“Guess, Kit.”
“Well, now I know it shouldn’t say I want to fu— I mean, tup you.”
“Good, yes. But whatshouldit say?”
He hadno idea what a kiss should say. He very much needed to adjust himself inside his breeches, but he knew he shouldn’t. “You tell me.”
A small smile came to those lips he was dying to ravish. She was thinking about past kisses, damn it.
“A first kiss should sayyou’re beautiful.”
“Youarebeautiful.”
“Hush.” But her face was a little rosier than it had been before. “A first kiss should sayI cherish you.It should sayI adore youandyou’re the only woman for me.”
All that? A large bundle of things for a simple pressing together of two mouths. No kiss could bear that burden.
But there was even more, apparently.
“It should promise you’ll be careful with her. Her heart. Her spirit. Her body.”
He couldn’t stop himself from asking. “Was your first kiss like that? With the Semp?”
She was startled. “With whom?”
“Sir Michael Sempleton. Or, should I say, Lord Merrifield?”
She sucked her lower lip into her mouth. Damn, damn, damn. Why had he mentioned the man who had jilted her and now held what should have been her brother’s title?
She surprised him by laughing.
“Oh, no. He wasn’t my first kiss. I was a horrible flirtabout. Had kissed dozens of boys before him.”
He exhaled. Surely, the Duke of Kittredge could compete with boys.
“But, no, my first kiss ever wasn’t like that. But my sixth kiss was.”
“With whom?”
“Someone who was far too old for me and should have known better. Especially since he was already married.”
He felt fury at the greedy sack-of-shit who had kissed Franny when he already had a wife. “So you want to teach me to kiss like some faithless scoundrel?”
She stepped forward and took both his hands, forcing his fists to relax as her fingers wove into his. “Kit, if that man had asked me to run away with him right after his kiss, I would have. If a sincere bachelor with good intentions could kiss like that, he could have any girl he wanted.”
Her hands calmed him. And her words. Sincere. Good intentions. That’s what she thought of him. How little she knew. He took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
She shook her head. “No. We have to go out first. We need to go shopping.”
“For what?”
“Mistletoe.”
Eleven
As they walked, Franny explained she had decided she should no longer dally. “Kiss, flirt, get entangled. I have to be responsible for my brother’s sake. I must keep my position.”
I’d like to keep you in all kinds of positions, Franny.
