Page 103 of Deception

“You’re beautiful,” he said softly. He hadn’t come to Emerald Mound with the intention of kissing Madison, but he couldn’t stop himself.

She closed her eyes, and a small moan escaped her lips when he kissed them, then he lifted her chin, seeking her lips again. She responded, melting into his arms.

“Where did you learn to kiss like that?” Madison asked breathlessly when they pulled apart.

Her words were like ice water, and he stepped back, the vow he’d made two years ago haunting him.

“What’s wrong?”

The trust in her eyes seared his heart. “You’re vulnerable right now ... I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you.”

“I see.” She stepped back.

Madison had taken his words as rejection. Clayton could see it in her face and the way she hugged her arms to her waist.

“Can you take me home?” Without waiting for an answer, she turned and marched down the mound.

Regret burned hotter than a coal in his chest as he followedher. Anything he said would make it worse, so Clayton said nothing. But once they were on the Trace again, the thought of driving back to Natchez in icy silence made him try. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s just—”

“I don’t want to hear it. It’s evident we made a mistake, and since we have to work together, we’ll simply pretend tonight never happened.”

He took a breath to refute her words.

She held up her hand. “Please. Don’t try to explain.”

Clayton clamped his mouth shut. Maybe she would be willing to listen to him by the time they reached Natchez. When they reached the judge’s house, he pulled around to the back door. “I’d like to explain.”

“There’s nothing to say. You kissed me and regretted it. Plain and simple.”

“That’s not true.”

She turned and looked at him. “You’re saying you don’t regret kissing me?”

“Not the way you mean it.” He couldn’t just say he’d taken a vow not to kiss a woman and leave it at that—he would need to explain why. She probably wouldn’t believe him anyway.

Madison shook her head and opened her door. “I’m too tired to decipher your meaning tonight.”

“It isn’t you, Madison.” He couldn’t let her leave thinking she was lacking in anything.

She rolled her eyes. “Not the old ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ routine?”

“This time it’s true. You don’t know this about me, but at one time I wouldn’t have cared that I took advantage of you. That all changed when I quit gambling and drinking. Do you remember me telling you I’d made a commitment that I wouldn’t trifle with a woman’s affections?”

“And I accused you of reading Regency romances. I thought you were joking.”

“I wasn’t, and it was a little more than a commitment—I tooka vow before God, that unless I was ready to propose to a woman, I wouldn’t touch her. That meant no kissing.”

She gave him a sarcastic glare. “And you want me to believe that I made you break your vow? I had no idea I had that much power.”

He knew he would make it worse. “That’s not what I meant.”

She rubbed her forehead. “Look, let’s end this while we’re still speaking to each other.”

“Please, just—”

“No. I’m done tonight, and I still have to comb through my files.” She climbed out of the SUV and slammed the door.

Clayton unlocked the gun safe in his Interceptor and grabbed his Sig. “Wait.” He reached the back door before she got it unlocked. “I want to clear the house.”

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