Page 4 of Trapped with the Earl of Sin

“I’m sure you will,” Martin declared with a smile that reached his eyes. “I cannot imagine anything going wrong under your watchful gaze. I shall have to warn my best friend that you are on the case.”

Susanna glanced over at Luke, who of course was staring at Mary with the right amount of adoration. But Susanna was not willing to let him off the hook just yet.

“I simply want to be sure that he is going to treat my sister well.”

Martin leaned in a little closer, still looking like he wanted to tease Susanna. “And I need to ensure that your sister treats my friend well.”

She was not sure how she did it, but Susanna just about managed to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

“My sister is just lovely, thank you very much.”

“I could say the same about Luke.”

For a moment, Susanna almost burst out laughing as they stared at one another. It seemed like they had come to a strange impasse.

This wasnotwhat she was expecting when she sat down to dinner tonight. She thought it would be a lovely, gracious affair with Lady Standen and her guests.

Little did she know that this man was going to be one of the guests.

Susanna smirked and jutted her chin confidently. “Well, I have to admit, my lord, that I am not too sure if you have a judgment that I can trust. I will have to keep an eye on Lord Standen myself.”

As Martin cocked an eyebrow, Susanna found her pulse racing, and she was not too sure why. It was something about the way that he looked at her. It was as if he could see the parts of her that she did not want anyone to see.

“Well then, I will have to keep a similar eye on your sister,” he shot back, knowingly antagonizing her. “Because I might not be able to trust you.”

Could anyone sense the burning tension between the two of them? It seemed to be radiating from Susanna, so it was a surprise that no one else seemed to be glaring at them.

Even Mary was not shooting her a worried look, thinking that she was about to ruin everything for her.

It seemed to be a strange, invisible thing that only they could see.

As Susanna met Martin’s eyes once more, she found herself staring at her nemesis. She was not sure why he had become this, but he had.

He made the first move to wind her up, and now he would have to face the consequences of that. Susanna was not an opponentto be messed with, and he would soon see that he should not have started this.

Whateverthiswas.

CHAPTER TWO

What is it about her?

Martin could not quite put his finger on what had him so intrigued by Lady Susanna Creasey, but he had not been able to keep his eyes off of her during dinner, and he found himself in the same position at the breakfast table as well. Whenever she was in the room with him, he could not seem to really see anyone else.

Unfortunately, it seemed that she was not looking his way.

Had he really done something to offend her last night?

He was teasing her, just as she was him. But now he felt a little bad as it hit him that he might have taken it a step too far. She seemed to enjoy the joking, but what if his instincts were off?

He had to find out.

“How are you feeling today, Lady Susanna?” he asked smilingly. He already knew that he was going to do whatever it took to get her attention.

“I am quite well, thank you very much.”

Was she always thisproper? Martin had a feeling that there was so much more to Susanna that he just needed to break down her walls. Perhaps it was the way that she carried herself, and the fact that he was convinced she was hiding so much of herself, that had him so intrigued.

“That is good to hear. Are you comfortable at Standen Abbey?”

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