“Of course. I’d be delighted.”
Tess quashed her instinctive foreboding at the echo of the words he’d used at Careby’s. Surely their encounter hadn’t been as memorable for him as it had been for her.
But her skin prickled in awareness as she settled into his arms in preparation for the dance, and she deliberately kept her gaze fixed at a point on his shoulder to avoid looking him full in the face.
They swirled into motion.
“Your Grace?”
The hint of amusement in his deep voice made her look up. God, he was even more good-looking than she remembered.
“Tess,” she breathed, willing her pulse rate to calm. “You may call me Tess. I think we can dispense with the formalities, given the circumstances.”
Those circumstances being your mouth on my breast. My hand on your cock.
She thrust away those unhelpful memories and tried not to blush.
His lips twitched in a smile, as if he could read her scandalous thoughts. “And you should call me Justin. Given the circumstances.”
She cast around for something sensible to say. “My friends and I were just discussing your good fortune.”
“In being named the new duke?”
“Yes.”
“Ah. Yes, I suppose I have been fortunate. The previous incumbents seem to have been a remarkably accident-prone bunch.”
The way he was scrutinizing her face was making her hot, as was the delicious scent of his cologne. She swallowed again.
“Ellie says you’ve been successful in your business ventures, so it’s the duchy’s good fortune, too. With your skills, you can make the estate more profitable and improve the lives of all its dependents.”
His brows rose. “That’s very democratic of you. I’m not sure many other landowners care about the prosperity of their dependents, as long as they don’t threaten to revolt.”
“I’ve spent almost two years at Wansford Hall, Your Grace, and I’ve become very fond of the tenants and staff. It’s a relief to know they won’t suffer because of an incompetent overlord.”
Tess knew she was babbling, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “But you needn’t worry that I’ll be in your way when you decide to go there. If you’ll give me a week, I’ll have my personal belongings transferred to the dower house.”
His flint-gray eyes bored into hers. “Oh, I don’t think that will be necessary.”
“Why not?”
The corner of his eyes crinkled in amusement and his lips curved in a wicked smile. “Do you really have to ask, Scarlet?”
Her heart missed a beat. “What?”
“You’re Scarlet. The woman I met at Careby’s house party.”
His certainty quashed her automatic reaction to deny it, so she tilted her chin up and tried to stay calm. One thing she’d learned as an investigator was knowing when the game was up.
“How did you know?”
His eyes flashed with appreciation that she hadn’t tried to continue the subterfuge. He leaned closer.
“Your body. Your scent. But most importantly, that charming freckle to the left of your mouth. It was visible beneath your mask. I enjoyed kissing it immensely.”
Tess’s stomach swooped in dismay. God, she’d forgotten that distinctive feature. When her whole face was visible it was just one of several freckles she possessed.
A few years ago, Ellie had found an antique print that showed where ladies of the previous century had worn their patches; the one Tess had was calledla coquette—the tease.
