There was a long pause, then, “Actually,” he said, voice full of amusement, “I wasn’t implying that you were dreaming of kissing me again. I only meant that you probably don’t want your fiancé to find out.”
Maddie opened her mouth and shut it again. “Oh,” she said weakly.
“So kissing me is the furthest thing from your mind, eh?”
She wanted to say, Absolutely. I haven’t given it a second thought. But she was afraid he’d know she was lying. She’d never been very good at it, and always felt guilty later and confessed.
But she couldn’t tell him the truth—that she hadn’t stopped thinking about kissing him. And now that she was pressed against him, it was every bit as horrible as she’d anticipated. The heat of his body seeped into her. The feel of his heartbeat was steady against her fingertips, and the smell of his hair was clean and fragrant. With all of that assaulting her senses, she really couldn’t stop thinking about kissing him.
The appalling fact was that she was no longer thinking about kissing him solely on the lips. The more time she spent inches from the back of his neck, the more she wondered what the flesh there would taste like. What if she touched her tongue to that spot where his black hair ended and the bronze flesh began—
“Thinking about kissing me again?” he said. Lord, the man sounded arrogant.
“I do not wish to discuss it,” Maddie said through tight lips. She forced her gaze away from his neck. The trees were very pretty at night.
“I don’t want to discuss it either,” Blackthorne told her. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to do it.”
“Sir!” Maddie smacked him in the chest, then grabbed hold again as she lost her balance and tipped to the side.
Blackthorne chuckled again.
“You mustn’t say things like that,” she scolded. “I am engaged to Mr. Dover, and you—you are to marry my cousin.”
“I thought she was your cousin’s cousin.”
“What does it matter? You are not free.”
“Well, when you say it like that, I can’t help but get excited.”
“You’re not supposed to be excited,” Maddie lectured. “You are supposed to enter into the union of marriage soberly and pensively. It’s not something to be taken lightly.”
“My dear Lady Madeleine, have you been attending church again?”
She sighed. “Obviously, there’s no talking with you.”
“Oh, you can lecture me all you want. I’m good at listening to lectures,” he said. His voice sent small vibrations through her, tickling her and making her chest feel warm. “But I don’t like hypocrites.”
“What?” She almost slapped him again but remembered what had happened the last time she let go for a moment. “Are you calling me a hypocrite?”
“Do you call eloping to Gretna Green sober and pensive?”
“I resent that!” she said, loud enough to attract the attention of Ashley and Lord Nicholas.
“Everything all right, Maddie?” Ashley called.
“Fine,” Maddie answered over her shoulder, trying to sound cheerful. She even smiled, though she doubted Ashley could see her face in the darkness.
She turned back to Blackthorne’s hair. “I have given this marriage much thought. In fact, it’s all I’ve thought about. You have no right to imply that I am behaving rashly.”
“Have you thought about what the reaction will be when you return to Town?”
“Of course. It will be difficult at first—”
“Ah, so then you are returning to Town. Where will you and Mr. Dover be residing?”
Maddie opened her mouth to answer and realized she had absolutely no idea. Where did Mr. Dover live? She’d never even thought to ask.
Jiminy, she hoped it wasn’t somewhere like Chelsea or Cheapside. That would be most inconvenient —
