Page 5 of The Moonstone Pirate
He chuckled. “On the nose, my clever butterfly. Tell me more about myself.”
“All right.” Oh, she had no doubt he was handsome. His body looked as though it had been sculpted out of stone. He was quite confident about his appeal with ladies. But the same could be said of other young men, some of whom were also attending this party.
She made the mistake of meeting his gaze and noted the glint of amusement in his eyes. But his was not a jovial nature. There was a hard layer of ice beneath that mask of charm. How much did she dare reveal to him? Not that she cared about insulting him again, since he was never going to court her. What was it he had told her? That she was too young and innocent to be of interest to him? The man was insufferably full of himself.
“There is a ruthlessness about you that cannot be masked,” she said.
“First you claim I am restless and now you have decided I am ruthless.” He moved off his relaxed stance against the stone wall and rubbed the back of his neck. “Most women find me charming.”
She nodded. “I am sure you can be quite the persuasive rake when you want to be. You are no doubt doggedly determined once you set your mind to a goal.”
“Is it a bad thing to know what I want and not let anyone stop me?”
“Depends on what you hope to achieve. You don’t care what people think of you, that much is obvious. You trust very few andare not easily impressed. You are demanding of others, but you also demand a lot of yourself.”
He grunted. “Go on.”
“There is a gentler side to you because you are capable of caring for others.”
“Even though I don’t care what they think of me?”
“That’s right. You have a very strong sense of honor. I think your hard edges are softened because you often apply your natural strengths toward a good purpose.”
“So, you have concluded I have a good heart?”
“Well, I do not sense cruelty in you. Just stubbornness, considerable arrogance, irreverence, and—”
“Ah, so I am a sainted rogue.”
“Dear heaven, I doubt you are a saint.” Imogen shook her head emphatically. “You are too conceited ever to be so humble.”
He laughed. “You are insulting me again.”
“I don’t mean to, but you…” She sighed. “Never mind.”
“No, do go on.”
She glanced at his dog and the absent way he was now patting the happy beast’s head. He may be a pirate rogue and a rakehell, but he also had a good measure of kindness. “You like to be in control of a situation, but you also have very strong protective instincts, which explains why you have remained by my side even as your gaze constantly darts to those young men behaving like idiots near the cliff walk.”
His roguish smile returned. “You think I am protecting you?”
She nodded. “I have no doubt of it.”
“What if I am here beside you because I wish to steal a kiss?” He eased closer, his gaze slowly raking over her body so that she felt the heat of that stare. “Would you let me kiss you, Butterfly?”
Her eyes widened in surprise—not because of her shock at the question but because of her shock at the answer she considered giving him.
He grinned and bent over her hand with an elegant bow. “I can read people, too. Next time I have you all to myself, you shall have your kiss.”
She did not know what to say to that bold statement, so she ran inside the elegant house in search of her aunt and uncle. Parrot loped along at her side. “Oh, you silly dog. Go back to your master.”
But the sweet pet would not leave her, and she realized he had been given the command to stay beside her and protect her all evening. Warmth flooded through her as she watched her not-so-wicked pirate protector saunter toward the house seemingly without a care in the world.
Two young ladies approached him, and he had roguish smiles for them. Imogen realized he had now forgotten all about her as those ladies fussed over him and began to flirt outrageously. They leaned in close to him and suggestively touched his arm. They skimmed their hands brazenly along his chest.
He took it all in stride, as though women accosted him in this fashion all the time. Well, he had told her they did, but she hadn’t believed him.
“Outrageous,” she muttered to herself. “Take him, ladies. I gladly hand him over to you.”
