Page 31 of Lady Gambit
“Mrs Haggert? What the devil? If you think I’m taking you to the hen house, you’re sorely mistaken.” The determination in his voice said he was not a man to cross. “You should remain at Mile End and tend to your brother, as we agreed.”
“Theo is sleeping, and Miss Darrow barely leaves his bedside.”
“You have the library at your disposal.” He stepped down onto the gravel and gestured for her to alight. “There’s paper and ink in the desk drawer if you’d like to see to your correspondence.”
A hollow chuckle escaped her. “Who should I write to, Mr Flynn? Besides Miss Darrow, you’re my only friend.”
“You’re my client,” he corrected, though his tone lacked conviction.
She bit back a smile. “Do you make a habit of kissing your clients?”
Perhaps he was worried his coachman might hear their intimate conversation, because he climbed into the conveyance and slammed the door shut. The vehicle rocked on its axis ashe dropped into the leather seat. “I’m not in the habit of kissing anyone.”
Oh!
How strange that he should find her lips irresistible.
“Yes, I took you for a man in control of his appetites.” So why had he been unable to tear his hot mouth from hers? “As you never kiss your friends or your clients, it makes our encounter yesterday a little confusing.”
He removed his hat and dragged his hand through his dark hair. “Forgive me. I cannot explain the desperation that came over me, but there is no excuse for my?—”
“Display of unbridled lust?”
His gaze fell to her buttoned pelisse. “For my ungentlemanly manner.”
“Is that why you’re avoiding me?”
“I’m not avoiding you.”
“You let me dine alone last night.”
“I needed time to think.”
“You cannot think when we’re together?” Her mind and body did odd things in his presence. Her heart skipped beats. Blood pumped wildly through her veins. Erotic daydreams pushed logical thoughts aside.
“My unforgivable actions yesterday would suggest so.” A knot formed between his brows. “I pride myself on being nothing like my father. It came as quite a blow to discover I have inherited his disregard for propriety.”
She could sense his internal struggle. The disgust he felt for surrendering to his desires. He had probably spent the night whipping himself with a birch as punishment for succumbing to a whim.
“You’re mistaken. You had every regard for propriety.” The need to soothe him overcame the need to prove a point. “Youwere honest and gave me fair warning. But one cannot fight fate. And if we’re being pedantic, I kissed you first, Mr Flynn.”
“I was a breath away from kissing you, madam.”
Her pulse skittered. If only she had been patient. “Trouble yourself no longer. It’s not the first time I’ve been kissed. I pray it won’t be the last.” Surely that snippet of information would settle his war with his conscience.
Strangely, it roused his temper.
“You rarely leave Fortune’s Den. Who dared to take advantage?”
He sounded desperate to know.
“Aaron permitted me to visit Bath with Mrs Maloney. It’s the only time I’ve been allowed to leave London. A dear friend of hers was sick.”
She had not cared that they’d gone to nurse an ailing woman, to clean and prepare food and run errands. The rare moment of freedom had nourished her soul like the warmth of a summer sun.
“During a walk in the garden, the lady’s nephew lost his wits and kissed me on the lips.” It had left her aghast, her hands trembling, her stomach churning. She’d been repulsed and hadn’t devoured him the way she had Mr Flynn. “I informed Mrs Maloney, and she had a discreet word with him.” Though she had probably whacked him with her walking stick.
“Ah, now I know why your brother insisted Mrs Maloney act as chaperone. I understand you lived above her bookshop when you were children.”
