Page 36 of Empowered By the Earl (Second Sons of London 3)

He helped her to rise and they sat again, this time with him sitting so that their thighs brushed.

“You’re too close,” she complained.

“Not if you are interested in a man.” He almost had said interested in him and corrected himself. “One way to let a man know if you find him attractive is to sit close.”

“All right,” she said reluctantly.

“Another way? Pick a piece of lint from my sleeve.”

Louisa glanced down at his arm and frowned. “But there isn’t one.”

“There doesn’t have to be. You pretend. It is merely an excuse to brush your fingers along a man’s forearm. Try it.”

She did and he praised her. “Now, I want you to glance down. Look at your hands in your lap. Good. Turn your head slightly toward me. Eyes still downcast. Now, glance up slightly at me and then lower your lashes. That’s a girl.”

Owen had her practice the accidental art of fingers brushing each other. He had Louisa cock her head a touch and work on her sideways glance some more. When he thought she had mastered those, he cleared his throat.

“Lick your lips,” he instructed. “Slowly. As you look at me.”

Her face flamed. “This is all too much,” she said.

“Just do it.”

She did, her gaze locked on his, causing a frisson of desire to ripple through him.

“Very good,” he said softly. “That is your ace. Save that move for when you are most interested in a gentleman. Preferably after you have been in close contact. I would do so if you were strolling on a terrace after a dance. Suggesting to go outside for fresh air is a way a man will usually let a woman know he is attracted to her.”

“That is why they kissed me,” Louisa said thoughtfully.

“Who?” he barked, immediately regretting his tone.

“The two men I kissed—before you. It was during my come-out Season. Both led me outside. We strolled to the far end of the terrace. That is when each kissed me.”

“Did you enjoy it?” he asked, his curiosity overriding his good judgment.

“The first time I did. It was nice. He used his tongue, though, and I didn’t know kissing involved tongues.”

Oh, she was such an innocent.

“The second time I didn’t like it at all. It was... slobbery. And he wouldn’t stop.”

Anger surged within Owen. He wanted to demand the man’s name so he could bash his nose in.

Calmly, he asked, “What did you do?”

“I kneed him in the groin as Papa had told me to do.”

Owen burst out laughing.

“Oh, it wasn’t funny at all. I think I quite injured him. He made an awful noise and doubled over in pain. I did not see him the rest of the evening.”

“And you say your father taught you this move?”

She nodded. “Mama passed when I was fifteen. Papa told me he had no idea what she would have taught me about men. He said a good many men only want one thing—a lady’s virtue—and that if I ever felt threatened, that is what I should do. I also taught Tessa and Adalyn the same move in case they might need to use it on an unscrupulous suitor.”

Louisa sighed. “I don’t know if he told any of his friends. I only went to a few more events that Season. It has been the same every year until this past year, when I attended the majority of events.”

“Did you ever see this man again?” Owen asked.

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