This desire she’d experienced—the remnants that yet fizzed through her—it wasn’t just that it was new to her.
She’d never known it existed.
Not for women, anyway.
Desire, it had always seemed to her, was the exclusive privilege of men.
But here she was in this room, alone with a different knowledge.
And she knew something else, too.
That spell Lord Rhys Osborne—Rhys—had woven around and through her…
It yet held fast.
10
Next night
His feet a quick clip along Bennet Street, the collar of his greatcoat flipped to guard against a north wind holding more than a hint of northern chill, Rhys pulled his silver watch from his pocket.
10 o’clock.
He had exactly one hour until he was to meet Tilly on the corner of Piccadilly and St. James’s Street—and much to accomplish between now and then.
And though he should’ve been concentrating on the task before him, it was Tilly who claimed the entirety of his thoughts.
Oh, the woman was on his mind.
Well, her and their kiss.
The kiss…
He hadn’t been able not to touch her.
Then he hadn’t been able not to kiss her.
That was the thing—and it plagued his mind.
Those were excuses his old self would’ve made.
Tilly was temptation personified, and he’d never found much success in resisting that which tempted him.
Which was why this last year, he’d removed himself entirely from temptation’s path.
That, more than anything, was the secret of his reformation—to hold himself so far away from temptation that he couldn’t immediately act on any urge that entered his mind or pulsed through his body.
He hadn’t planned for Tilly, though.
Yet, as a temptation, she was different, too.
He was having difficulty explaining it to himself, even, for the woman was so incredibly desirable in all the purely superficial ways one could ask for—of face and figure…the sparkle in her eyes…her vivacity…the breezy trill of her giggle.
Oh, yes, she was a knocker of a woman, but she possessed other qualities that drew him in.
Qualities his unreformed self had given not one toss about.
Tilly had brains and goals…ambitions and dreams…the determination to see them through.
