Page 70 of The Lady Was Lying
“Kidnapped you,” he replied, as if it were obvious.
Ignoring the thrill his blunt words inspired, she poked him in the arm and warned, “As soon as they realize I’m gone, my brothers will be looking for me.”
“I imagine your whole family will be searching, not just your brothers.” He didn’t seem worried. “Luckily for us, Jane witnessed your departure. She will inform your brothers that you left with me and that you are safe.”
“Left?” She gasped at the blatant exaggeration. Had he lost his mind? “Left is a rather generous description of what has happened. Sebastian will be most displeased when he discovers that I’m gone.”
“Will he?” James continued to seem wholly unconcerned about her brother’s reaction.
“He abhors scandal.”
“Who doesn’t?”
“He’s very protective of his family,” she warned ominously, trying not to smile. She’d never been kidnapped before, and while she didn’t necessarily approve of such high-handedness, she was more invigorated than she could ever remember being.
“I have noticed how much he cares.” James paused and tapped his chin. “Luckily, he likes me. He welcomed me into the family with open arms and barely blinked when he found us kissing. I can’t imagine why he would feel the need to protect you from me.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Perhaps he has been protecting you from me.”
“Nonsense.” He laughed as if she were joking. “I’m a duke. I do not require protection from an earl.”
She huffed. Had he lost his mind? Kidnapping was a prime example of just how crazy she had made him. “I hope you have a sound plan in mind. If not, you’ve made a tactical error.”
“I made a tactical move,” he countered.
“You snatched me from the park, and Jane saw you. Sebastian will expect you to marry me now.” She sighed dramatically, and he only raised his brow.
“You said you would refuse if I asked.”
“Of course I’d refuse,” she declared, ignoring the sudden pang in her chest. It seemed so long ago that she had first told him she’d never marry him. Before they danced together. Before they kissed. Before she ignored him for days.
She hadn’t necessarily changed her mind but…
“I’m not asking you to marry me,” he responded far too calmly.
She was not disappointed that he hadn’t kidnapped her to force a marriage.
She wasn’t that foolish.
“Whether you ask or not, you’ve unleashed a scandal, and something will have to be done. Sebastian will expect you to make it right. I can’t imagine another way to do so.”
Everyone knew that marriage was the only way to salvage a kidnapping. Even if Sebastian didn’t want to force her, it was basically guaranteed that her eldest brother would suggest it. He wouldn’t have any other choice. In fact, he might be secretly relieved that James had outwitted her. Since marrying Emmeline, Sebastian had become quite fond of matrimony.
“Your brother would never force you to marry me, and if he tried, you would not allow him to succeed.”
He knew her far too well. Which raised the question—what did he expect to happen next?
A duel?
Her reputation wasn’t worth dying over. It wasn’t even worth maiming over. “I hope you’re handy with a pistol,” she threatened anyway.
He smiled. “As it happens, I am an excellent shot.”
Of course he was.
“You shoot my brother, I’ll shoot you.” It wasn’t a threat so much as a promise.
He chuckled. “No, you won’t.”
