Page 103 of The English Duke
“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”
“Nothing scares you, does it? You see something and you go after it without a second thought.”
“Why does that sound like an insult?” she asked.
He leaned down to brush a kiss against her forehead. She didn’t move away.
“Believe me, it isn’t. I’m the same way.”
“What a pity you aren’t a duke, then,” she said.
She laughed, a soft little chuckle that did odd things to his nerves. He wanted to kiss her, to press his body up against hers, to pin her to the wall until she admitted she had missed him, that she’d thought about him, and she was happy he was here now.
Instead, he cupped her cheek with his left hand, leaned down until he was only a breath away from her lips.
“I miss you in my bed, Josephine,” he said.
She pulled away, putting a few feet between them.
“You’re not a bride yet,” he said, smiling.
“What does that mean?”
He shrugged. “It’s not too late for Jordan to realize his error. He’s marrying the wrong sister.”
A dangerous woman, one whose smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. He reminded himself to never get on Josephine’s bad side. Or at least always have something about which to blackmail her.
“You’d be a lousy wife, Josephine. Jordan deserves someone who at least likes him. Someone who doesn’t just covet what he has.”
She studied him for a long moment. He didn’t look away, wondering what she was thinking. No doubt it was a cunning plan featuring her as the victim. Poor Josephine with her emerald eyes swimming with tears and her kissable lips pouting.
“You’ll be wasted as a wife,” he said, surprising himself with the truth. “You truly should work for the War Office. No doubt there’s a great deal you could ferret out from the unsuspecting man.”
“I have every intention of being the Duchess of Roth,” she said.
“Why? You don’t love him. You don’t even like Jordan. Is it because you want Sedgebrook so much? Or is it because Martha wants him?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Just watch Martha’s eyes when she looks at him. She loves him, Josephine. It’s as plain as the sky is blue.”
When she didn’t say anything, only continued to look at him unblinking, he smiled.
“That’s part of it, isn’t it? You get to be a duchess and you get to take away the man Martha loves. Do you hate your sister so much?”
“Why do you care?”
He was damned if he knew. But there was something about the girl that intrigued him. Something calling to his darker nature.
“I want you in my bed, Josephine.”
She inclined her head slightly. He recognized the gesture as one of surrender. She hadn’t figured out how to silence him yet, so she’d come.
“I’m going to be married tomorrow.”
“Then it’s the last time I can have you, isn’t it?”
He pulled her across the hall, opening the door to his room.
