The way her name rolled seductively off his tongue made gooseflesh raise on her arms. “Lord Grey—”
“Grey,” he corrected.
“Grey.” A strange tension was mounting within her. As if something coiled inside her body and one touch of Grey’s lips to hers would make the coil release. She had to get them back on track. “What is the other way you can tell that these footprints are a man’s?”
“They’re deeper than a woman’s would be because men are heavier.” He grinned. “Except for German women, that is.”
An irrepressible smile tugged at her lips. Grey was not only handsome, but he was funny and smart. No wonder he’d never had a bit of trouble finding women who wanted his attention. She could imagine the pleasure a seduction by him would bring. A dull ache, unlike anything she had ever felt before pulsed within her.
She curled her fingers into the grass. Pleasure from a seduction would be temporary. She needed to remember that fact, and the reality that Grey may say he did not want to seduce her, but she still needed to be careful. He knew no other way to woo a woman than to his bed, and she was apparently as vulnerable as every other hare-brained lady when it came to him.
She sprang to her feet and shook the wrinkles out of her dress. He stood in one fluid motion and reached toward her. Her muscles tensed. Was he going to kiss her? Pull her against his chest? Wrap his arms around her and—good grief. She had to get control of her imagination. He plucked something from her hair, and then held it up between them. “I was just getting the grass out of your hair.”
“Yes, of course.” A hot blush warmed her cheeks.
He chuckled. “You can stop worrying.”
“I’m not worried.”
“You looked worried. In fact, with your eyes rounded you looked much like a fox being hunted. I swear I’m not trying to seduce you.”
“Perhaps claiming that is your ploy to reel me in.” Gads. She couldn’t believe she’d just said that. But he had her confused and unsure. He had her wanting to believe someone liked her, oddness and all.
He frowned. “What must I do to prove I’m a man of my word?”
Should she be coy? Lie? No. If they were to really know each other and have a true chance, she had to be truthful. She prayed she wasn’t being utterly foolish. Her mother had always told her she’d need to hide what she liked if she truly couldn’t change, and here she was still not doing what her mother had said. “We must be friends before we can be anything else.”
“I want that. I vow I do.”
His words were so earnest that she believed him. God help her, she did. Nothing would be worse than falling for Grey only to be humiliated if he proved himself false. The hell she had previously endured at Court would seem a dream when compared to the nightmare Grace would undoubtedly put her through if she ever learned Madelaine had been so foolishly stupid. She would take the chance though. “All right. I promise to take you for your word unless you prove that you take me for a fool.”
He leaned closer, his pupils dilating. “I take you for many things, Madelaine, but a fool is not one of them.” His husky voice made her melt inside.
“You’re doing it again.” Her voice was trembling.
“Doing what?” His tone was like a caress.
“Sounding seductive,” she said with a racing heart.
He grinned. “It must be my natural sound. I’m afraid you’ll just have to live with it.”
She laughed. “I bet you were a handful as a child.”
“I was indeed. I’ll tell you some stories eventually. Come.” He waved his hand toward the east side of the lake. “You ladies walked this way, correct?”
“That’s very impressive.” She trailed him. “Maybe you’ll get to use your tracking skills when you’re an equerry to find a rogue horse.”
He turned and gave her the same strange look he had when they’d spoken earlier on the subject of his being an equerry. “That’s odd,” he said.
Was he talking about what she’d said? Her stomach twisted into knots as self-doubt flooded her. Wait a second. He wasn’t even looking at her. She stared across the great park and breathed slowly. She needed to try to have more confidence, but it was so hard. “What’s odd?”
“There.” He pointed toward the grotto that lay across the wide expanse of grass and trees.
For a moment, she saw nothing, and then a flash of red caught her attention. “That’s the upstairs chambermaid! What on earth—?”
A man emerged from the grotto. She didn’t know him. And if she’d ever seen him she would have remembered. The burn scars that covered the right side of his face were visible, even from this distance. She shuddered. As if sensing her stare, he pulled a dark hood down. Grey chuckled before speaking. “Now I see what the chambermaid is up to. Do you know that man?”
Madelaine glanced behind her at Grey’s face. His eyes were narrowed on the couple.
