Page 45 of A Duchess Disciplined

“Perhaps, you are right.”

Catherine blinked at him, appearing taken aback. “I—Iamright,” she said.

William’s lips twitched in amusement, and he almost laughed. It seemed as though Catherine had been anticipating more of a fight, and she did not know what to do when he had failed to provide one.

“We are going to the park tomorrow,” Catherine said. “It would be nice if you could join us.”

William sighed, his gaze drifting unwillingly to the documents spread out before him. “I have a great deal of work to do, and you are proposing that I abandon it all rather suddenly. You must provide me with more notice, my lady.”

“Catherine. If I am to call youWilliam, I ought to beCatherine.”

He smiled, and she responded in kind.

“It is sudden,” William continued, “and I have much work to do. Perhaps, if you had asked me to join you at some engagement in a few weeks.”

“A few weeks?” Catherine asked in disbelief. “You cannot be serious.”

“I am entirely serious.”

“You need a little spontaneity in your life,” Catherine replied. “What is the worst that will happen if you abandon your papers for just a day? They will still be there on your desk tomorrow, and I doubt you will have already forgotten all of their contents so quickly.”

She abandoned the chair and instead splayed her fingers over his desk and smiled at him.

“Just one trip to the park,” she said softly. “It will not even be an affair that takes you all day—just a few hours spent with your wife and your sisters. You can manage that; I am certain.”

William clenched his jaw and gazed at her. Something about Catherine had softened, and where there had been brazenness before, there was instead just feminine softness.

“And what of you?” William asked. “Wouldyoulike me to join you in the park?”

Catherine’s cheeks pinkened. “I suppose I should like to see you more, also. We are married, after all.”

“Perhaps, you would like to see me in a different context,” William said, allowing himself a long, luxurious look over the length of her body.

Catherine’s breath hitched. “I do not…I am sure that I do not know what you mean.”

“I could show you,” he mused.

Catherine smiled, and her breath audibly quickened. “I should like that.”

“But not now,” he teased. “I have much work to finish, and you are determined to take me away from my desk tomorrow.”

He did not miss the look of disappointment in her eyes, fleeting though it was, and William delighted in it. His wife was a wicked, hungry woman. He considered briefly amending his teasing and instead making love to her with Catherine spread open above the desk.

“I see,” Catherine said. “You consider me to be a distraction. That is useful information to have.”

“Useful, how?”

She smiled coyly. “I do not feel inclined to tell you. I am sure that you will figure it out, though. With all your knowledge and experience.”

William clenched his jaw, and his loins stirred with interest. “If you continue to prove to be a distraction, I shall correct that behavior.”

“Will you?” she asked, her eyes wide with mock innocence. “I thought our agreement was that I might be myself in private. Perhaps, I wish to be distracting in private.”

“I suspect you are equally distracting in public,” he growled.

He needed her to leave before he succumbed to the temptations of her soft curves and sly smirks.

“You have delayed my work for long enough,” William said. “I shall take your words under careful consideration and determine if I may join you at the park tomorrow. The more that I accomplish today, the more likely that is to happen.”

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