It looked the same, she thought. It was the same shape. The same color. But, of course, it wasn’t the same at all. Not now, not when she knew what that mouth was capable of.
Pure, unadulterated sin.
And she’d loved every decadent second of it.
In all of her wildest imaginings, she never dreamed of a man doing to her what Kincaid had just done. When he first kissed her downthereshe’d been stunned speechless. Even a tad embarrassed. Now, she wondered if anything of a carnal nature would ever shock her again.
She very much hoped it would.
“Evie’s going to be furious with me,” she said ruefully as she gathered her disheveled hair at the nape of her neck.
“Your sister.” Kincaid’s countenance went blank. “I forgot about her. Had she walked in…”
“But she didn’t,” Joanna said when he trailed away.
And thank goodness for that, or Evie would have seenmuchmore than she wanted.
“Still, I should have known better.” Retrieving his spectacles from his waistcoat, he gave them a brief cleaning before placing them on his face. “I could have behaved better. Miss Thorncroft—”
“If you apologize, I am going to take this shoe,”—reaching blindly under the chair, she managed to retrieve an ankle boot—“and hit you over the head with it. We were both willing participants in what happened, Kincaid. If anything,Ishould be the one to apologize for taking advantage of your weakened emotional state.”
His eyes narrowed. “My weakened what?”
“Nothing,” she said cheerfully. Dropping the shoe, she bounded to her feet.
She felt…weightless. Energized. As if she could conquer anything in her path. Which was a good thing, as the object currently in her path was a six foot, three inch, scowling detective who appeared as if he didn’t know whether he wanted to kiss her again or bolt out the door.
Kiss, she decided, making the choice for him.
Lightly pursing her lips, she pressed them to his rough cheek where he’d allowed a day’s worth of bristle to grow, then tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. “Thank you entrusting such a personal piece of your past with me. It helps me to understand why you’ve put up such a guard.”
His gaze endearingly tender, he trailed a fingertip along her jawline, then flicked the middle of her chin. “I do not have my guard up.”
Joanna gave a tiny snort. “Any higher and the Chinese would accuse you of stealing a section of their Great Wall.”
“You’re not nearly as amusing as you think you are, Miss Thorncroft.”
“And you’re not nearly as cold as you think you are,Mr.Kincaid.” Canting her head, she poked the middle of his chest. “Given where your mouth has been, I believe it would be socially acceptable if you began calling me Joanna.”
To her great delight, he actuallyblushed.
How utterly adorable.
As she went to the dressing mirror and attempted to repair her coiffure, all traces of lingering anger faded away as stars brightened her eyes and love swept into her heart, carried on a wind of hope and possibility.
Now that she knewwhyKincaid was the way he was, his infuriating behavior made perfect sense. Why he would start to get close to her, only to abruptly withdraw. Why he always seemed to be fightinghimselfas much as he fought her. Why he was so fixated on her role as his client, as if it were an insurmountable hurdle that couldn’t possibly be overcome.
She did not blame him for the way he’d acted. Not after learning how Lady Townsend had used him, manipulated him, and then discarded him as if he were a shawl that had fallen out of favor.
What a wretched, vile thing to do.
Collecting a handful of pins, she began to place them indiscriminately amidst her curls. Without Evie’s skill or patience for elaborate hairstyles, the best she could manage was a loose bun coiled on top of her head that was more or less centered, but it would have to do.
When Kincaid came up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders, she met his gaze in the mirror. “What do you think?” she asked, batting her lashes.
“I think you look perfect. Miss Thorncroft—”
“Joanna,” she reminded him.
