“Is your intention to woo me?” she asked a bit hoarsely.
The question shocked him and revealed even more of her innocence. “Would you let me?”
“Given my grandaunt’s reaction, I do not think you are a man my family would approve of calling one me, Lucien.”
Her honesty, while refreshing, was like a scalpel as it sliced with deep precision. Still, he appreciated it very much, after the lies the other woman of her class he had thought he loved fed him.
“You are correct.”
“Then if you know it, too, why ask me to dance…and why kiss me?” she whispered.
Her words reminded him of his brother’s earlier warning. “I want you.”
“As your lover?”
How shocked she sounded.
“If that is the only way I can have you…yes.”
She laughed, the sound one of incredulity.
“Youareshameless.”
And inside that incredulity, he heard the echo of a similar want and a frisson of fascination.
“Would you marry me?”
This time it sounded like she choked.
“We hardly know each other; how do you even ask me this?”
“It would not be now…but eventually, after we get to know each other more.”
“You are a most unusual man,” she gasped, sounding both amused and miffed. On a softer note, she asked, “What is your business?”
His gut tightened, but it never occurred to him to lie or deflect. Refreshing honesty as hers deserved the same honor. “I am a quarter owner in a gaming den.”
She sucked in a breath and remained silent for a long time, then she murmured, “No, I would not marry you.”
Stepping forward, he used his thumb and forefinger to lift her face to his. He could barely see her in the darkness, but the moonlight gave him enough of her loveliness. “You are an amazing creature that anyone would be lucky to have.”
Just not me. Their ships would sail past each other, and he would just have to accept it. Her eyes dropped to his mouth, and a hiss of breath left him. Despite saying she would not marry him or be his lover, she still wanted him.Hell.
“I must go,” she said.
“Then go,” he said just as softly.
She cleared her throat. “You are holding my chin.”
Lucien laughed, dipped his head, and kissed her again. It seemed she had been waiting for him to act, for she collapsed against him and returned his kiss with passionate fervency. This time when she pulled away from him, she hurried away without looking back. He scrubbed a hand over his face, and a rueful laugh escaped him.
Miss Ellie Fairbanks.
He stood there in the dark, trying to calculate the probability of her liking him enough to spend more time with him should he encounter her at the several balls he had secured invitations for. To what end? An inner voice that suspiciously sounded like Ollie asked.
To be her friend perhaps, he silently asked.
Lucien liked remarkable things. Only numbers and mathematical principles had taken much of that honor, but she was also remarkable to him, and it would be a fine thing indeed if they were to be friends.