Page 27 of The Last Duke She'd Marry
“Do you promise?”
He was surprised that she was willing to accept his word. Perhaps she didn’t despise him quite as much as he thought. The idea pleased him.
“Yes, I promise.” He smiled. “Indeed, I’m rather overcome. I’ve never given a girl her first kiss. The responsibility is huge. If I don’t do it right, I might put you off the pastime forever.”
“I’m sure you’ll rise to the occasion,” she said drily.
He choked at the unwitting double entendre. “I’ll do my best.”
Actually, controlling the “rise” would be one of his difficulties. He wanted Juliet. He’d wanted her from the moment that he first saw her. Kissing her wouldn’t appease his hunger. Yet he knew that if he asked for too much, this bond that they forged, a bond that might even be trust, would snap forever.
“I can already tell that you’re a man who knows how to kiss a woman. I’m sure I’ll like it.”
“That’s a good thing,” he said, noting her dark tone.
“If you say so.”
“I jolly well do.” He sent her a straight look. “Are we going to further your education?”
She was a delightful mixture of curiosity and trepidation. If he told her that he found her inexperience moving, she’d be offended. But he did. She was so supremely capable. And so unaccountably untouched.
For a long moment, a charged silence stretched between them, before she gave a nod. “Very well. You may kiss me.”
Chapter 8
Juliet closed her eyes and jutted her chin forward. Her heart raced so fast that she felt giddy. In a breathless hush, she waited trembling for the touch of Evesham’s lips.
And waited.
Eventually exasperation replaced anticipation, and she opened her eyes. Evesham studied her as if she belonged to a species that he’d never before encountered.
“What?” she asked, puzzled.
“Haven’t you ever seen a man and a woman kiss?”
She stiffened. No, she hadn’t. Not a kiss of passion. “You’re laughing at me.”
He smiled. “Only a little.”
She marched past him with a swish of blue skirts. “I won’t stay to be mocked.”
“Juliet, don’t go.” He caught her arm. As ever, immediate heat rushed under her skin. Her foolish heart skipped a beat before taking off on another reckless gallop.
“I changed my mind. I’ve lived all my life without playing silly flirtatious games. I can continue very well without you deigning to put me on the pathway to perdition.”
“Hardly that. It’s just a kiss.”
“So why didn’t you do it?”
“Because you caught me by surprise when you stood there, like a little girl waiting for her first dance partner to give her a peck on the cheek.”
She was annoyed and uncomfortable. And she felt inadequate, as she often did when she thought of herself as a woman and not as a future duchess. Which made her even more annoyed.
“What should I have done? Hurled myself into your arms, panting for your attentions?”
His lips twitched. “You can if you like.”
With a low growl deep in her throat, she pulled away. The fact that he let her go increased her irritation. Which made no sense. “This is all a joke to you, isn’t it?”
