"I didn't sneak up, as you put it. I saw you returning from the stables."
He ran a finger along the lapel of her riding jacket, amusement at one corner of his mouth. "I see you're stillsneakingaround in disguises." His gaze softened. She was so close to him he could see the pulse that beat at her throat.
"Didn't you learn the trouble you could get yourself into playing such games?" he asked.
She knew perfectly well what he meant, but he was the last person on earth she'd admit it to. She pushed his hand away.
They were alone, but there was no telling when he might choose to bring up what had happened after they left White's. It would be just like him to embarrass her in front of Jerrold or her grandmother.
"Please let me pass," she coolly replied.
That half-smile again. "You should be more pleasant. Especially when I have something of yours that you might want returned." His gaze darkened. "Your pendant."
She remembered that night in the garden. The clasp had broken, and he'd retrieved it, then she had left.
"You have it with you?"
That smile deepened. "I thought that might change your mind," he replied. "But I want something in return. You will have to earn it."
"Earn it!" This was preposterous. Everything she'd heard about was true. "When the pendant is mine in the first place? You can go straight to the devil!"
"Or I can simply return it to Lady Winslow," he suggested. "And you can provide whatever explanation to your grandmother about how it came to be in my possession. However, that might raise other questions."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"I think you know that I would. Do we have a bargain, Elyse? Or are you afraid?" He saw the way her eyes darkened. "You weren't afraid the night of the storm."
She swallowed her indignation and anger, neither would gain her the pendant. "Very well," she replied. "What do you want in exchange for the pendant? I warn you that I have no money of my own. Everything belongs to my grandmother."
He wasn't the least put off. "You are very rich in what I want." His voice softened as he watched emotions play across her lovely face.
"I want a kiss, Elyse. Not the ones you give Barrington, much like kissing one's brother I would imagine." He shook his head when she started to protest.
"I want the kind of kiss you shared with me two nights ago before leaving without saying good-bye."
"Of all the...!" To remind her of that! "I wouldn't kiss you if you were the last man on earth." Again, she was cut off.
"No bargain, no pendant. It's very simple."
"And just what do you think you'll prove with that?" she demanded.
"I'm not trying to prove anything."
She felt as if there was sand under her feet and water was washing it away.
"Nevertheless, that is the offer—a kiss, in exchange for the pendant. Not a bad bargain. Some might think that you have the better of it." Zach stroked back a tendril of hair that had come loose from her face.
Elyse wanted to tell him exactly what he could do with his condition for returning the pendant, but if she didn't accept, she was fairly certain she'd never get it back. At least she could make some stipulations.
"Very well," she finally accepted. "But I want you to agree to my terms."
He should have known she wouldn't simply accept the offer. "Please continue." He was enjoying this very much.
"Our agreement is to be handled very forthright," she insisted. With the other guests about, he'd not dare kiss her with anything more than a polite peck on the hand. He'd be a fool to do otherwise, and she was certain he was no fool. "And," she continued, "when the terms of the agreement are met then you will stay away from me. Is that clear?"
Zach thought about that for a moment. He knew exactly what her game was. She was certain, if he agreed to settling the agreement with others around, the kiss would have to be a fairly innocent one, much-like the gesture of a friend. As for her second condition...
"A hard bargain, Miss Winslow. But there you have it."
