Led Astray by a Rake (The Husband Hunters Club 1)

“You…what?”

“He informed me while we were waiting outside the door that he intended to marry you. Why the hell didn’t you tell me that the other day?”

She closed her eyes and rubbed her fingers across her brow, as though her head was aching. “Because it was none of your business. And for your information I have no intention of marrying Mr. Garsed, no matter what my mother hopes and believes.”

Nic stood up and crossed to the chaise longue and sat down beside her. She felt the size and warmth of his body like a shock; her flesh was actually tingling with the promise of contact.

“Olivia?” he said, and when she didn’t answer he slipped a finger under her chin, tilting her face toward his, forcing her toward him.

She dropped her dark lashes lower, hiding her thoughts from him.

Nic spoke softly. “He’s not the man for you; don’t let him convince you he is.”

She bit her lip. What was he trying to do? Save her from making a matrimonial mistake? How ironic that he could see that Theodore was completely wrong for her and yet could not see that he was completely right.

He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers warm and tender. “I can fight a duel with him. Drive him off for good. Would you like that?”

Olivia’s head was filled with the shocking image of Nic standing over Theodore’s lifeless body, the gun smoking in his hand. “No, I don’t like that! You’d hurt him.”

“He might hurt me.”

“I doubt it. At least, not according to your reputation.” She took a breath, gathering her courage, and looked directly into his dark eyes. “Nic, are you really offering me advice on who I should take as my husband?”

He was very close to her; she could feel his warm breath on her lips. If she’d thought her recent illness might protect her from wanting to kiss him, she was mistaken. In fact her status as a convalescent seemed to have made her even more receptive to his seductive charms, she thought, as a warm rush of desire overcame her and she had to concentrate to hear his reply above the pounding in her ears.

“I’ve seen far more of the world than you, Olivia, and this man would make you extremely miserable, believe me.”

She lifted her hand and placed it lightly on his shoulder. “So…you don’t want me to marry Theodore? Is that what you’re saying?”

His face grew serious. “I don’t want you to marry Theodore.”

She smoothed his lapel with her fingers as she thought about what she was going to say next. The moment seemed so intimate, she was loath to break it. “Nic, there is another way to stop the wedding.”

He knew what she was going to say. She could see his dark eyes fill with the knowledge. His smile was regretful, as if he was turning down a second helping of his beloved jam roly-poly. “Olivia, Olivia,” he murmured. “If you think you’re unhappy now you have no idea how unhappy I would make you.”

“But if you don’t want Theodore to have me—”

He groaned softly. “I don’t want anyone to have you. Only me.”

“Then marry me, and then you can have me.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying—”

“I do know!”

He kissed her, blindly, tasting her lips, and then he kissed her again, deeper this time, delving inside her mouth, as if he couldn’t help himself. “You’re killing me,” he said, coming up for breath. “God, I want you. But if I took you…the consequences for you, for both of us…”

“Surely that’s my decision to make.” She was growing a little desperate in the face of his determination to reject her. “You’re a rake! What self-respecting rake would refuse such an offer?”

“But you want more than my body inside yours,” he said bluntly. “Don’t you? You want my honor. You want a marriage of hearts and minds. You want what I cannot give.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

He stood up, leaving her cold and alone on the chaise longue. “Good-bye, Olivia.”

Olivia gazed up at his hard, implacable expression. She could weep and beg, she could shout and sulk, but none of that would work with a man like Nic. So instead she smiled her serene smile, a hint of mischief in her eyes. “I’m glad you came to call, Nic.”

He hesitated, taken by surprise, and then he laughed and bowed. “My pleasure, Olivia,” he said, a world of suggestion in his voice.