A Gentleman's Vow (Saints and Sinners 2)

To his shock, his cock thickened beneath his robe beyond his power to stop it. Hell!

“I suppose it must be,” he whispered, face burning with shame and shock. This should not be happening to him. Not with her.

Jessica continued talking, unaware of his inner struggle. “We have decided that most of the spices would be best served with food, and were just coming up with possibilities for a menu. You’ll be there to sample them all, of course.”

He gulped. “I can’t wait.”

“Lady Jessica?” his housekeeper called. “Are you there?”

Gideon quickly covered Jessica’s mouth so she didn’t make a sound. “She can’t know I’m with you dressed like this,” he whispered into her ear, and then moved to stand in the shadow of the door.

Once adequately hidden, Jessica poked her head out into the hall. “Yes, Mrs. Harrow.”

“Did you find what you were looking for? Do you need any assistance?”

“No, I have everything I need right here.” Her hand waved about toward him, and he caught her fingers before she knocked anything from a shelf. “I’ll return in a moment.”

She nudged the door nearly shut again and linked her fingers through his. “I need that jar of peaches in ginger wine and the treacle jar behind you,” she whispered.

He looked over his shoulder without a clue where any of those items might be. He needed his reading glasses for anything written down, but he’d left them in his study down the hall. He could not leave this room in his current state.

Jessica released him and stepped close. She wrapped her delicate fingers around the items she wanted while he tried in vain to rid himself of his erection. Jessica moved them to an empty shelf by the door and returned. She looked up into his face and smiled again. “I haven’t seen you in days. Come for dinner tonight.”

He should refuse, but to his shock, he nodded instead. By tonight he’d have his body under control. At least he hoped so. “I am free tonight.”

“Perhaps tonight we might talk again, and after dinner you can show me what a real kiss feels like.”

He gulped. That was partly why he’d stayed away since Sunday. He knew the way Jessica’s mind worked. She was always eager to learn and rarely forgot. “Not a good idea.”

“Your last lesson in kisses did me no harm.” She searched his face. “Thank you for that, Gideon. Natalia was completely fooled by my description of your kiss.”

“I’m glad. Jess…” he whispered. “Listen, I need to get dressed.”

“Do you?” she asked, eyes widening as she appraised him.

Dear God, she’d learned how to flirt while she’d been away. He wasn’t having it. She was too close, lips rising to his.

He reared back.

Jessica pouted and dropped to her heels. “I was only going to say goodbye.”

“It is not a good idea to tempt a man not wearing trousers,” he warned.

Jessica’s eyes danced with amusement. “I’ve seen your bare legs before when you go fishing with Papa, Gideon. They’re not that shocking.”

She hadn’t seen higher up than his knees, and higher than that was precisely where his problem was currently making itself obvious. He leaned forward a little more, making sure his banyan draped loosely about his hips, and gestured to the door impatiently. “Go back to the kitchen so I can get away without being seen.”

Jessica looked him up and down again, brow furrowing. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her toward the door. “Go.”

Jessica laughed softly, one hand gripping the door latch. Light streamed around her body like a halo. She was beautiful and beguiling—and thoughts usually ignored seeped into his consciousness as clear as day.

She was a woman now. Of an age to be a wife. A lover.

He was a bachelor. An old, delusional one, perhaps, but still a man with normal desires.

He wanted to kiss her very badly.

He clenched his jaw over a curse that would shock her and shook his head. “Leave now.”