Page 17 of The Seductive Love of a Lady
He did not answer. He sipped champagne, staring at the board, waiting for her to make her move.
Her fingers picked up her king and raised it close to her lips. His gaze followed the movement.
She smiled as his gaze struck hers. ‘Are they in town?’
He shook his head, his expression not saying no, but telling her to stop.
They were in town. He saw them at one of the balls he attended while pursuing her, but Drew was not introducing her. She returned her king to its place and moved a pawn.
He moved his knight.
‘I want to meet them.’
He ignored her, sipping champagne, and wishing she would give up. Today had been a good day, until she broached this untouchable subject.
‘Andrew…’
‘It is your move,’ he said.
She moved her pawn from the line of his king and suddenly he realised she had trapped him.
‘Checkmate.’
Damn, that was the end of distraction.
Conceding, he tipped his king over. She got up from her chair. He expected her to walk to the bedchamber, but instead she came to him and her fingers tilted up his chin, lifting his gaze to hers.
She smiled, coyly. ‘Please, let me meet your parents. They must want to meet me.’
‘They do not.’ He lifted his chin away from her touch. ‘Nor will they want to see me. So, no, we will not go.’
‘Did you argue with them?’ She picked up her glass, but did not sit down.
‘Mary, I do not talk to them.’ His temper increased by notches.
She was silent, as though she was working out a way to persuade him.
He sighed, drained his glass and stood. She needed something else to occupy her mind… ‘Let us go to bed.’
An hour later, lying naked beside her, satisfied, his fingertips drew circles on the soft skin of her shoulder. ‘You seem sofragile, yet you are not breakable at all, are you? I think there is steel beneath your skin, Mary.’
‘I can be hurt, but probably not broken, because I have my family.’
Her answer kicked – it would have pleased him if she had said,becauseI have you.
While they made love, he felt her tender trust, yet now, again, when it was over, she did not believe in him.
‘Introduce me to your parents, I want to meet them.’
Damn.
But… he thought… If it would convince her to believe in him, perhaps it was worth the risk. When she met them, she would know why he struggled with family bonds.
This was the worst thing she could ask of him.
Once it was over, his family would be forgotten and they could build their future.
She would see he had told the truth and might trust him more.
