He inclined his head slightly. “Yes. I am aware of your disapproval. From the moment we met, I could see you were unimpressed.”
“Do you blame me?” she retorted softly. “When you first encountered Jane, she was…foxed. And yet you charmed her regardless. I would not doubt you had been drinking as well.”
His brows drew together, his expression darkening. “And what makes you presume to know so much of that evening, Miss Taylor, when you were not present?”
Her pulse stumbled.Not present?Oh, but she had been. She had been too present.
She lifted her chin, words spilling before she could stop them. “Because men like you thrive on charming the intoxicated and the wealthy, hoping for only one outcome. You care nothing for Jane—only her fortune.”
His eyes sharpened, but his voice remained calm. “Miss Taylor, Lady Jane has surely told you that I did not even know of her father’s wealth when we met. I enjoyed her company. Nothing more, nothing less.”
Regina rolled her eyes, heat flashing through her veins. “I’m quite sure you found it verypleasant. Men like you always take advantage of women when they are helpless.”
The instant the words left her, she froze. Her breath snagged.Too much. Far too much.
She lifted her hand to her lips as if she could drag the words back. What had she done? She had all but confessed the truth of last night. Panic clawed through her chest. If he pressed her—if he so much as asked another question—her fragile defense would shatter entirely.
Chapter Six
Miss Taylor’s remarkcaught Wayne off guard, and he gaped wide. Thankfully, his eyes hadn’t popped right out of his head. But now everything made sense. As much as he had been arguing with himself over this, there was no doubt now that she had climbed into his coach last night with plans of seducing him. She was certainly not the woman Jane thought she had as a best friend.
Perhaps she was finally feeling guilty for what she’d done. After all, her attitude this afternoon had turned from slightly irritable to downright rude. More than likely, she was trying to make everything look as though it washisfault.
Wayne wasn’t used to arguing with women, but Miss Regina Taylor was one he would break the rules with. He hoped their conversation wasn’t overheard, because the news would get back to Jane of how awful he had been to her friend.
He glanced at the door Harold andthe boyshad exited not long ago, and it seemed they were taking longer than first suspected. Perhaps this was a good thing, since Wayne could now say what was on his mind.
Exhaling slowly, he turned his focus back to Regina. Her silver-blue eyes blazed with heat, and he silently cursed her hair for being too long to hold her ringlets as they brushed her slender shoulders and hung lower on her back. However, it was her perfectly shaped lips that drew his attention. Suddenly, amemory flashed through his mind, and he remembered kissing her with the urgency of a wild animal. He recalled enjoying it and knowing she did, as well.
He mentally shook the thought out of his head and peered back into her eyes. “Then I must have given you the wrong impression, because I’m not the kind of man who dwells on the wealth of a woman. Neither do I seek out a woman for the sole purpose of taking advantage of her. Ask any one of my friends, and they’ll tell you that I’m a true gentleman.”
Biting his tongue, he silently criticized his own words. Who was he trying to convince? Regina or himself?
Quizzically, she raised her eyebrows and gave him a look so humorous he almost laughed, but he didn’t. This was certainly not the time.
“I swear if I didn’t know better, I would think your large ego covered Britain.” She folded her arms. “The problem is, Mr. Worthington, I know firsthand that you are lying.” Twin spots of pink stained her cheeks, but she continued in a lower voice, “Have you forgotten about last night?”
Wayne glanced at the men sitting behind them. Thankfully, they were involved in the boxing match. Scanning the others close around him and Regina, he was also grateful for their loud cheers.
“No,” he said quietly.
“Then why do you have the nerve to say what you did when I know better?”
He rubbed his sweaty palms on his trousers in a nervous reaction. How could he explain to her about last night when he couldn’t even explain it to himself? “Last night was…different.”
“Different?” she barked. “How can you say that? Because I’m Jane’s childhood friend? Do you know what kind of animal’s back end that makes you, Mr. Worthington?”
He leaned closer and took hold of her wrist in a tight grip. “It probably makes you the same kind of person for climbing in my coach and kissing your childhood friend’s fiancé so passionately it could have started a fire. You, Miss Taylor, have a talent. Your sultry kisses make a man’s mind spin out of control.”
Once the words left his mouth, he wanted to retract every one, especially that last part. He didn’t want her knowing how much he had enjoyed their time together.
The color left her face, and she inhaled quickly. At least his words had hit their mark. Yet, as tears filled her eyes, it broke his heart, and the anger left him. He wasn’t the type of man who could be so mean to a woman. Yet this extraordinary woman made him react so quickly, no matter what she did.
She shook her head in denial. “I don’t know what happened,” she whispered. “All I know is how ill I felt, and I wanted to sleep in my family’s coach, which is where I thought I had fallen asleep.”
He loosened his hold as he narrowed his stare on her pretty face. Slowly, his anger disappeared as confusion filled him once more. “You don’t remember either?”
“Not much.” She licked her lips and swallowed noisily. “I recall waking up with you next to me…and not much more.”
