Page 25 of A Match Made On Duchess Square

He watched as she absently licked her cherry-sweet lips again.

Oh, yes.

Her lips deserved…

Blazing hot.

Chapter Six

“You see before you a changed man. One who will genuinely open his eyes and open up his heart to the possibility of love. That’s what you assured me, Milbury!” Gwendolyn said while standing in her parlor, hands on her hips, and scowling at the difficult marquess in utter frustration the morning following Lady Fielding’s soiree. “I trusted you to keep to your word.”

He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I tried, Gwendolyn. I surely did. You know I did. But be serious…two of those ladies on your list propositioned me within five minutes of being introduced to me. They offered me their bodies before they even knew my given name, which is James, by the way. I wish you would use it instead of calling me Milbury.”

“You are evading,” she grumbled, taking a seat on the settee.

Good grief, had they really propositioned him? It must have happened during the brief moments she had left his side. Or had they done it in front of her and she was oblivious?

“I am not evading, merely explaining why they are unsuitable.” He plunked himself down in a chair beside her and stretched his legs before him. “I had barely escaped from the clutches of those first two when I was tackled by another of your eager prospects, who attempted to drag me into the library for a quick…tumble.”

“A tumble?”

“Yes, Gwen. You know my meaning. Need I be more explicit?”

She cleared her throat. “No. When was this? I was by your side almost the entire evening and did not notice anything.”

“Well, they weren’t going to send up flares, were they?”

“What did you do in response?”

“Nothing. I ignored her overtures, of course. Which, by the way, started while you were first introducing her to me. In fact, all three of these ladies were sending subtle signals right in front of you. Were you a little less oblivious, you would have caught on to them quickly.”

She ground her teeth. This was not going quite as she had planned.

“I dismissed all three from consideration, of course. Do you seriously believe women like these are going to be loyal to me beyond a week after we are married?”

“Well, it would have been up to you to keep your chosen bride…um, satisfied in the bedroom.”

He snorted. “It isn’t a question of my manly prowess. I know how to satisfy a lady in bed.”

“Oh, do you?” she responded with an air of dismissal, although she was not irritated with him but more with herself for once again failing to find him a suitable match. And being so stupidly ignorant of all the sexual interplay going on right in front of her.

He leaned forward and growled softly. “Yes, I do know how to pleasure a lady. It is not a skill one ever forgets.”

Dear heaven.

Her stomach fluttered and her mind began to scandalously wander to the bedchamber with…him.

He looked awfully attractive right now. Rugged and confident. He’d lost some of his gentlemanly veneer.

Frankly, this suited him.

“That I choose to spend my time looking after my sons instead of tearing through the boudoirs of London does not make me any less proficient. I have simply made a choice not to stick my head under every skirt offered to me.”

“Why would you stick your head—”

“Gad! Gwen, must I explain it to you?”

She tipped her chin up. “No. The implication is obvious. Um…I think.”