“That is a lesson I learned myself when I was sent away from England and had to start from nothing to build my company,” he told her. “Rowan was a huge part of the reason my grandfather sent me away, ye know.”
“I do know,” she confessed. “My grandfather told me as much last night.”
Simon’s brow creased. “Ye spoke to yer grandfather about me?”
She nodded. “I told him I’d met you.”
“And what did he say?” Simon’s tone was soft but with a sharp edge to it.
“He warned me to stay away from you as he recalled your vow to seek vengeance against him.”
“Then why the devil are ye here?” he asked, studying her.
“The bargain,” she immediately replied, though it had become much more complicated than that this very day. She was drawn to this man, foolish as it was.
“Only the bargain?” He stroked the back of her hand with his finger, and her heart thudded as his face came a hairsbreadth from hers.
“No,” she whispered. “I think perhaps there is more.”
He captured her mouth and kissed her hungrily while his hands delved into her hair and cradled her head. He ravaged her senses, and when he pulled back, she wound her arms around his neck to keep him close.
“Sweet Anne,” he murmured, brushing his lips down her neck, over her collarbone, and to the space where her pulse frantically raced. He traced his tongue over her skin, and she shivered at the exquisite desire it unleashed in her. She wanted this man, this rogue, as she had never wanted another. And it was that knowledge that had her pushing him away.
“I cannot,” she rasped, aware that she was supposed to be making him think he could seduce her so he’d do what she wanted. The problem was that hewasseducing her. God above only knew how long she would remain strong and with her good senses intact.
He pulled back, a bemused expression on his face. “Of course not. I’m sorry that I became carried away.”
“Did you?” she demanded, frustrated. “Were you carried away with me or simply pretending?”
He cupped either side of her face and kissed her lips, her nose, and her forehead. “Ye beguile me, Anne, and that is the truth.” He sat back on his haunches and glanced from her foot to her face. “Might I look at yer slipper?”
“Whatever for?” she asked, horrified at the idea.
“I know a bit about creating things with wood. It’s a natural part of the timber business, and beyond that, I have always been skilled with wood and iron. I might be able to make yer shoe more comfortable.”
“Truly?” she asked, unable to stop the burst of hope in her chest. When he nodded, she held her foot up. “No doubt this will make seducing me much less palatable to you.”
“Ye are very wrong, Anne,” he replied with a roguish bend to his words as he removed her slipper. He took her now-shoeless foot in his hand and splayed his palm against the sole as if judging the length of her foot. She tried and failed to control a giggle at his light touch, at which he grinned.
“I am sorry,” she said, curling her toes against his palm and laughing again. “I had not realized I was so ticklish.”
“Do ye mean to tell me the rogue ye spoke of earlier never held yer foot in his hand?”
“No, he did not,” she said, shamefully pulling her foot away and tugging down her skirts.
Simon turned her shoe this way and that before returning it to her foot. He set his hands to his powerful thighs and gazed at her for a long moment. She had the distinct feeling he was trying to decide something.
“What was the name of the man who deceived ye and used ye, Anne?” he asked.
“Lord Cad,” she said, answering in the only way she ever thought about Mr. Ian Frazier, the Scot and self-made railroad tycoon whose company had apparently been in desperate need of her dowry.
“No, I mean his true name. I’d hate to think my sisters might someday meet the man and that I’d have no notion of his nefarious past.”
She snorted, and when Simon frowned at her, she said, “I cannot help but find your words ironic, given that you are a self-admitted rogue.”
His frowned deepened. “Anhonorablerogue,” he growled. “I have never deceived an innocent.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Is that the only thing that you believe makes you an honorable rogue and not simply a rogue?” She was quite enjoying learning Simon’s many layers.
