Page 12 of Wedded to the Ruthless Duke

“Well, these dares of Celia’s… they’ll just get you all in trouble. At least now you’ve achieved your dare without any harm.”

“That’s why you kissed me?” The outrage was plain at once.

“Why else?” He shrugged.

Because the thought crosses my mind at least once every time that I see you.

He kept this answer to himself. Little good could come from his attraction to Grace, hence why he had been keeping it at bay ever since he met her.

She was unlike the other ladies he discreetly spent his time with. She was not formal, not elegant, and the way that writers of scandal sheets followed behind her, writing of her clumsiness and unladylike ways, meant any possible liaison they had would appear in the scandal sheets within a day. That eventuality was unthinkable.

“My reputation is not of your concern.” Her expression changed at once. She marched past him, no longer meeting his gaze, as she returned to the other end of the lawn, clearly making her way back toward the house.

“You think not?” he spluttered as he followed her, somewhat angered that she’d had no response to the kiss at all. Had she even liked it? Then he caught sight of her brushing her lips with her fingers. She couldn’t have been untouched by it.

No one could kiss me back like that and not feel something.

“Listen, your reputation is entirely tied up with my sister’s.”

“What do you mean by that?” She flung herself around. “We are not blood related.”

“You are dearest friends. The wholetonknows it.” He waved a hand dismissively. “You know what happens the moment there is a scandal. Someone hears about it, and they start looking at anyone connected to the subject of that gossip. I’m protecting Eleanor.”

“Funny. You didn’t seem very protective of her when you insisted that she found herself a groom.” The artful way in which she spoke and raised her eyebrows made his gut stir again. He felt another urge to kiss her though he kept his feet firmly planted in the ground where they were.

“How little you know if you think I wasn’t protecting her the whole time.” His words made her frown. “You appear often enough in the scandal sheets without needing to go out of your way and flirt with a man who would have every word you said reprinted in a scandal sheet the next day.”

“I beg your pardon!?”

“You heard me,” he muttered deeply in a low warning tone. “The writers love to write about the ways in which you… transgress.” He struggled to find the right word.

“Yes, because it’s a transgression to enjoy a good walk. To ride, to swim, to go sailing. How dare a woman like all the things that many men like and not just…embroider her life away!”

“You know what I mean,” he said, continuing that low tone though it did nothing to dissuade her anger.

“You should have let me kiss Lord Morton instead.” Her words made his stomach knot. “As you so clearly despise me and my reputation so much, it’s a wonder you have stayed in my company for so long now.”

“For God’s sake.” He cursed, knowing now he had to point something out to her. “You weren’t going to achieve your dare with Lord Morton. You would have only had your feelings hurt.”

“And why is that? Do you think he would not have wanted to kiss me?”

“Of course not! You are not his type. It’s not my secret to tell why, but just take my word for it, Grace.”

“Why?” She stood rigid, the full force of her fury plain now. “Because I’m not proper enough. Not ladylike enough.” Philip stayed silent. “Notthinenough.”

Thin!?This thought curdled his gut. Why the hell did she want to be thin? Dear God, a red-blooded man would have loved to have had a woman with her figure in his bed. Philip had certainly imagined it, many times.

“It has nothing to do with you.” He scrambled to keep speaking as he saw her lips fall open in hurt. “His tastes are rather different to mine, Grace. He would have rather kissedmethan spend time being driven mad by the curves you keep hidden beneath those modest dresses of yours.” He waved a hand dismissively at her.

She took a step back, her cheeks pinkening further. Philip wished he could reclaim the words at once, somehow stuff them back into his mouth and forget the thing he had said about her curves, but she didn’t seem to notice that bit.

“Oh.Oh!”she gasped in understanding and threw a hand over her eyes. “That’s why I liked him.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I so rarely like men. It suddenly makes sense that I would choose a gentle man who turns out to prefer men to women.” She managed a small, humored smile as she dropped her hand from her face.

“You so rarely like men?” He folded his arms, feeling anger on behalf of his own sex.

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