She smiled, slow and flirtatious, and his eyes widened just a touch, his steps faltering a fraction before he recovered.
“Are you going to thank me?” she asked.
“For what?” The words were ground through those clenched teeth.
“For helping you,” she said, batting her eyelashes slightly, like the sweetest little innocent in the whole country. “I was able to make Lady Winford speak of the necklace.”
“I didn’t ask you to come over and make anyone talk to me about anything,” he said. “I was doing fine on my own.”
“Were you?” she teased.
He gave her another of those severe, toe-curling scowls, but she thought the corner of his mouth twitched. She almost crowed in triumph. He was just as much a part of this game as she was. He liked how she toyed with him, even if he tried not to. And that made it all the more fun.
“You really shouldn’t interfere, you know,” he said.
She let him spin her through the crowd before she answered, “You keep saying that, but you keep needing to be rescued.”
“I have a partner for rescue.”
They both looked across the ballroom. Barber was standing with the Duke and Duchess of Crestwood. They were laughing together, though Selina was aware that the other man’s gaze focused on the two of them often. And just like Derrick, Barber seemed well equipped to read a situation.
“Well, it wouldn’t make as much sense for a man to ask about jewelry without rousing suspicion.”
“Lady Winford wasn’t very kind about it,” he said with a slight frown. “She was very rude to you.”
Selina shrugged as best she could when she was in his arms. “It doesn’t matter. That’s just who she is. I didn’t expect a warm welcome. You know people like that, I’d wager. She’s terrible.”
“You said something similar about her last night in her chamber,” he said. “What was your bad experience with her, exactly?”
She let out her breath. “I was at a gathering once where I watched her berate her ladies companion until the poor girl was almost hysterical. She sacked the woman without reference. She knew there would be consequences and she did it anyway.”
“What happened to her? The servant, that is?” Derrick asked.
Selina pursed her lips. “I helped her. She was able to get another position when I…forged a letter of recommendation from Lady Winford.”
His eyes went wide. “You forged—” he began, but she interrupted because if he started picking apart all the criminal things she’d done in her life, he would likely figure out the heart of her.
“You know, if you want to uncover something about Lady Winford, there’s one way you could find out,” she said.
His brow lowered and he looked at her in confusion. “And what’s that?” he asked.
“You’re joking, aren’t you?” she said with a giggle. “You saw the way she looked at you. Like you’re a sweet treat she wants to…lick.” She darted her own tongue out with that last word and saw his pupils dilate as he watched her sweep her lower lip with the tip.
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She pushed aside the little flare of jealousy Lady Winford’s attentions had caused. “You had to see it, feel it. And if you pursued it—”
His fingers tightened against her hip, cutting off her breath and her words. Great God, but she wanted him to do that without so many layers of silk in between the flesh.
“I don’t play like that,” he said, slowly and with a calm fortitude.
“No?” she asked, her voice dropping to a whisper as the song slowed and ended. “Then what is this with us?”
He stared at her without breaking contact, without gathering her to leave the dancefloor like everyone else was starting to do. “It’s not that,” he said at last.
Suddenly the room felt very close, not just with the desire that coursed through her body at those words. But also with the guilt. He was not playing a game with her. He said it and it was clear by the look in his warm brown eyes that he meant it. Whatever had sparked between them was genuine. And it was for her, too.
But she was willing to use it against him. No matter how wrong that was, no matter how little he deserved it. She was using his desire against him, stoking it and playing it. And in that moment, she hated herself for it.
