“It’s beautiful,” she said, not taking her eyes off the books. “I could get lost in here for hours. Would you not agree, Your Grace?”
The dowager duchess didn’t reply. The slamming of a door made Joanna jump. She turned around and only saw a startled-looking Evan in front of a closed library door. They were alone.
CHAPTER 25
Evan silently swore to himself to make sure his grandmother was buried next to his Great Uncle Harold, a man whom the dowager duchess found tedious and dull. Let her listen to his vapid chatter for an eternity for this trick.
He tried the door, but of course it was locked. “Bloody hell,” he muttered.
“What is happening?” There was a note of fear in Joanna’s voice that he despised. She probably thought it was he who trapped her here so he could take more liberties with her.
“My grandmother is up to mischief, it appears. I doubt she or Peter will let us out anytime soon.” He had to resist the urge to punch the door. “I suppose she thinks she is being helpful by giving us some privacy.”
“Does she mean to trap us in marriage?” Joanna took a step back, as if it was somehow less scandalous if she was on the other side of the room.
“She means to trapme.Not you. Don’t worry. She isn’t cruel. She would swear on a Bible that she was with us the entire time if it came to that.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Your reputation is safe. I promise.”
Joanna relaxed a little. “Well, that is good, then. I suppose we should find a way out.”
“There is no other way out. There is only one way in and out of the library.” No doubt Peter was involved in his scheme as well, even if his grandmother was the mastermind. Perhaps he could find a harmless garden snake and throw it at his brother while he slept.
Joanna sighed and sat down in one of the chairs. “How long will she be detaining us here, anyway?”
“I have no idea.”
“If I had known this would happen, I would have stayed home. You never mentioned in your agreement that we would regularly be alone together.”
His lip curled. “Believe me, it was not planned.”
“Oh, I am sure it wasn’t. Why would you plan to ruin me?”
“Are you being ironic? Do you truly think I am willing to ruin any young lady?” His temper rose despite himself as he glared at the young lady. “I thought you of all people might?—”
“Might what?” She glared at him. “Why me, of all people? Truly, Your Grace, what makes me different from any other young lady in thetonaside from my father?”
“Because contrary to all people, I actually enjoy your company!” He shouted. “I must tolerate most members of thetonso I can fulfill my duties to my family and my estate. But you..,” he scoffed. “It hardly matters now. Perhaps you are not so different. You seem to think I am some sort of merciless monster like everyone else does.”
She stood up now, glaring at him. “I don’t appreciate you putting words in my mouth,” she said. “I have never thought you were a monster. In fact, this past week, I have had to defend you to both my best friend and my sister, who both apparently think I am some sort of helpless damsel being forced into an arrangement against her will. Also, I was not being ironic! I know you would not ruin me. Even if you were a lecherous rogue, it is clear you do not want me. Honestly, I am probably safer with you than any other man in theton,” she said bitterly.
There was a lot for Evan to process there. He felt relieved that he was wrong. She wasn’t afraid of him after all. He was dismayed that he put her in a situation where she had to defend him. But there was something else that stood out to him in the conversation. “You think I don’t want you?” He turned to look at her again, his brow furrowed.
She frowned in confusion. “It was clear you regretted the kiss in the sunroom. You even said it was a mistake. Maybe you were disappointed in me, or maybe you don’t want to kiss the daughter of the Viscount of Folly. But either way, I never should have let it happen. It made your opinion of me very clear.”
Evan stepped closer to her without even realizing it. “That’s truly what you think.” He gave a humorless laugh. “You think I would do all of this—sponsor your Season, pay for your sister’s Season next year, and provide dowries for both of you—simply to keep my grandmother from nagging me into a million dates?”
She frowned slightly. “I know that is your main motivation, you have said so yourself. And I am an easy mark because I need the help. Of course, I am grateful for the opportunity,” she said the last part quickly as he strode closer to her.
“I don’t need your gratitude.” He cupped her jaw and made her look at him. Her skin felt so soft in his hand, and she looked so vulnerable to him, even as she met his expression with a determined look. “I just need you.”
He looked down at her soft, pink lips. He burned to taste them again. He wanted to make her moan the way she did before, when they were in the sunroom.
Her lips parted, and her tongue darted out to moisten them. Perhaps one kiss would not hurt. No one would know, after all…
The library door creaked open, and Evan took a large step back, away from Joanna. He turned to glare at his brother, who looked quite amused.
“There you are,” his brother said, fighting back a smile. “We thought the two of you were right behind us when we left the library. Are you all right, Miss Thorne?”
Joanna looked flushed, but she gave Peter a shaky smile. “I… It’s a most impressive library,” she managed to say.
