She found herself lifting her chin, found her eyes fluttering closed as if some ancient instinct drove her to do so. And then his mouth brushed over hers and every thought, every hesitation, everything else in the world, faded from her mind.
His arms came around her and she gasped. He took advantage of her lips parting and traced his tongue across the opening. She froze. She’d never been kissed before—she had no idea what to do. But he didn’t relent, he just tilted his head for better access.
And she gave it. Her body responded where her mind didn’t know how and she opened to him, darting her own tongue out to touch his with hesitation. But hesitation soon gave way to other things. She lost herself in the sensation of his arms around her, his mouth on hers, his tongue brushing hers. It all made her come alive. Made her utterly aware of every flutter and tingle in her body…and in this moment there were plenty of them. It seemed she had found nerve endings where she never knew they existed and all of them throbbed in time to his kiss.
She clutched his arms and lifted into him, feeling her hips bump his. He let out a strangled sound when she did that and then he drew himself away. She stood, dizzy, staring at him, and he stared right back, his breath short and his eyes wide.
Finally, she managed to find her voice and whispered, “Why—why did you do that?”
He blinked. “I didn’t intend to,” he said, just as soft as she had.
She frowned. The kiss had meant something to her and the idea that it had just been a mistake on his part was disheartening to say the least.
“Oh,” she said.
“But I’m glad I did it,” he continued, locking gazes with her. “Are you?”
She wanted desperately to deny him. To be able to say she didn’t like it and walk away. To be able to pretend this man didn’t move her. But she couldn’t.
“Yes,” she admitted. Heat filled her cheeks and she turned from him. “Oh, I should go inside. I should get ready.”
“Wait, Emma!” he called out as she took a few steps away.
She froze, and slowly turned. God, he was devilishly handsome. Right now he looked so earnest, so driven.
“Yes?”
“I have a thought,” he said. “A plan. It could help us both. That was why I wanted to talk to you out here tonight.”
Disappointment she didn’t want to feel filled her chest. In some small part of her she’d hoped he’d called her back for some more personal reason. Not a plan. Though what kind of plan that could be was completely unknown to her.
“A plan? I don’t understand.”
“You said something to me last week when we parted ways after Meg’s garden party. It has stuck with me ever since,” he said.
She took a step toward him as her mind turned back to their previous time alone together, in a different garden. She knew exactly what foolish things she’d said to him then. How she’d opened her soul to him the same way she’d opened her body a moment before. Somehow this man inspired that, as foolish as it was.
“What did I say?” she asked, faking innocence.
He arched a brow, his expression calling her on her faulty memory even if he didn’t say a word about it. “When I asked if I could help, you said I could court you to make others notice you.”
She gripped her fists and broke their intense stare. “Oh, please don’t hold that silly thing over my head. I was just talking, I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t meant it and there’s no need to—”
“It’s a good idea,” he interrupted. “The more I thought about it, the better it became. For both of us. If we courted, it would take every eye of every grasping mama off of me. And it would put every eye of every gentleman on you, just as you said.”
She blinked. “So you want to…court me?”
He swallowed. “No. Well, not really. To pretend. To pay enough attention to you to garner interest without making irreversible promises. A tightrope, yes, but one we can walk if we are clear and careful.”
Emma was shocked at the spreading pain in her chest that hit her as he explained himself. It wasn’t as if shewantedto be courted by his man, kiss or no kiss. He was out of her league. By far.
“So you want to lie,” she said.
He nodded. “A blunt way to put it, but yes.”
“And how would that work, exactly?”
“Just like a normal courtship, except we know it isn’t. We would dance together, we would flirt. I will say lovely things about you when anyone asks, you’ll blush prettily when I’m mentioned.” He grinned. “Yes, just like you’re doing right now.”
