Page 6 of The Duke of Desire
He smiled, enjoying this conversation even more than he’d anticipated. He liked needling her, and she made it far too easy. “Oh, I don’t know if that’s true,” he said softly, folding his hands in his lap. “Please, do reward me with your counsel.”
She let out a low, somewhat inelegant sound that was a bit like a snort. He smiled more widely.
“Reward you?” she asked. “Pray tell, why ever would I reward you? You’ve done nothing to earn such a thing.” She pressed her lips together and glared at him. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. You’re just trying to provoke me.” She closed the book and started to rise.
He scooted forward in the chair, sitting up straight and leaning toward her. “Don’t go, Miss Breckenridge. I find you intriguing. Would it be so terrible to sit and talk with me for a few minutes? You seem an intelligent—certainly razor-witted—sort. I meet so few women like you.”
“Then perhaps you should reassess the company you keep.”
He couldn’t argue with her there. Some of the women he helped were astute and interesting, while others were rather empty-headed. He tried to ascertain a woman’s character before he agreed to provide his services, but it was sometimes difficult to gauge her mental agility until after they’d spent time together.
“I’ll take that under advisement.” He noticed she hadn’t tried to rise again. “Does this mean you’ll stay and talk with me?”
She pierced him with a withering stare. “I should like to stay andread.”
He pushed out a breath and settled back in the chair. “Then by all means, read.” He dipped his head and turned it to the side, trying to read the spine on the book.
“It’sPatronageby Maria Edgeworth.”
“I haven’t read her. Should I?”
She clutched the book in her lap. “I wouldn’t begin to suggest reading material.”
“Because it’s the counsel I was hoping you’d reward me with?” He watched her nostrils flare slightly as he struck the nerve he’d intended. She was both a challenge and frighteningly easy to provoke. The challenge, he realized, was in provoking her in a different manner—to smile, or at least to relax. “Yes, reward was a poor choice of words. Let me try again.” He took a deep breath and looked at her earnestly. “Would youhonorme with your counsel?”
There it was—the barest chink in her armor. It wasn’t a smile but a slight loosening of the muscles in her jaw. “You think you’re charming, don’t you?”
“So I’ve been told.”
“Well, to me you are a nuisance.” She stood up then, and he jumped to his feet.
“Why?” He touched her arm as she started to turn. “Why do I frighten you, Miss Breckenridge?”
She shook him off and took a step away from him. “It isn’t fear but distaste. I want nothing to do with you.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “You say you aren’t scared, but that’s three times you’ve shrunk away from me. Do you have something against me personally, or is it men in general?”
Her eyes widened slightly, and he knew he’d struck that nerve again. Perhaps deeper than before. Her lip curled. Yes, he’d hit the target, and since they had not been acquainted before today, he had to assume it was the latter.
“If it’s men, perhaps I can help.”
“You can’t be—” She snapped her mouth closed. “You’re unbelievable. Are you”—she turned her head to survey the empty library and then spoke in a near whisper—“are you trying to seduce me?”
“Would you like me to?” Hell, he hadn’t meant to say that. She wasn’t his type. Actually she was. He longed to take down the mass of her red-gold hair and thread it through his fingers as he kissed her senseless.
But no, she wasn’t. Shewasa lady’s companion, as she’d told him multiple times, and she was unmarried. Which meant she was innocent, and he ought to leave her alone.
She was also past the blush of youth and would likely spend her days in spinsterhood. Lonely, boring spinsterhood in which she would never know the joys of shared pleasure.
Oh yes, Miss Breckenridge was a challenge. And he suddenly didn’t regret asking her if she wanted him to seduce her. Because hesuddenlywanted to.
Her eyes turned hard, and her tone threatened to freeze the nearby canal. “No, I would not. In fact, I would like it if you’d leave me alone.”
She turned, and he let her go, but not without a parting shot. “It will be a long fortnight, Miss Breckenridge, and the house is only so big.”
He caught the subtle twitch of her shoulders as she moved through the library and then departed.
