“Ye may take yer leave, Perceval,” Simon said, wanting very much to be alone with Anne and begin the process of really learning who this unique creature was.
Once Perceval nodded and departed the room, Simon moved to Anne and took her hand. She did not protest, but her eyes grew large, worry flashing across her face.
“Where are your sisters?” she asked.
“Having tea with Sophia,” he replied as he led Anne out of his study and toward his ballroom.
“You really should call her the Duchess of Scarsdale,” Anne admonished.
She fell into step beside him without question as to where they were going. He found that he rather liked the feel of her hand, even gloved, in his, and the trust she was giving him by not questioning where he was taking her. Her innocently given trust also disturbed him, however. He was beginning his seduction of her, after all.
“There are many things I should not do, Anne.”
“Such as?” she asked as they entered the ballroom.
He twirled her to face him and raised her hand between them. “Such as this,” he said, slowly peeling off one of her gloves and then the other. He tossed the gloves on a table by the door, never taking his gaze from hers. He raised her hands to his lips and brushed the pads of her delicate fingertips with his mouth. Need for her strummed through him as her breath hitched and her rosy lips parted.
They stared at each other in silence for a long moment until Anne said, “A rogue turned his attentions on me once before.”
Undeniable jealously coursed through Simon at the thought of another man kissing Anne, talking to her, exchanging barbs with her, being the recipient of her smiles. “And what happened?” he asked, unable to keep the possessiveness he felt out of his voice. If she’d heard it, she gave him no indication.
She licked her lips, making him want to fuse her lips to his and kiss her. “I was young and foolish. I did not recognize that he was intent on seducing me for my dowry until it was too late.”
Was she saying she had given this man her innocence thinking he loved her? The idea sent rage at the unknown rake bursting within Simon. “But if he’d succeeded in seducing ye fully, why are ye not married?” he asked delicately, purposely probing to discover if the man had, indeed, taken her innocence.
“You seduced Mary and took her innocence, yet you are not married,” Anne replied.
Simon clenched his teeth on a wave of irritation. “If that is what Lady Mary told ye, it is a blatant lie. I took nothing from her, including her body, which she offered. I never even kissed her.”
Anne studied him for a long, silent moment. “It is your word against hers. And I don’t know you.”
“Then become acquainted with me,” he growled.
“Why? So you can seduce me as part of some sort of revenge plot against my grandfather?”
Never in his life had Simon been at a loss for words, but in this moment, he could not think of what to say. He did not want to lie, yet to tell the truth…
“Do not bother answering,” she said, waving a hand at him. “Your guilt shows on your face. You maytryto seduce me. I give you carte blanche.”
“Are ye challenging me?” he asked, amazed and aroused at once.
She quirked her mouth. “I suppose I am, though I had not known I was going to do so until this second. I will permit you to try to seduce me, as I know that is what you are attempting to do, and in exchange for my continuing to come here and allow your attempts, you will do your utmost to persuade Lord Rutledge to wed Lady Fanny.”
Anne was the most shocking, the most refreshingly bold woman he’d ever met. She knew he was purposely seducing her and why, though she didn’t know that part of his plan was to ruin her publicly to hurt Rowan as the man had hurt Simon. Regardless, she had to realize it would not end well for her. Still, she was willing to be hurt to help her friend.
“By God, I want to seduce ye, but in this moment, it has absolutely nothing to do with vengeance,” he said, meaning it.
Nine
Anne’s heart pounded in her chest at the heat in Simon’s gaze and his fervent words. “You are a superb rake, for in this moment, I almost believe you.”
“Anne,” Simon began, but when she shook her head he fell silent, for which she would be eternally grateful. She had come here wanting to learn who this man really was and to discover the part of the story that her grandfather, Mary, and Simon himself had told her that seemed to be missing or not making sense. And at the same time, she could also guarantee that Simon had more inducement to aid her in helping Fanny.
She took a deep breath. “No more talk of why you wish to try to seduce me. Let us simply proceed. If we have a bargain, that is. Do we?”
She gazed up at him, her stomach fluttering at the way his blue eyes pierced her. He stood there studying her for so long that she began to worry he was going to decline her offer—or suggest another.
He scrubbed a hand across the hint of stubble on his face. “And if I were to say noo?”
