Hannah shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but that isshockingnews. I couldn’t help but react. Heavens, Sophie! He kissed you?”
Sophie felt the heat in her cheeks, brought about by both the revelation of her secret and her memories of that moment. Of Rowan’s mouth on hers, hot and hard and insistent. Of his taste, mint and sherry and something that was potently male. Of the feel of his strong arms around her. Of her body’s shameful reaction to all those things and more.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“What was it like?”
She shifted in her seat. “It was…I don’t know how to describe it.”
“Well, try, won’t you? I’m fairly certain my father is about to barter me off to some dreadful man. I want to know what kissing is like before I have to share my first with someone…horrible.”
Sophie stared. “Hannah, you cannot be serious. Would he do that?”
Hannah bent her head. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, Hannah!”
“I-I can’t talk about it, it’s too terrifying. Please, just give me your news. It is happy, at least, and it takes my mind off of whatever terrifying paths it wishes to take.”
Sophie frowned. Here she had been swirling around and around in her head about what had happened with Rowan. Something so silly when compared to what Hannah had just described. After all, agreement or not, Sophie still had control over her own future. Her aunt would never force her or barter her away.
“Iwantedto kiss him,” she admitted to both her friend and, for the first time out loud, to herself. “In the parlor I wanted to, but he pulled away and I felt a little foolish. So when he came across the terrace and caught me in his arms, it was like a dream. A—a fantasy.”
Hannah smiled. “And what was it like?”
“Sweet,” Sophie said, and turned her face with a blush. “Hard and passionate. Unexpected. Rather like the man who bestowed the kiss upon me.”
“So what will you do?” Hannah asked. “Does this mean you are courting?”
Sophie burst out laughing. “Oh, I think not. A kiss might mean something to me, but could it to a person like Rowan Sinclair? He’s known as a rake. A rogue. I’m sure it wasn’t something he put much thought into. A fleeting desire. He likely hasn’t thought of it since.”
Hannah’s mouth quirked and there was no mistaking the disappointment in her stare. “And here I thought I’d witness a true love story. They’re all the rage, you know.”
Sophie flinched ever so slightly. “Everyone always appears to be in love at the beginning, Hannah. It doesn’t mean that sentiment will last. Yes, there are a great many supposed love matches in the swirl of Society lately, but if there is one thing I know, it is that looks can be deceiving.”
Hannah frowned, concern on her face, and Sophie tensed. She didn’t want to discuss this any further. So she forced a falsely bright smile on her face. “Are you coming to the Waterfield ball tonight?”
Hannah shrugged. “I’m brought to every ball, aren’t I? My father insists. So yes, I’ll be there.”
“Good,” Sophie said. “It will be nice to have a friend in the crowd.”
“And if Mr. Rowan Sinclair joins the party?” Hannah teased.
“Then I suppose he will likely ignore me,” Sophie whispered. “And that will prove my point that whatever was between us was meaningless.”
But as she said the words, they stung her more deeply than she knew they should.
Rowan searched the crowd spiraling out before him and sucked in a breath of frustration. He’d been at this crush for over half an hour and he had not yet found Sophie. Not that he was certain he was going to approach her. His mercenary pursuit of her, enabled by inside knowledge of her agreement with her aunt, was feeling more and more ungentlemanly by the day.
Of course, he hadn’t been thinking of any of that when he kissed her three nights before. No, that had been about pleasure and desire, not a need for anything but to know her taste. And that taste, that feel of her in his arms, was all he’d thought about since.
Madness, considering he’d known the woman for years and not been driven by such a drumbeat of need.
“Rowan!”
He turned to find Lady Louisa coming to his side. His heart leapt, both because he had no idea if his friend knew what he’d been doing with her charge, and also because her presence made it clear that Sophie was indeed in attendance.
“Lady Louisa,” he said with a smile that suddenly felt too wide. “What a pleasure.”
