Sin With a Scoundrel (The Husband Hunters Club 4)

There was nothing cool and measured about this. Richard wanted her. Like a bolt of lightning it came to him that, given half the chance, he’d lay her down on the sofa and undress her until she was pale and

naked under his touch.

But he couldn’t do that.

If he did, he’d be risking everything, and certainly destroying any trust she had in him. He simply couldn’t.

He lifted his head and gave her a friendly smile to disguise what he very much feared was the expression of blatant lust on his face. Gently, with a hint of regret, he set her at a distance.

“You kiss very well, Miss Smythe,” he said, his voice light and teasing.

She appeared a little dazed and turned away, reaching to tuck a curl of dark hair behind her ear. “Do I?” she said, her voice husky. She cleared her throat. “Perhaps it is just that you are an expert, Mr. Eversham.”

Richard bit his lip. He could start to boast about all the women he’d kissed, but he didn’t think she’d want to hear that, and suddenly he didn’t want to hear it either. Something about having Tina in his arms, her lips opening under his, had stirred surprisingly tender feelings in him.

“I’m certain Lord Horace will find nothing amiss in your kisses, Miss Smythe. He might be a man of the world, but he’d be a fool to let you slip from his grasp.”

The words were heartfelt, and she looked up in surprise before quickly veiling her eyes. But not before he saw something in them that made him long to step forward and take her in his arms again.

And kiss her swollen lips until she surrendered entirely to him.

Had she really been kissing Mr. Eversham? Mr. Eversham, the rogue whom gentlemen paid to show them how to win the women of their dreams? And yet, as he had held her in his arms, he hadn’t felt like a rogue. And if she was honest, rogue or not, she’d enjoyed his kisses very much indeed.

Was that another example of improper behavior being so much more fun? That must be it, for surely there could be no other reason for Tina to be suddenly longing to throw herself into Mr. Eversham’s arms and kiss him forever.

Instead she half turned away, and said, “My mother is planning a dinner party. She is inviting a large number of people, including Lord Horace. I may be able to tease him into kissing me if we have a moment alone.”

“He will make certain you are alone.”

He said it with such certainty she was tempted to stare at him but she stopped herself because too much gazing into Mr. Eversham’s eyes was dangerous. She took a little breath to try to calm herself. For Tina, the cool and practical girl, who considered herself a thinker rather than ruled by emotion, this was a revelation indeed. Goodness, who would have thought a kiss would have such an effect on her? For a moment there, in Richard’s arms, she’d been all passion, and her thoughts had grown so unsteady that they’d been flying about like shooting stars.

Still trying to calm herself, she moved to the window and gazed out at the street below.

Get a grip, she told herself. This is a lesson to capture Horace into proposing marriage, it has nothing to do with Mr. Eversham. If he thought you were imagining his kiss as something more than part of your business contract, he would probably show you the door.

And she really couldn’t do without him at this juncture.

When she thought she was ready, she turned with a smile. “It is a pity you cannot come to the dinner party and tell me what to do, Mr. Eversham.” Then her face colored as she remembered why he could not, why he would never be invited to her home.

He read her dismay perfectly but chose not to acknowledge it. “I’m afraid I am otherwise engaged,” he said dryly.

Mr. Eversham was a scoundrel. How could she have forgotten even for a moment that they were members of two completely different strata of society? Although, it occurred to her, if her family’s fortune kept declining, then perhaps she would eventually fall far enough to enter his realm. To her dismay, instead of being shocked, the idea gave her a glimmer of hope.

“You will manage very well at the dinner party,” he said with polite finality. “I have complete faith in you.”

Their lesson was at an end.

“You can always flirt with the other men. Horace will notice, believe me. He’s probably noticed already.”

“I can practice on Sir Henry Arlington. He’s one of my father’s old army friends. He’s always the complete gentleman.”

“Sir Henry . . . ? Oh. Yes.”

“Or I can flirt with Mr. Little,” she added with a wry smile.

His smile remained, but there was a stillness about him she’d noticed before. “Mr. Little?” he asked lightly.

“I met him at Horace’s soiree. He is the wrong man I spoke of attracting. Anyway he called upon me this morning. Rather bold of him, I thought, and to tell the truth I barely remembered him, but he’s made quite a hit with my parents, for different reasons. He is a wealthy importer of tobacco, you see. A self-made man. My father is very admiring of self-made men these days, and my mother is on the lookout for a wealthy son-in-law.”