“That you’re a…a libertine.”
His low laugh sent seductive music rippling across her skin. “Good Lord, it seems I’ve provided the locals with plenty of entertainment, even before I play Joseph.”
“Which doesn’t mean this particular local has to provide entertainment for you, my lord.”
Channing plastered a regretful expression on his face. “Of course you don’t. Please forgive me for asking.” He turned to open the gate and started to lead Daisy back the way they’d come.
“Where are you going?” Bess asked, bewildered.
“I’m putting Daisy back in her field. I’m sure you’ll find another donkey. At a pinch, a pony will fit the bill.”
Bess caught a growl behind her teeth. She’d known Lord Channing an afternoon, and already he counted as the most provoking person she’d ever met. Her hands clenched in the greatcoat’s voluminous pockets as she stared after his retreating back.
He’d taken another ten steps before she spoke. “I didn’t say no.”
He pulled Daisy up and turned to face Bess. “You didn’t say yes.”
“You startled me. I’m not used to rogues demanding my favors in return for agreeing to perfectly reasonable requests.”
His smile was careless. “I’m so pleased that I’m broadening your horizons.”
His insouciant air ruffled her temper. He was obviously used to kissing women at the drop of a hat. She couldn’t be nearly so casual about the idea, even if she’d wager he knew how to kiss a girl until he filled her dreams. “You’re proving yourself worthy of your reputation.”
“As a Scot, a pirate, and a philanderer?”
“When you lend us Daisy, you’re helping the community.”
“Looked at that way, so are you when you kiss me.”
The impudent devil. She wanted to call his bluff. And if it wasn’t a bluff, tell him he could keep Daisy, and go away and rot in his shabby, empty mausoleum of a house.
But since he’d mentioned kissing, she couldn’t help staring at that mobile mouth. There was something so sensual about the shape of his lips. The precisely carved upper lip, the fuller lower one. The creases at the corners hinting at laughter.
Of course he was laughing at her. He believed he held a winning hand, while she was about to throw in her cards and declare herself defeated.
Unfortunately, he was right.
“One kiss?”
He looked surprised. Then pleased.
Then predatory.
Nerves knotting her stomach, she faltered back a step. Not just because she’d kiss him, but because of how she’d kiss him. She very much doubted she was up to his usual standard of partner. This man had seen the world, while she’d never been past Newcastle. And she’d bet that he’d left the girls in all those exotic ports kissed to the point of dizziness.
Thinking about kissing him certainly made her dizzy.
He arched one russet eyebrow. “Is that a yes?”
“You’re a naughty man, Lord Channing,” she said, unsure if the remark was compliment or insult.
“I promise you’ll like it.”
She made a dismissive sound, even as the excitement pounding in her blood promised that indeed, she would like it. “For the greater good, I can endure a little kiss.”
He snickered softly and walked toward her, towing Daisy. “No need to cower, my wee village maiden. I’ll see that your first kiss is memorable.”
Cower? She’d show him cower. “It’s not my first kiss,” she snapped before she could stop herself.