“He can find out now.”
“No!” she hissed. “I’d prefer to break the news to him privately before he sees us together.”
“Sensible.” Too bad Devon did not feel sensible.
“Over here!” She stood and darted toward a row of books, pulling him with her until his body pressed close to hers between two narrowly spaced towering bookshelves. The space between them smelled of paper, ink, dust, and her, which meant sugar and sunshine, sometimes, and mint and tea others. She preferred the brew during the warmer months. And the smell of tea on her skin was the only way he liked it.
He knew what she was doing. Hiding. His body had other ideas. He snaked his hands around her waist. Feeling more determined—and yes,possessive—than sensible, he pulled her close, dropped his nose to hers.
She flattened her palms against his chest pushed. “No! Not that!” Her eyes softened, and her fingers curled against the soft fabric of his coat. “Oh, well”—her breath hitched—“if you insist.” She stopped struggling and seemed to settle in, get cozy in his embrace.
Shelikedit. Good. He could make use of that.
“Frankly,” he whispered near her ear as he pulled her body even closer, “you should insist. Especially after attempting to hide me. Unpardonable, that.”
“No one knows about us yet. We should not be seen together.”
“You’re the one who suggested a public outing. Why not be seen together?” He must marry her, and he must wave goodbye to all his hard-earned plans. Surely there would be recompense. In the curve of her hip, the slope of her neck, the plush welcome of her lips.
“I have a reputation to maintain. You know as well as I how fragile they are.”
“As London’s resident reputation ruiner, I suppose I do. Two reputations in two seasons. I’m quite talented.” The words were thick and chalky on his tongue. “I am also the son of one duke and brother to another. You are safe with me.” What did reputation matter anyway?
“I’m not safe with you,” she insisted, watching one of her fingers scrunch up and down on his chest, mesmerized by the movement. If she was, he well understood. It mesmerized him.
“You’re a scoundrel,” she breathed.
He shrugged, ran his knuckles down her neck. “We’re engaged. We might as well enjoy it.”
She shivered. “We are only engaged because I cannot control the situation.”
He stepped away from her. He wanted this union as little as she, but he’d at least decided to make the most of it. Devon would not look daily at a woman who told him she did not want him. “Fine. As you wish. I set you free. You are under no obligation to wed me.” He strode away, seething, when he should feel free.
She pulled him back, one strong hand wrapped around his arm. “No! Papa will murder you.”
“Better dead than miserable.” Much as Arthur had said that morning.
She pulled him close and replaced determined fingers around his arm with tight arms around his body, her hands flattening against the muscles of his back, pressing him inappropriately but blessedly close.
He could break her hold with a deep breath. “Listen, little duck—”
“I’m not a duck! I’m not a bean, either.”
“I’m not a reprobate. And we are to be married, so you had better get used to being seen with me.”
She vibrated, but with what emotion, he could not tell. What he could tell was that she desperately wished to tug on her earlobe, as she always did when feeling indecisive, but she dared not let go of him to do so.
He breathed deep and pushed her arms off him, immediately missing their sweet soft strength. He planted his feet to the ground and leaned on a nearby shelf to show her he was going nowhere. She did not have to keep him by force.
Her shoulders slumped and her fingers found her earlobe, tugged.
“Bloody hell.” He popped off the shelf and rubbed her arms, trying to resurrect her spirit. “Don’t look like that. You’ll slay me.”
“I know you are no reprobate, but you must admit you are viewed with some skepticism these days. There are rumors. That nickname.”
So, she’d not been immune to the whispers earlier. She’d heard, but she’d elected to hold her head high and go on as if they did not exist.
She turned her chin till it almost touched her shoulder. “I must be spotless or else…”
