Page 48 of Seducing a Frigid Lady
“You did not hear the way that he was talking about you,” Lionel stated, shaking his head and shoving his hands into the pockets of his britches. “It was utterly infuriating.”
“I am no stranger to people having an opinion of me and I am not surprised Mr. Kenyon should say terrible things of me,” Miss Lloyd said, her tone was still cold and harsh. “He is an infuriating man, but I do not need you to fight my battles for me!”
“Miss Lloyd, that was not my intention,” Lionel protested, removing one hand from his pocket to step forward and reach for her. He regretted it when he saw Miss Lloyd flinch away, even though there was still far too much distance between them for him to actually be able to touch her.
Placing his hand back in his pocket, he shook his head and admitted, “Truly, I did not know what my intentions were. I was not thinking. It was an impulsive reaction and it never should have happened.”
“Then from now on you must promise me that Mr. Kenyon is none of your concern,” Miss Lloyd insisted, sounding as though she was speaking through gritted teeth, though she had lowered the volume a little. “I am perfectly capable of fighting my own battles.”
Lionel pursed his lips over again. How was she to fight her own battles if she did not know that they existed? How could she have learned of Mr. Kenyon’s harshness if it had not been for his standing up for her honour? He couldn’t imagine that any gentleman who had been in attendance at Lord Frost’s party would have uttered a word about it if things had not gotten so out of hand.
Perhaps that would have been better,Lionel thought, and he straightened his back, lifting his head high to declare, “I do not regret what I did.”
“Then you are a fool,” Miss Lloyd spat back harshly and not for the first time Lionel was reminded of her society-given nickname. Her eyes blazed cold fire at him and her hands were so tight at her sides that even from a distance Lionel could see that the colour had entirely drained from her knuckles.
Lionel flinched at the hardening tone in her voice.This is not going well.And it was most definitely not what he had imagined would happen when Miss Lyttleton had suggested that he come and find her here. Perhaps hewasa fool to have believed that it could have possibly gone any other way.
Sucking in a deep breath, deciding it was better to admit that he had been wrong, he declared, “Though I do not regret what I did, I understand your wanting to fight your own battles and I entirely agree to allowing you to do so.”
“Allowing me to do so?” Miss Lloyd hissed, her eyes narrowing and Lionel immediately cursed himself for being so careless with his wording. Of course, Miss Lloyd, intelligent as she was, was bound to pick up on such a thing. “My lord, it is not in your right toallowme to do anything. You have said all you have come to say, I am sure, and now you ought to leave.”
Lionel’s chest tightened at her words. He had come here to fix things between them, to come to some sort of agreement over their relationship, and yet it appeared all he had done was make matters worse.
“Miss Lloyd, you are an infuriatingly independent woman and I understand your feelings entirely,” Lionel assured her and this time he did take a confident step forward, determined that this would not be the end of whatever had occurred between them.
“But I refuse to leave here until we are both on even footing.”
For a second, Miss Lloyd looked as though she might actually be accepting of the fact. Then she pursed her lips and suddenly turned on her heels, throwing over her shoulder, “Fine then. I shall leave. Be careful not to fall and break your neck on the way out.”
The harshness in her tone hit something deep inside Lionel that caused a fire to burn ever brighter within him and he dashed forwards, before he even really knew what he was doing, to grip hold of her wrist.
The exclamation that erupted in a hissed breath from Miss Lloyd was the only warning he had before she whipped around, her free hand raised as if to strike him.
Quick as a flash, Lionel blocked her attempt with his other fingers wrapped around her wrist. Breathlessly, he gazed into Miss Lloyd’s eyes, panting for breath out of desire rather than exertion. Under his breath he whispered, “Somehow I think Mr. Kenyon got off lightly when it was I who beat him.”
He smiled, unable to stop himself as he imagined the shock upon Mr. Kenyon’s face if she had struck him as she had just tried to do.
Thinking over the words he had just said, he half expected for Miss Lloyd to grow even angrier and yet, instead, her gaze started to melt. Lionel watched it happen with fascination, only able to hope that it was a good sign that he might have actually managed to get through to her.
She pulled back, urging her wrists from his grip. Determined not to make things any worse than they already were, Lionel released her and though it pained him, he did not protest when she took another step away.
“My lord, where exactly are you hoping that this… this friendship between us shall go?” Miss Lloyd asked, her cheeks blushing slightly as though she was embarrassed to have tried to strike him. Though Lionel was well aware that she was far too stubborn and filled with pride to ever apologise for such a thing.
He couldn’t even try to pluck an apology from her, knowing that he would have most definitely deserved every lashing she gave him, not just with her hand, but with her tongue, too. He had most definitely been a fool, and it was all because of her. Yet he had been the one to allow her to get under his skin. He was as much at fault as she was.
Hesitantly, Lionel closed the distance between them once more. Unsure as to how she might react, he lifted his hands in order to show her that he meant no harm. “I hope only for the chance to be able to see where it might lead.”
At his response, she raised one raven-black eyebrow and looked at him with scrutiny. “This can never be anything but that, a friendship, my lord.”
Lionel bit the inside of his lip, fighting the urge to protest. Shaking his head, he rubbed his thumb along his lips and thought carefully about how to respond. Then he stated, “You and I both know that neither of us is interested in marriage. This need be nothing more than a friendship.”
Being so close to her, unable to stop from smelling the lavender scent of her perfume, Lionel was infuriated by the sudden desire to reach out and touch her. And when she made no move to speak or even step away, he could not stop himself.
Reaching up, he hesitated only a second, allowing her the opportunity to stop him before he reached out and caressed her cheek. “Neither of us knows what the future may hold,” he whispered under his breath, his eyes darting down to the rosebud curve of her pink lips.
Audibly, Miss Lloyd inhaled sharply, and the sound caused Lionel’s entire body to quiver. He half expected her to offer up a protest. Instead, she continued to gaze back at him in silence, her eyes seeming to say all of the things that she couldn’t bring herself to admit aloud.
“This cannot be anything more than a friendship,” she insisted again after several moments, though he could feel her trembling beneath his touch now. He saw the way her lips quivered, as if she were fighting back the urge to say something else.
