He avoided her gaze. “Yes. I suppose you and I understand tragedy well,” he murmured.
Slade positioned himself by the white ball and took a deep cleansing breath.
He made the first shot. A loud clack scattered the gathered balls, sending the three into the farthest pocket.
“As you haven’t played in some time, I’ll forgo my turn and let you go next,” Slade said.
She sent him an appreciative smile with a fleeting hint of the mischievous little girl from all those years ago. “Why thank you. Although you may come to regret putting courtesy before winning.”
Slade chuckled at the fact he’d failed to mention to her that he was also proficient at billiards.
She strolled over to position herself between the white ball and the one ball, in line with a middle pocket. It was a shot he himself would have contemplated.
“Why don’t we make the game more interesting?” he said before she took the shot.
She paused and sent him a curious glance. “What do you have in mind?”
He considered her for a second before speaking. “If you win, I promise not to tell Egan you’re spying for the Jacobites, provided you take care not to place yourself in danger again like you did at the manor.”
Her eyes widened at him, perhaps at her realization of his knowledge. She should deny it, but something innate held her back. Then defiance etched itself across her features as she raised her chin. “And if you win?”
Slade eyed her lips as something hot stirred deep inside him. He still couldn’t get the first night in her bedchamber at the lodge out of his head. The curvaceous outline of her delectable body beneath the diaphanous material and the imprint of her areolas had haunted him every night since. Oh, he was bound for perdition for this, but since he was already heading there for Sylvia’s death, what did it matter? His stomach tightened. He shouldn’t pursue this. But for the first time in his life, Slade ignored his instincts.
Certainly, if any of the Dunbars found out what he was about to do, he’d be hung, drawn, and quartered, Egan himself doing the deed. But Slade had to know, had to find out once and for all. Was this more than friendship?
He sent her one of his wicked grins. “If I win, a kiss.”
Fifi’s brows arched in undeniable shock, and her lips parted. He didn’t realize she’d dropped the cue until the thing clanked on the stone floor.
CHAPTER 26
The hailstorm of terror at his words never came, as she had imagined it would if she ever found herself in this predicament with a man. Any man. But her body was frozen like ice, even as her pulse raced, shock at his words making her momentarily speechless. If she were honest, perhaps she was more compelled and curious at his words. This was the biggest shock of all. Quite unlike his suggestion of riding with him alone on the moor. She’d been horror struck, recalling where she’d been when Ross had attacked her.
One of Falcon’s platitudes popped into her head.Keep the focus on the mission. But she was having a hell of a time keeping anything in her head at the moment except the exquisitely gorgeous man standing across the billiards table, his dark eyes focused on her with primal intent. She bent down, snatched up the cue stick, then straightened. Had she thought Slade chivalrous? He’d no doubt kept his roguish qualities hidden until now.
“We all saw Swindlehurst kissing you in front of Harbert and Company in Birmingham a few days ago. What has brought on this need for kissing all of a sudden?” Phoebe said.
His eyes widened, as if something had just dawned on him.
“We?” he asked.
She cleared the discomfort from her throat, aware she was behaving like a jealous woman. “Lucia, Martha and I,” she said.
“Ah, I see.” His lips stretched into an amused smile, before continuing. “I have no interest in the laundress. However, the becoming flush on your face when you are jealous, is most intriguing.”
His dark and sultry tone was quickening her pulse and the pace of her breathing. There was something undoubtedly enthralling about him, even preternatural.
She leaned forward and braced her palms against the table deciding to ignore his last comment. “Am I at a double disadvantage if you win?” she asked.
He gave her an assessing stare. “How so?”
“Well if you win, I not only have to kiss you, but you’ll tell Egan about my affairs,” she said.
He regarded her with cool superiority. “Let me clarify. Regardless of whether you win or lose, I’ll only tell Egan if you do not refrain from putting yourself in danger.”
Her knees weakened in relief. Her job as a spy for the Movement, which he clearly had his suspicions about, was a dangerous one, but she had no plans to give it up. However, there was no need to inform him of any of this. The only item on the table seemed to be the kiss.
She scrutinized him. “One kiss?”
