Page 47 of The Lady’s Sweet Revenge

“It wouldn’t be rude. It would be quite understandable in fact, though I don’t wish to share the answer.”

“I see, so it’s to be a game then? I’m to guess? What do I win if I get it right?”

She heard a smile in his voice and it helped in easing her embarrassment, but she still couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye.

“Very well, I’ll assume I’m to name my prize if I guess correctly. Let’s see…”

He moved as if walking in a circle around her.

“You don’t seem to be frantic with fear so I’ll not guess that the castle is aflame. Nor will I guess the roof has collapsed as you don’t seem to be covered in plaster. Your dressing gown is not wet, so there’s been no flood. I do believe I can rule out any grand disaster.”

She risked a glance up at him to see he was looking up at the ceiling while tapping his chin. She smiled or would have if she didn’t press her lips firmly together to keep it from escaping.

“I don’t think it could be a spider for you grew up with five brothers so you are probably less afraid of the furry beasts than I am.”

This was true enough. While she didn’t like them she’d managed not to scream when in their presence for it would only have meant they’d have been used against her.

“There are a fair number of books in your room so if the issue was that you couldn’t sleep you could have entertained yourself for months with the materials available. You’re too old to need soothing from a nightmare. And you’re clearly awake, so you’re not sleep walking.”

He’d come to stand directly in front of her again. She knew because his toes were inches away from her own bare toes that were peeking out from under her night rail.

“I can only surmise you’ve come to seduce me.”

Her head snapped up and she looked into his eyes for the first time since she’d entered the room. He was smiling but as his gaze appeared to flick over her face his smile faded.

“Oh dear, I’d said it as a jest, but… surely that can’t be it.” He shook his head. “We agreed not to pursue what happened earlier. We can’t… I won’t…”

She’d been so brave in her room, when she’d decided this was something she’d wanted to do. She hadn’t even considered that he might reject her. She’d always been told men would go to great lengths to take a woman to their bed, she’d thought Reese would jump at the opportunity. What a fool she’d been.

And worse she couldn’t force her legs to carry her away from this humiliation. Instead, as she stood there looking at him, tears began to well in her eyes. This was even worse than running away. Dear Lord, her chin had started to tremble too.

Run! She implored herself but she was stuck there as if frozen except she’d never felt her skin so hot. Not even the time she’d spend too much time swimming in the sun and had turned the shade of a beet.

“Harlow?” he whispered and she saw his throat move when he swallowed. “Tell me why you are here. And why you were smiling and now you’re crying. What have I done?”

She wiped the tears away brusquely and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking,” she managed to say. “Of course, you would not want… That is, you likely prefer women who know their way…” When she gestured toward the bed, she wished the castle was on fire for flames might serve to cool her scorched flesh.

This afternoon had only been a brief misstep for him, while to her it had been everything she’d never known she wanted.

“Harlow,” he whispered her name and she looked away from his pity.

“I should go, yes? Yes, of course, I should go. I shouldn’t have come in the first place. How silly you must think me, just showing up in your room and staring at your feet.” Christ, Harlow, stop mentioning the man’s toes. “I will leave you alone.”

Her legs moved clumsily like she were made of iron and had rusted stiff. But at least she was moving. One step followed by another. Her vision had gone sparkly around the edges like the surface of a pond in the sunlight. Was she going to swoon? Please let her stave it off until she was alone in the hall at least.

Her fingers reached out for the door, but she was intercepted by his hand, large and warm. He held hers to his bare chest which was somehow hotter than her hand.

“Wait. Please.”

She stood there looking at the place where the back of her hand rested against his skin, but he didn’t say anything for a drawn-out minute as her heart raced.

“Your toes,” he said.

She looked up at him to see if he was mocking her but his gaze seemed fixed on her feet. She wiggled them as he’d done.

“I’ve ten of them also,” she said.

As he raised his head to look at her, the earlier embarrassment faded, leaving her stomach to flip and twist around.

“Harlow, please tell me if you are not here to seduce me before I kiss you, for once I give in I may not be able to stop.”

“You said I couldn’t have more when I was heated from kissing. I needed to be of rational thought, and I am—or rather I was. I did come here to seduce you, but only realized when I arrived that I don’t know how it is done.”

“Are you certain? I promised to be a gentleman, and now I’m a breath away from betraying that vow.”

“It’s strange, but knowing I could have died on that ship, or perhaps faced something worse than death, it has changed the way I look at things. I don’t want to risk not having the chance to live. I know I’m safe, but I still want this. With you. I’m certa—”

Her words were cut off when his lips slammed down on hers.