Page 28 of The Gentleman's Confession
“Am I? I’m not a bad catch.” He straightened and smoothed the lapels of his jacket.
“Can you imagine me a vicar’s wife?” She scoffed. “I would be abysmal at it. Thankfully, you’re off the table. Taken. Practically engaged. Why else could I sneak off unchaperoned to meet with you? Well, I’ll save you the guessing. It’s because you’re ... safe.”
“Safe?” He shook his head and dropped his hands. “I used to like the word, but coming out of your mouth, it sounds almost insulting.”
The man was speaking nonsense now. “Why not apply lesson number one to Lisette? We can both be happily married by the end of the summer.” She didn’t know why she kept pushing him so hard. It was like she needed him to tell her his plans and how definitive they were.
Miles turned two brooding eyes her way. “Did a Rebel pressure you to change your mind about marriage?”
“No.”
“Exactly. They expressed their opinions, as expected. But in the end, they supported you. When or if I ever decide to marry, you will be the first to know. Until then, I am satisfied just as I am.”
“But you aren’t against marriage?”
“Of course not. I simply am not ready.”
Jemma nodded slowly. “I can respect that. I will be delicate in my pressuring you ... to marry Lisette ... as soon as humanlypossible.” His look of exasperation made her laugh again. She snapped her fingers. “Instead of Lisette, why not enact the very same challenge toward Mr. Bentley?”
Miles stared at her. “I am to fall in love with Mr. Bentley now?”
“Heavens no. You need to speak to him more, be kind to him, serve him even.”
Miles shook his head. “Let’s not get carried away.”
“Are you shirking a challenge? That is not like you at all.”
“This isn’t one of our games of chess.”
“I suppose not.” She almost wished they were meeting to play chess today and not for a lesson. “Then again, maybe it’s not so very different. Are you afraid I will be better at the art of conversation than you are?”
“Impossible.”
He was too fun to tease. “A wager, then?”
He raised a brow.
She took it as permission to proceed. “Whoever does the challenge better has to forfeit a kiss.”
Miles’s cheeks darkened. “You want to kiss me?”
His sheepish expression made her laugh, or maybe it was her own nerves speaking at the image such a thought produced. “No, that’s ridiculous. I meant, I kiss Mr. Bentley and you kiss Lisette.”
He gave a fierce shake of his head. “Absolutely not.”
“It’s a harmless wager. After all, we’ll be married to the other person someday, so where is the real scandal?”
“You’re not kissing Mr. Bentley. You haven’t even passed lesson one. You are hardly ready for an intimate moment. You cannot skip over building a relationship and go straight to kissing.”
He was so determined that she relented. She had to admit, she enjoyed when he acted so protective of her. He had always been that way. “No wonder Tom dubbed you Mr. Romantic. Very well,you’re right. I don’t know anything about courtship. I thought to make it a game, but it wouldn’t be real, would it?”
“No.”
“So, no wager?”
He shook his head. “No wager.”
She shifted in her seat to face him better. “Let’s have lesson two, then.”
