was not gentlemanly,’ he said seriously, but then broke out into a smile. ‘But I don’t regret it.’
She tried to believe him, tried to believe that sitting here he was not regretting the moment from the night before, but she wasn’t sure she could. Self-consciously Lizzie brushed a strand of hair away from her face. Ordinary brown hair, framing an ordinary face with just a few too many freckles.
With a glance at the door the earl stood and moved towards Lizzie. She found herself staring up at him, trying to control her breathing.
‘I really did enjoy our time together last night,’ he said, sitting himself down beside her.
Lizzie found herself nodding again. She’d enjoyed it, too.
‘And I really would like to get to know you a little more.’ His voice was low and a little seductive and Lizzie knew hundreds of women had fallen prey to him before.
She wanted to ask him why, wanted him to confess he was only interested in her for her supposed dowry, but she found her words had deserted her. His body was just that little bit too close, his thigh pressing against hers, and Lizzie knew she wouldn’t be able to construct a coherent sentence.
‘I think last night might have been the start of something special,’ he said.
Lizzie made a small murmur of agreement, even though she wasn’t sure she agreed. She felt mesmerised by him, completely under his spell, and even though her mind was screaming out that it wasn’t her that he wanted, it was Amelia, Lizzie found at this moment she didn’t really care.
She felt him studying her, his eyes flicking from her mouth to her cheeks to her hair, but always back to her mouth. Involuntarily she felt her lips part ever so slightly and she realised she wanted him to kiss her. Right then it didn’t matter why he was doing it, just that she wanted him to. She wanted to be lost once again in the oblivion of a kiss, wanted to feel the explosions within her body as his lips met hers.
Slowly, as if building the anticipation, the earl lowered his lips to hers. He started out gently, barely touching her. Lizzie felt the tension mounting and a soft moan escape her lips. She wanted more, needed more.
As if responding to her innermost thoughts he pressed his lips more firmly on to hers and deftly flicked his tongue inside her mouth. Lizzie’s eyes closed and she was lost. She didn’t care why he was kissing her; all she wanted was for it not to end.
She felt her body melting into his and relished his touch as he looped an arm around the back of her head, pulling her closer towards him. She wanted his hands all over her body, wanted him to touch her in places no one else had ever even seen.
Just as she felt the kiss couldn’t get any better suddenly the earl pulled away. He was smiling, but Lizzie could tell something was wrong. She wondered if she’d inadvertently done something terrible, something that would make him want to run from the room.
Suddenly Lizzie felt very self-conscious and raised a hand to cover the lips he had been so thoroughly kissing just moments before.
‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured. ‘I just couldn’t seem to help myself.’ He sounded a little puzzled and Lizzie could see a flicker of confusion in his eyes.
‘You are just so tempting,’ he said, tracing a pattern on the back of her hand.
Immediately Lizzie crashed back to reality. She knew that was a lie. She straightened up, pulling away, and gave him a forced little smile.
‘I’m sure my aunt will be back in a few minutes,’ she said pointedly.
The earl looked confused, as if no one had ever rejected him before, but took the hint and moved back across the room to the chair he’d been sitting in before. An uncomfortable silence followed and Lizzie found herself blinking the tears away from her eyes. This was cruel and unnecessary. Up until very recently she’d been quite content with her lot. She’d known she wasn’t a great beauty. Combining that with her lack of fortune, she’d never expected to make a good marital match. In fact, she’d been quite convinced she would never be a wife, just a spinster all her life. Now here she was being utterly seduced by a handsome and charming man, knowing all along it wasn’t her that he wanted at all.
Daniel wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. He knew he’d just kissed the young woman sitting across the room from him. He just didn’t know how to classify his reaction.
He’d been thrown when he realised he’d met Miss Amelia Eastway before last night. He’d hardly taken any notice of the unassuming young woman who had stepped in front of his horse. She’d seemed so ordinary, so normal. Not like the woman in the garden. She had been intriguing and almost mystical. Daniel had found himself drawn to her, attracted and aroused despite his years of experience.
Then when he’d found out the woman who he’d kissed was the very one he was meant to be pursuing, his world had almost fallen apart. He didn’t want to desire his future wife. Desire complicated everything. Desire made a man lose all sense of reason and preceded bad decisions. Over the past four years Daniel had become a master at keeping his desire in check. That wasn’t to say he’d been celibate, just that he hadn’t let his desire overshadow his common sense.
It was the shock, he realised. He hadn’t expected to recognise his mystery woman in the daylight, he hadn’t even considered that they might have met before. He’d looked her over appraisingly and found rather an ordinary young woman sitting in front of him. Not someone who made his pulse race and his temperature rise. He’d felt comfortable, reassured. She wasn’t the irresistible vixen he’d thought the night before, she was just an average young woman with no particular distinguishing features.
He’d planned to kiss her, of course. He needed to marry her and he needed to do it soon. After their kiss the night before Daniel knew she was an innocent and he knew that his charm was legendary with women all over London. He was hopeful that Amelia would enjoy his attention and flirtation.
And then it had happened. He’d moved closer, leant in to begin his seduction, and he felt as though he’d been punched in the gut. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why he felt this way, just that he needed to kiss Amelia Eastway, not so she would have to become his wife and save him from financial ruin, but because it was the only thing that would keep him going.
He wasn’t sure if it was the delicate curve of her lips or the charming set of freckles that covered her nose, he just knew he had to kiss her. And far from being completely in control, as he had planned, Daniel had felt rather wonderfully at sea. He’d kissed her as though he hadn’t kissed a woman in years, allowing himself to pull her body towards him, run his hands over her skin. He’d lost himself in that kiss and that was worrying him.
He glanced back across at Amelia and wondered if she had somehow sensed all of this. She’d wanted him, Daniel was experienced enough to recognise the signs: her pupils had dilated, her breathing had become just a little shallow and her lips had parted. She’d kissed him as passionately as the night before, but now she was regretting it. Something had changed. It was as though a shutter had come down over her face and now they were sitting apart like complete strangers, not a couple who had kissed twice in the space of twenty-four hours.
Daniel knew he had to do something to salvage the situation. Whatever his current internal conflict
