“Oh,I’man ass?”
“If the shoe fits.”
“What about the other shoe? The one you were wearing the night you trapped me into marriage?”
“My compliments. You do play the victim so well. Perhaps it’s time for the truth. I know you don’t want to hear it, but the fact is that I had absolutely no intention of trapping you into marriage.”
“You’re right. I don’t want to hear it and I certainly don’t believe it.”
“Fine, be stubborn. Be an ass. I’ve said all I can say on the matter.”
That was it. He was through trading barbs with her. This couldn’t end well. To make matters worse, he was actually taking pleasure in trading barbs with her.Thatwas an unwelcome thought. He needed to get away from her. If he continued to enjoy his time in her company, he might weaken and take her to bed. He grabbed his dressing gown and brushed past her, stalking out the door. “I’ll sleep in my study tonight.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
“I need you to be much more specific,” Meg said to Lucy the next morning over tea at the duchess’s town house.
Lucy stirred an obscene amount of sugar into her tea. Obviously, at the duchess’s town house, the cost of sugar was no object. “Specific? About what, dear?”
“About the whole… seduction business.”
“Oh dear. Didn’t it work?” Lucy searched Meg’s face.
“No. I failed miserably. The first night he essentially ordered me to get out of his bedchamber, and last night he left his own room to sleep in the study.” She decided to leave out the part about the kiss. She’d shared enough with Lucy. She was merely here for some good, solid advice from a married lady.
Lucytsked under her breath. “Are you telling me your husband still hasn’t consummated your marriage?”
Meg pressed a knuckle to her forehead. “That’s precisely what I’m telling you.”
Lucy continued to stir the tea. “Egads. Who knewthat once Romeo and Juliet actually married, it turned into a farce? What were you wearing?”
Meg’s jaw was tight when she said, “Does it matter? By the time it was over, I wanted to slap him, not seduce him.”
Lucy lifted her green skirts with her free hand and made her way over to a tufted chair. “Very well. You’re going to have to be much more obvious next time.”
Meg followed Lucy and sat in a similarly tufted chair next to hers. “Obvious? What does that mean?”
“I mean go to him wearingonlyyour dressing gown.”
“I had that on last night.” Meg took a sip of her own, far less sugared tea.
“You didn’t let me finish.” A catlike smile perched on Lucy’s lips. “Go to him wearing only your gown and nothing beneath, then… drop it.”
Meg choked on her tea. She set the cup on the table beside her and pounded her chest. “Pardon?”
“You heard me.” The catlike smile remained.
“Are you suggesting I go to my husband…nude?”
“No. I’m suggesting you go there in your dressing gown. Then become nude.” Lucy continued to stir her tea.
“What if he refuses me? What if he brushes past me and sleeps in the study again? I’d be standing there like a naked fool.”
“I cannot promise those things won’t happen.” Lucy finally took a sip of tea. “I can only assure you that you have a much better chance to convince him to stay if he’s confronted with your naked body.”
“I cannot believe you’re saying this to me. I truly cannot.” Meg covered her rapidly heating cheeks with her hands.
Lucy took another quick sip of tea and set her cup on the same table where Meg’s rested. “Prepare yourself then, because I’m about to tell you how to do something that is certain to scandalize you—but I guarantee, if you’re given the chance to try it, it will work wonders.”
