Page 30 of The Marquess Wins a Wife
“You—you—” That rosy passion-flush deepened to the mauve of rage.
“Unmitigated arse?” he supplied, endeavoring to be helpful as he backed a pace away, lest those clenching hands make what promised to be at least a passable attempt at strangulation. He doubted she could manage it, but he didnotdoubt that she could have given it a reasonable go.
“Lecherous,scheming—”
“Scheming,” he echoed incredulously. “You could have left at any time. I gave you ample opportunity to do so. And yet youstayed, Lizzie.” He fixed her with a firm stare as he dropped into a chair, bending to rub his smarting toes, which she had managed to inflict sufficient pressure upon to make them ache even through the thick leather of his boots. “And now my toesandmy arm ache.”
“I won’t apologize for it,” she said stiffly.
“I hadn’t expected you would,” he muttered. “I don’t intend to apologize for kissing you, so I expect that makes us even.” Casting his gaze toward her once more, he added, speculatively, “It was more enjoyable than I’d expected. Perhaps I’ll give it another go sometime.”
She trembled with fury, an incensed gasp shivering in the air between them. “You’re mad if you think I would ever—”
“Oh, you certainly would,” he said, cheerfully. When had he last known a woman who blushed so vividly, so delightfully? “I’d stake my fortune on it.” And then he paused thoughtfully. “Incidentally,” he said, “are you a betting woman?”
Chapter Fourteen
A—what?”
Luke held up his hands; a bland gesture of pacification. “That was a legitimate question,” he said. “I have a suggestion; a means of resolving our problems to mutual satisfaction.” He dug into his pocket, produced a small coin purse, and dumped a portion of its contents out into his palm, sorting through the loose coins until he produced what appeared to be a shilling.
“Ourproblems?” Lizzie squeaked through teeth still clenched with the depths of her fury. “Which problems are those, my lord?”
“I wish to go into town,” he said. “In the comfort of a carriage, as my injury will likely not allow me to ride properly. And you, I assume, wish not to be bothered by my incessant badgering on the matter.”
Resentfully, she muttered, “Such problems would be solved if you would simplynotbadger me.”
“Oh, I’ll badger. Upon that you may depend. Unless”—he flicked the coin in the air, and it spiraled high, catching brief glances of sunlight as it turned until it fell down once more into the flat of his palm, where he enclosed it in the grip of his fingers—“you care to make a wager with me. Heads, and you send me off to town in your carriage. Tails, and I cease badgering you about it.”
“What an asinine suggestion.”
“My dear, I assure you I have notbegunto plumb the depths of asininity of which I am capable.This,” he said, holding the coin aloft, “constitutes a concession of inconceivable magnitude, for which you ought to be profoundly grateful, given that I am not in the habit of denying myself anything I might desire. Only think,” he wheedled, and that coin gleamed in the cup of his palm. “You could win your peace from me fairly.”
It was a devil’s bargain, and she knew it. And still, she heard herself saying, “If I win, you will not badger me.”
“Indeed.”
“Aboutanything.”
A flicker of annoyance crossed his face, his brows jamming together. “That was not the bargain.”
“It’s the bargainnow.”
Rolling his eyes skyward, he heaved a great, gusty sigh, and slumped his shoulders as if they had become heavy with the weight of his concession. “All right, then. I promise not to badger you—”
“Or beg, or plead, or otherwise annoy, irritate, irk—”
“You ought to have been a solicitor.” Something of a laugh dredged itself up from his chest. “Yes, yes. On my honor, then.”
“I don’t believe you have any honor.”
“Careful there, darling. I’ve called men out for less.” The words were light, but the haughty superiority that darkened his face was not. “I would advise you to accept my offer while it lasts. I have a great many complaints, and little enough else to do but voice them.” He flipped the coin casually, catching it in his hand.
Damn him, the lure was irresistible. But— “Andif you happen to win, you will—you will concoct some reason for your presence which will not endanger our reputations.”
He made a flippant gesture with his free hand, and seemed to snag an excuse from thin air. “A longstanding family acquaintance,” he supplied. “Naturally, your father trusts me to look after you while he is…away.” He said it as if a laugh had caught somewhere in his throat, as if he had had to force the words out around it—but the ease with which he had called it forth suggested that he was a better liar than she would have expected. “Are we agreed?”
“Against my better judgment.”
