Page 83 of The Secret of Flirting
A string of French slurs followed, none of which he blamed her for. The wordsI desired yousounded in his head, as tempting as her nudity. “Monique, forgive me. I did not mean—”
“To insult me? To imply that I am some sort of seductress trying to trap you into marriage?” Still fully nude, she faced him and planted her hands on her hips. Her lush, very distracting hips. “And why on earth would I marry you when you clearly think me a blackmailer and manipulativeputain?”
“I do not think of you as a whore,” he snapped. “Andpardonne-moi, chérie, but you did offer me your body for my silence only yesterday.”
“Yes! Offered! From the beginning! I did not give it to you in hopes I could make you pay for it later, and then try to be so wicked as to demand that you—”
“Enough,” he said, suitably shamed. “You’re right. I should not have said that.”
That seemed to mollify her a little. Sullenly, she dragged on her chemise, then pulled her loosened corset on over her head. “I do not understand why you would offer marriage when you think such awful things of me.”
“AndIdon’t understand why you would give me your virtue. Especially now that you have possibilities.”
When she merely put her back to him and said, “Will you tighten my laces, my lord?” he muttered a curse under his breath and went to do so.
He regarded the back of her head and the stretch of skin he’d only half-jokingly spoken of marking. Even now, he wanted to suck her skin, taste her quim, be with her again and again.
His damned cock roused at the thought. “Please,chérie, tell me why you would behave so recklessly.”
She was quiet another long moment as he tied off her corset. Then she sighed. “Perhaps I just wanted to make sure that my first time was special. I knew I could trust you to make it so.” Turning in his arms, she faced him with a wistful smile. “And you did.”
He fought the surge of satisfaction that those words roused in him. “All the same, you see now why we must marry.”
“So you may throw your future away on a Frenchputain?”
“Don’t call yourself that,” he said sharply. “Never again.”
She stroked his cheek. “It is what the world will call me,mon coeur, once it learns that I have been an actress for years. That I have been lying to everyone about who I am.”
He gritted his teeth. She was right aboutthat. “We’ll find a way around... exposing your past. Somehow.”
Her mocking laugh echoed in his ears. “I would love to hear how you intend to do that. It’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible,” he said in true annoyance. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Have you no faith in me?”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with you.” A weariness spread over her features. “I simply know how the world works,mon coeur.”
It was the second time she’d called himmy heart. It should alarm him. Instead, it made him want to whisk her away somewhere safe and make her his yet again. “What if I don’t care about my career?”
She snorted. “Then you are lying to yourself. We both know you care very much. And if I took what you love away from you, you would come to resent me.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I could not bear that.”
Those words revealed that she cared more than she let on, and the realization struck him down deep, in the place where he kept all his darkest secrets. He wondered if she, of all people, might understand what he’d done in his youth and why. That she might accept his past and not judge.
The idea tantalized him, made him want to explore it. He reached for her, but before he could drag her into his arms, a knock came at the door.
Bloody hell. He’d be very happy to have all of this over, so he could sort out his feelings for Monique and his insane wish to have her as his wife, though it would surely mean the end of his career.
“What is it?” he called to the intruder, only too aware that he was naked except for his drawers.
With a frown, Monique left his side to continue putting on her clothes.
“My lord, the constable is coming up the drive,” came the voice of his most trusted footman.
Damn. “I’ll be right there,” he called out.
“Very good, sir,” the footman said.
As soon as the servant’s footsteps receded, Monique murmured, “You have many responsibilities. You must attend to them.”
