Page 133 of Every Rake Has A Silver Lining

She held a palm up to stop him. “Stay back.” She couldn’t think straight if he was near her, and if any situation called for a clear head, it was the current one. Unable to keep the hurt from her voice any longer, the next words leaked out of her like a cry. “Youpromised.”

“Nothing happened. I’m innocent,” Simon’s voice pleaded.

“Ha!” Hester gave a malicious laugh. “Your wife seems an intelligent woman. Sometimes things are exactly as they appear. Might as well confess, Simon, love.”

Simon spun on Hester. “Don’t call me love. And don’t touch me again.” He brushed aside the arm Hester extended toward him, then turned back to Charlotte. “She’s lying.”

“Am I?” Hester’s answer sing-songed on the night air, and Charlotte caught the smirk playing on her lips. “Face it, dearie. Simon can’t resist a skirt, and he’ll whisper those sweet words of love to get what he wants. No doubt you believed he meant it when he said he loved you.”

Simon straightened, his eyes meeting Charlotte’s. “Charlotte?”

Hester’s words sank beneath Charlotte’s anger, cooling it. “You are correct, Miss Pace,” Charlotte answered, the truth clear in her mind.

Simon’s face crumpled. “Charlotte, no.”

She held up a quelling hand. “Allow me to finish. True, Simon is far from innocent in most things, and he does love women. I appreciate that you’ve managed to cobble together enough sense to recognize my intelligence. However, I’m intelligent enough to know there are different types of love. I’ve seen the love Simon has for his mother and sisters, for our dear friend, the Duchess of Burwood, and even the compassionate love he has for women like you.”

Charlotte waited for Hester to digest her words, but the troublemaker continued to smirk. Clearly, the woman wasn’t as bright as Charlotte generously presumed.

Oh, but Simon! A different matter entirely. A broad grin—no longer ridiculous—broke across his face.

“Now. If you would kindly allow me a word in private with my husband.” Charlotte stretched out her arm, motioning for Hester to leave.

As Hester passed, the cloying scent of rosewater assaulting Charlotte’s nostrils, Charlotte leaned in and whispered. “Dig your claws into another man, Miss Pace. Leave my husband alone or you will answer to me. And please, save yourself some money on perfume. Dousing yourself with an entire bottle is both unnecessary and sickening.”

The troublemaking hussy stomped off in a huff.

Silence stretched between Charlotte and Simon like the night itself.

“Well?” Simon took one step toward her, and she didn’t try to stop him. “How did you know she was lying?”

Charlotte waved his question away as she would a pesky insect. “Simple. Although as I told her, there was some truth to her words. But you have never said you loved me, and I sincerely doubt you would say it just to get your way.”

He took another step closer. “No, I wouldn’t. Especially with you. With you, I would mean it.”

Moonlight shimmered in his seductive eyes, mixed with something else. “May I?” He held his arms out by her waist, beckoning her in.

“Yes.” She slipped into his embrace, threading her hands through his hair. “Now, I would like a stolen kiss like the one Hester professed to have received.”

“Please don’t mention her name again, or I will have to do this.” He lowered his mouth to hers, capturing it with a kiss that sent bubbles through her from her head to the toes in her slippers.

When he pulled back to allow them both a breath, she whispered, “Hes?—”

His chuckle vibrated against her lips as he silenced her again, the kiss growing desperate.

“We should go back inside,” she said when they finally broke apart. But as she turned, he tugged her hand.

“Wait. I have something to tell you. It’s about what Hester said—sort of.”

The confidence he’d worn so easily moments ago seemed to melt away, leaving an unsure lad before her. Worry tightened like bands around her chest, squeezing the air out of her lungs. Had she believed him too readily?

“What is it?” She wasn’t certain she wanted to know.

“But first, promise you’ll believe me.”

Oh, that wasn’t good. “I can’t promise you something before I know what it is.”

He ran a hand across the back of his neck and spun away from her. “Christ. Why is this so hard to say?” He nodded once, then turned around to face her.

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