“Of course.” She slid her hand into her bodice over her left breast and flipped the thin material over to reveal her breast, sliding her hand beneath it. “In fact, you can have whatever you want from me.”
This was a dangerously compromising position. “Letty, I’m leaving.”
She moved to place herself between Matt and the doorway. “You will have to go by me first.” She smiled her confidence in her power over him, and it made him angry. She’d played with his heart, she’d caused him to doubt himself, and now she wanted him to believe that her feelings were true?
“Out of the way, Letty.” He moved forward. He’d walk over her if necessary.
She wasn’t going to let him go. She reached for him, grabbing his coat. “Matt, please. I don’t know this Hardesty. But I want a second chance.” She dug in her heels as if daring him to drag her. He turned, trying to escape. Her hand went for his neck as if to catch and hold him. “I was trying to protect you, Matt. Bainhurst can be vicious when he’s crossed. Don’t hold my love for you against me—”
The door opened. Light from the hall spilled into the room. Willa stood framed in the doorway.
The three of them froze. “I—I didn’t knock, did I?” Willa said, and then answered her question, “No, I did not.”
Without another word, she turned on her heel and left.
Matt swore and went after her. Letty tried to catch his arm, but he shook her off. He didn’t bother being gentle.
Out in the hall, Willa moved at a furious pace, her skirts swaying. He didn’t know why she tried to run. His one step could easily overtake her three. He caught up with her before she reached the adjoining hallway.
“It is not what you think,” he said.
She stopped so abruptly, he took a step past her. “It doesn’t matter what I think.” Her voice was tight. “It is what Isaw.” She neatly stepped around him and would have charged off, but he hooked his hand in her arm.
“You must listen. Letty means nothing to me.Nothing.”
But his words didn’t mollify her. Her eyes alive with anger, she said in a furious whisper, “Don’t play these games with me. I’ve spent a lifetime listening to my father lie to the people closest to him about his meetings with women who were not his wife—”
“Willa, you have it wrong. I was not having a tryst with Lady Bainhurst.” He kept his voice low. He was aware there were those who could overhear. “Hardesty—” he started to explain, but she was not in the mood to listen.
“My father’s current mistress is younger than I. I caught them out shopping several weeks ago. He told me that it wasn’t what it seemed, because he dotes on his image but he has no substance. And I remembered all the times he’d tell my mother that she was making up her suspicions, that she was being possessive.” She straightened her shoulders. In that moment, she could have been as tall as Matt. “I have seen what he has done to my mother andI will not live that life. I wantmore.”
“I am prepared to give you more,” Matt said, suddenly realizing what was truly behind Willa’s desire to jilt him. Her caution. Her doubts about him. He’d made a cake of himself over Letty. In Willa’s shoes, he would have been careful. “You can trust me.”
She shook her head. “If I’d caught you with anyone but Letty Bainhurst, it might not hurt so much. But I’d started to believe you, Your Grace. I’d fallen in—”
Willa broke, not finishing the thought. “I have to leave.” Her voice was charged with tears.
He grabbed her arm. “You’ve fallen into what?” he demanded. “What were you going to say?”
“It doesn’t matter, Matt. None of this matters because I won’t let myself fall in love with you. Ever.” She slipped under his arm and out of his hold. She practically ran from him.
Matt felt gutted.
Willa had loved him? Even though he wasn’t the perfect lover, she’d started to fall in love with him.
And helovedher. He didn’t even know why he’d entertained doubts. No woman had captured his imagination the way Willa had. He was a better man with her than he’d ever been at any time in his life.
“Whata ninny,” Letty’s voice drawled behind him. “I can’t believe she would carry on because we were together. You might be better off without her.”
“I’ll be damned before I touch you again.” Matt began walking after Willa. He would talk to her. He’d find someplace quiet and he’d use reason. He’d confess to his growing feelings for her. He could not let someone as good as she was slip through his fingers.
He would win her back.
Willa wished she had never married Matt. Or let down her guard.
Men seemed to come in only one mold. Her instincts had been right about him.
Well, he had her fortune, but he didn’t have her.
