He shook his head, and then, rather reluctantly, took his seat again. Apparently, she wasn’t inclined to leave just yet.
Her cheeks grew pink once more, and she glanced down to her lap, toying with her gloves as she took a silent breath. “Because, that is, in the garden, you . . .” She didn’t continue.
And he was delighted to discover that she did have an Achilles heel. She mercilessly toyed with his weakness; it was quite diverting to discover that she had one, which he could easily prey upon as well. The temptation was overwhelming, and even as his more gentlemanly side was persuaded against it, he found himself leaning forward to provoke her further. “In the garden . . .” he encouraged, his face aching from keeping the grin in check.
“Yes.” She glanced up, nodding firmly, her lips in a fine line as if forcing composure she didn’t feel. “You kissed me.”
“I did.” He nodded.
She waited.
He waited as well.
Miss Grace glanced away, her shoulders heaving a rather heavy sigh, and she turned back to him. “You kissed me and then said nothing. Pretended as if it never happened. It’s rather infuriating.”
Ah, so that was the truth of it. Her pride was wounded, and she wanted retribution for the offense. It made sense now; she would have a streak of pride down the length of her back just as she had the stripe of stubbornness. “I wounded your pride.”
Her gaze flared to life and she studied him, not speaking. “You did nothing of the sort.”
“That is what you implied,” he returned.
“That was not intentional. I was offended because you . . .” She trailed off, and seemed to be unable to finish the sentence. “You can’t kiss a lady like that and expect her to . . .”
“Not expect something?” he finished, knowing they were wading into very dangerous waters. Certainly she didn’t expect him to offer for her after one kiss?
She might have the right to expect something, but certainly she knew better than to expect it from him.
“No!” She rose, moving to stand behind the chair as if it were a barrier between them. “I don’t expect . . . that.” She blushed again. “I just rather thought that you regretted it, and didn’t mean for it to happen, so you’d wish to apologize.” She cast her gaze to the chair below her, her face flaming with a rather fetching blush.
Ramsey swallowed against the intense desire to kiss her once more, to feel the heat of her blush under his hand, to tell her that he didn’t regret the kiss at all, not even a little bit. And it was intentional, every part. But he couldn’t; rather, he wouldn’t. “I see. Why did you not say that in the first place?” he asked, keeping his tone gentle, not wishing to offend her further. There were limits, after all, and he was quite certain she had hit hers.
“Because I was giving you the opportunity to be a gentleman,” she said with a little heat, enough to remind him that she wasn’t about to back down from any challenge.
It was endearing, it was infuriating, and he respected her strength. Admired it, even. “Well, now that we’ve established that I have not acted like a gentleman, and that I am perpetuating that behavior by not realizing that I needed to apologize, I do believe that we are finished here.” He spoke cautiously, keeping his tone even. It was for the best, to excuse her, to get her away from him.
“I never said you weren’t a gentleman,” she countered. “I said that I was giving you the opportunity to be one. That’s . . . different.”
“Very well,” he replied.
“Well?” she asked, her tone impatient.
“Well, what?” he replied, not quite following her thought trail.
“Are you going to apologize?” she asked, her expression adorably bewildered with just a hint of indignation.
“I thought we just established that I had nothing to apologize for?” he returned.
“No. You surmised that, I did not. And I’m not under your jurisdiction, my lord.”
At this, he chuckled. “Oh, of that I’m completely aware.” He shook his head. “And the answer is no.”
She frowned, and studied him.
He glanced away, realizing belatedly that he had made a fatal mistake. She wouldn’t leave it at that. She would simply ask why, and then he’d be in the position to either lie or tell her the truth, and he hated liars.
Which only left the truth.
Damn it all. He was doomed.
