“You forget that I’ve seen what the ton has to offer.Yet I chose to court you.”
She shook her head, unable to believe she wasn’t dreaming.“You chose to pretend to court me.There is a vast difference between courting a woman you are interested in marrying and asking one to help you remain unattached.”
His eyes held a hint of regret.“I never meant to insult you.”
She shook her head.“You didn’t insult me, my lord.I was never under any illusion that someone like you would want to marry someone like me.”
His eyes narrowed.“Someone like you?”
“Someone far too old and only passably attractive.”
She let out a soft cry of surprise when he clasped her by the upper arms and pulled her against him.
“Stop being so hard on yourself.Those are your sister’s words.I can assure you that you are more than passably attractive.”
Her mouth twisted at the tepid compliment.“Oh yes, my too-wide mouth makes you think about kissing me.”
“Your mouth, my dear, has men thinking about having you drag it all over their bodies.”He must have seen her confusion because he took hold of one of her hands and brought it to his hardness.“Most especially here.”
Her mind blanked at the image his words conjured.Then, almost of their own volition, her fingers curled around his length.Is that what men wanted from a woman?She remembered how good it had felt to have his mouth on her breast, pulling the tip into its warmth.Would he enjoy it if she took his hard length into her mouth?She should be slapping him right now, but instead she found herself wanting to do what she had just imagined.
He placed his hand over hers and lifted it to his mouth, dropping a kiss into her palm.“You would test the patience of a saint.And I am no saint.”
The promise in his words had heat beginning to unfurl within her again.“So…”
“So I need to take my leave now before this goes any further tonight.”
His words disappointed her, but at least he wasn’t saying this would be the end of their time together.
She raised one brow and leaned closer into him, enjoying the way her overly sensitive breasts felt pressed against his muscular chest.“Tomorrow?”
He let out a short bark of laughter before capturing her mouth in a heated kiss.All too soon it was over and he pushed her away.
She frowned in disappointment.
“Tomorrow I will begin to show you that I meant what I said.I wish to court you in earnest, Mary Trenton.”
And with that he strode away from the gazebo and passed through the break in the hedge that hid the little structure.
Mary clasped her upper arms and let out a soft sigh, allowing herself to give in to the thread of hope beginning to grow within her.