Page 43 of The Tempting of a Devilish Lord

“You love me, Lucy, or else there is no chance you would have kissed me at Eastwick.”

“That was just…” She gave a huff and folded her arms. “That was only because we nearly died.”

“You risked scandal for a kiss from me.” His expression was so smug she longed to tear it from his face. And she would have done, had she not feared he was right. Could it be true? She loved this man? She was not certain she could handle this at present.

Aware of them drifting closer to the jetties, she stiffened. “Alex, return me to land at once.”

“Admit you love me.”

“Alex,” she said tightly. “Row us back or I shall do it myself.” She reached for the oars, but he moved them back out of her way.

“Lucy…”

“If you do not, I shall jump.”

A dark brow lifted. “Like hell you will. You wouldn’t survive the scandal of it all.”

“I will,” she insisted. “I’ll jump.”

His smile turned smug again. “You would not dare.”

Blowing out a heated breath, she rose from the boat, undid her bonnet and handed it over to him. She was tired of this. Of the confusion. Of pretending.

“Lucy?”

“I will certainly not have my future dictated to me again.” She pushed off the heels of each of her shoes with her toes, wavering in the wobbly boat. “Never again, Lord Kirbeck, do you understand?”

She jumped into the water. The frigid water bit straight through her clothes, and she heard Alex shout her name.

Ignoring him, she pushed on. At least the shore was not far away, she supposed. Her clothes weighed a ton and it seemed to take forever until her feet found the ground. She rose out of the lake, feeling rather like a sea monster. Given the reaction from the crowd of people who had gathered at the waterside after hearing her splash, she might well have been.

The crowd parted as she walked purposefully up the shingle toward the road. Bernie pushed through and blocked her path, his pallor grayer than ever.

“What are you doing, Lucinda?” he asked. He fought to pull off his jacket.

She lifted her chin. “I went for a little swim.”

“You look…awful,” he hissed. “And everyone is looking. Goodness, your mother nearly fainted when she realized it was you.”

Lucinda fixed him with a glare and waved away the offer of his jacket. She was weary of pretending to be someone she was not for Bernie’s sake.

“Take the jacket. I can see almost everything,” he bit out.

“You know, some men might appreciate that fact.”

His eyes widened and he stared at her for several moments. “What has happened to you, Lucinda? First you barely write to me, then you vanish off at a moment’s notice and now this after being in a boat with a known rake? Of which, by the way, I do not approve.”

Hands to her hips, she met his gaze head on. “You know, Bernie, I do not need your approval.”

“I should have thought you do, considering you have been hoping for me to propose for many years.”

Lucinda opened her mouth, shut it, then opened it again. “I do not believe I was everhoping.”

“Well, I was thinking of doing it this week, but it seems you are not the respectable lady I thought you were. Especially if you are keeping company with men like the marquis.”

“You know, I may not be respectable in your eyes, Bernie, but you are quite rude indeed to believe a woman is anticipating a proposal and leaving her to wait for years on end. Before long, I shall be a spinster.”

“So you should be grateful for my attention.”

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