes,” he continued. He moved even closer now and whispered against her ears, “Agree to the last and I will restore your house to you, clear your brother’s debts, and while we wait out the period to break the marriage, I promise I… will not touch you unless you explicitly ask for it.”
She looked taken aback. “You would do all that?”
William grinned. “As my wife, you’ll find that you’ll want for nothing and will have everything my wealth and status could provide. Even after the separation, you will be taken care of.”
Her eyes flew open, and she stared into the mesmerizing depths of his hazel orbs in shock. He must have seen something else in her expression that gave him the confidence to continue.
“I gave you the options on how to find your brother,” he began sincerely. “But irrespective of which option you choose, news of our courtship, true or not, will come out sooner or later, because there is no way we can be seen together again without stirring gossip—the ton will not take it so lightly any longer. Thus, if you do intend to follow through with any of this, it is best to let Hansen down now before you get deeper into it,” he cajoled her.
Her head bowed and he could see the war brewing on her face. She was considering and comparing her present and her future, he would bet. She set the cup down. “You cannot expect me to choose right now.”
“Of course not,” he said, curling a finger beneath her chin. “But perhaps some incentive would help?”
Their faces drew closer, like a shard of iron to a lodestone, each breath a mere whisper, their lips only inches apart, and William could feel her warmth against his body.
When their lips met, the kiss was soft and careful, her body relaxing in the tranquility of it all. One hand gently grasped the back of her neck, long fingers spanning to the skin under her throat.
Bridget released a soft moan from her lips, which William bit down on, subduing her senses. His kiss deepened, and he was already erect—something he could not control in her presence—and he was only getting harder.
He did not cease his intense assault against her mouth and instead, his other hand enclosed around her neck, ever so lightly, enough for a foreign and unfamiliar surge of intoxicating craving to pump through his veins.
As he broke apart their kiss, her cheeks bloomed with a rosy hue and her fingers brushed her lips, possibly reliving the memory of their forbidden kiss. “I’ve been wanting to do that for the longest time,” he murmured. “And more.”
Easing from the chair, he said, “Send me a letter with your decision. You have three days to do so… and when you are finished here, Lane will see you out.”
