Page 14 of Persuasions of an Earl's Daughter

With her lips.

She tilted the tankard and eyed the remnants of the porter. How much had she drunk? Thinking of joining a long line of women who imagined kissing August Beresford? Ridiculous.

Her gaze fell to his lips again while she waited for a statement of defense. How many lies had those lips formed? How many women had fallen prey to them and allowed him to sway them into bed by way of beautiful words?

Lilly sighed inwardly and let her chin rest more heavily on her hand. She had to face facts. He could state any manner of falsehoods and that would not change how beautifully full and soft his lips were or how the dip in his chin taunted her. No one could deny the beauty of August, not even her.

That did not mean, however, he could get away with stealing her horse.

“Do I look like the criminal sort, Lilly?”

She studied him, forgetting such an act would not help the whole thinking of kissing him matter. If anything, it was criminal that such a terrible rake could look so beautiful.

“Criminals can look like anyone,” she said primly, following the line of some scratches on the table with a fingertip.

“Know lots of them, do you?”

She tugged her finger away and snapped her gaze up when she realized the scratches were deliberate and formed the shape of something rather crude. Wouldn’t he be surprised to know her sisters had found themselves entangled with some quite nefarious characters. The temptation to tell him all about the investigative society her late-aunt had started threatened to tumble from her lips, so she pressed them together.

“Not as many as you, I’m sure.” Given his reputation for being quite the dark character, she should keep her guard up. He could still be behind the theft.

“Funnily enough, I do not spend much time with criminals.” He cocked his head, a smug smile cracking across his face. “Despite what you might have read.”

Warmth flowed into her face. She didn’t want him knowing she’d devoured every snippet of information about him, and she had essentially just given herself away. “I only know what people say,” she replied haughtily.

“I know what people say about you.”

“Oh yes, well all of that is true,” she shot back. “We are dog-nappers, and have a penchant for climbing statues naked and vomiting on fine ladies.” She leaned in a little. “And do not forget we arenew money.”

“So scandalous,” he agreed, his smile growing and making her feel even hotter. “How exactly did you end up kidnapping the Prince Regent’s dog?”

“We petted him.”

His brows lifted.

“We petted him, and he snuck into our carriage, and none of us realized until we were well on our way home.” She sipped the beer and forced herself to swallow the tiny drop. “It was all just one big mistake really.”

“And the statue?”

“Yes, my brother did climb a statue naked after getting rather inebriated, but he was terribly young and could not yet handle his ale.”

“Unlike you.”

“Precisely.” She ignored the sarcasm in his tone. “By then my father had already eaten bad fish and thrown up on Lady Beaumont’s shoes so once we accidentally stole the dog, our cut from Society was complete.”

“Well, you’re not missing much if that’s any comfort.”

Lilly agreed but she wasn’t going to tell him that. She didn’t want him thinking they had anything in common. To save herself a response, she glanced out of the window.

The sooner this stablehand or her aunt arrived the better, then she would not be stuck drinking horrible beer with this arrogant man who was determined to argue with her about everything. If she said rain was wet, she was certain he’d tell her otherwise.

If she told him about the Duchess’s Investigative Society and how she and her cousins had been instrumental in aiding many women in solving everything from mysteries to crimes, he’d probably laugh at her and then definitely argue with her. He’d claim they weren’t crimes or that the mysteries had been solved by someone else perhaps. After all, because of the nature of their society, it was better it was kept quiet. Discretion was vitally important in ensuring women could come to them for aid when they were ignored by others.

Movement outside the inn caught her eye and she spied a boy scurrying past toward the stables. Forcing her expression to remain neutral, she rose from the table.

August stood swiftly, his chair screeching back, causing several people to look their way. “Where are you going?”

Lilly eyed him cooly. “To relieve myself if you do not mind.”

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