Page 39 of If the Slipper Fits
Impatience tore at him. He was so bloody close. But he sensed if he pressed her even a fingernail’s clipping harder, she would turn tail and run.
He would wait. She would talk.
Muffled voices sounded from the hall and Anna’s already pale face turned ashen. Eyes wide as a doe’s, she stared at the closed chamber door as if the devil himself loomed on the other side.
Blood boiled in his veins. One thing was certain. He would make Hardasher pay for whatever he’d done to inspire such terror in Anna.
But first, he had Glory orAnnaor whatever she chose to call herself to deal with.
The settee groaned under his weight as he shifted his weight. He crooked one finger beneath her chin and drew her attention back to him. “Calm yourself. I locked the door.”
Suspicion filled her amber eyes as they locked with his. She swallowed audibly. “You’re not…working with him?”
“Working with him? Working with him how? What do you take me for?”
She searched his eyes a long moment then surprised him by launching herself into his chest. “Oh, Caden,” she choked.
His arms banded around her. He hadn't a clue what she meant byworking withHardasher, and, right now, didn’t much care. He closed his eyes, savoring her softness, inhaling the elusive, elegant scent ever-clinging to her skin and hair. The urge to tilt her head back and feast on her sweet mouth screamed through him.
He’d read terror in her eyes, though, and still had no clue as to why. Why was key.
Clenching his jaw, he steeled himself against his weakness for the woman and allowed his arms to fall to his sides. “Tell me about Hardasher, darling.”
She slanted him a considering glance. “He looks at me. Every time I round a corner, there he is, leering.”
“But has he approached you? Has he attempted to…”
Her chestnut brows beetled in evident confusion. “To what?”
She couldn’t possibly need him to spell it out.
“To. What?” she repeated, articulating each word.
He threw his hands wide. “To seduce you, Glory. Has he tried to seduce you?”
She drew back as if shocked by the notion. “Why would he do that? We’ve hardly spoken two words.”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or check her brow for a temperature. “Must I remind you this is a house party?”
Annoyance flashed in her eyes. “Your point?”
“My point is, you’re a beautiful, unattached, widow. Most likely, Lord Hardasher is simply after…”a bit of sport.He couldn’t bring himself to say the words. Something about the crass way they sounded, even in his head.
And about the way they hit a little too close to home, Thurgood?
Thankfully, dawning understanding lit her eyes. “You’re saying, he wants…” She cleared her throat, and her expression turned…hopeful?
No, that couldn’t be right.
“Do you really think he wants to have his way with me?”
Shedidsound hopeful.
“Is that something you want?”
She looked aghast.
His jaw relaxed and a smile threatened to spread over his face. Funny. Until that moment, he hadn’t realized he’d been gritting his teeth. “If you aren’t concerned he has a romantic interest in you, what about Hardasher frightens you?”
