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“Well, don’t.” Jack squeezed her shoulders and then let loose. “Whoever said such stupid things is an idiot and unworthy of your regard. Don’t listen to them.”

“You’ve said those things, Jack.”

And more hurtful remarks she would prefer not to dredge up.

She’d heard him once when he’d been speaking to Emmet.

And yes, Aubriella had overheard others as well over the years. At first, the insults and derisions stung something awful, but in time, she’d grown a thicker skin, and other than an occasional prick now and then, she’d become almost immune to them.

A stricken expression shadowed the lean contours and planes of his striking features. He searched Aubriella’s face, shame and regret softening the corners of his eyes. “Then I’m an idiot. I have no excuse to offer but can only beg your forgiveness.”

“It was a long time ago. Think no more on it.” Why she should pardon him now, when for years she’d held his words against him, made no sense whatsoever. But much about Jackson Matherfield made no sense of late.

He extended his forefinger and, after a moment’s hesitation, grazed the rough pad over her left cheek, then across her upper lip. “You are incomparable. A lily amongst ferns.”

“Lily?” A giggle escaped Aubriella, and she flicked a bit of lint off his jacket. “Jack, you’re waxing poetic. I never thought I’d see the day when the sardonic, cynical Jackson Matherfield concocted nonsensical platitudes.”

A severe scowl lashed his eyebrows together.

“Do not change the subject, Aubrie. You’ve believed yourself undesirable for too long, and you keep others at a distance to protect yourself.”

Aubriella folded her arms and tapped the toes of her right foot. She didn’t know what to do with this new, sensitive, kind Jack. The old Jack, the teasing, taunting rogue she could handle.

But this one?

Jackson Matherfield confused the very devil out of her, and Aubriella didn’t like being perplexed.

“In case you hadn’t noticed, gentlemen haven’t exactly been lining up to court me.” No one ever had eyes for her when her sisters outshone her like the sun to a candle.

“I’m four and twenty, Jack. Firmly on the shelf. I appreciate your kindness. I do, but you needn’t flatter me or manufacture compliments. You know full well that I’m not like other females. I don’t require a man’s approval, nor am I distraught because I’m not desirable and shall never marry.”

Perhaps the tiniest bit troubled that she wasn’t pretty or sought after, but she’d walk on hot coals before admitting that to him.

“Bugger that bloody balderdash.” Before she could scold him for his coarse language—which she didn’t really mind—or comment on his unintended alliteration, Jack snaked an iron-like arm around her waist and the other across her shoulders, pulling her tight against him in an unbreakable embrace.

Her pulse accelerated with excitement and anticipation.

“I’ll show you just how desirable you are, Aubrie.”

A second later, his firm mouth covered hers in a smoldering kiss, so scorching and potent she had to clutch his shoulders to remain standing.

Lord, have mercy.

Electricity sluiced through her as a headiness she’d never imagined engulfed her from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head.

When his tongue nudged her mouth open and tangled with hers, Aubriella was lost. She gave up trying to make sense of what was happening and let logic, reason, and common sense flit away until all that remained was Jack and a haze of passion, need, and want.

He pressed his powerful body into hers, his muscles flexing beneath her hands. His intoxicating cologne engulfed her.

And his mouth.

Oh, his magnificent mouth and the magic he wrought with his lips.

Raucous masculine laughter nearby made him lift his head.

Aubriella slowly forced her weighted eyelids open, her gaze meshing with his.

Eyes hooded and heavy with passion, he cupped her face. “Never say you are undesirable again. Never.”