Page 28 of After the Abduction

So it was with some surprise he heard himself say, “As you wish. I’ll do what I can to help.”

“When can we begin?”

“Cook is preparing a light luncheon for two o’clock. Why don’t we begin after that?” It would take him that long to brace himself for an afternoon of “lessons” with his lovely nemesis.

“Excellent. I’m eager to learn, my lord.” She started toward the door, then paused, though she didn’t look at him. “One more thing. Under no circumstances will these lessons include any…er…intimacies.”

A laugh escaped him before he could prevent it. “You’ll have to be more specific. What kind of ‘intimacies’ do you mean—the kind you claim to have shared with my brother? Or the kind we shared last night?”

Darting an annoyed look at him, she snapped, “I mean kissing, sir. There will be no kissing.”

How very interesting. “I don’t see why not. If my kisses move you so little, they shouldn’t annoy you. And how else can I teach you to distinguish between the kisses of a scoundrel and those of a respectable gentleman?”

She colored from her dainty hairline down to the soft swell of bosom peeping above her bodice. “That’s one part of the lesson I’ve already learned sufficiently.”

“Are you sure?” With a lazy smile, he leaned back and let his gaze drift over her trim form all rigged out in a fetching pink gown. “Because you didn’t give me a fair chance to demonstrate the full range of ‘adequate’ gentlemanly kissing last night. There are infinite variations, and I’d be delighted to demonstrate every single one.”

Alarm filled her face. “If you even so much as attempt it—” she burst out, then caught herself. “I see what you’re about. You’re toying with me. But I am in earnest, sir.”

“So am I.” He cast her a wolfish smile that made her swallow hard and glance away. He found himself feeling decidedly more optimistic about his chances with her.

Wanting to test the waters, he threw her challenge back at her. “Of course, if you’re afraid that my kissing might improve upon practice and thus tempt you to behave improperly, do feel free to retract your proposition.”

“Not at all, my lord.” Her sudden smile was honey drizzled over steel. “If you insist upon kissing me, then by all means go to it. I should like nothing better than an excuse to slap you for your impertinence.”

Turning on her heel, she flounced toward the door.

“Juliet?”

She stopped. “Yes, Lord Templemore?”

“I’ll risk a little pain to get what I want.”

She cast him a taunting look over her shoulder. “What makes you think it’ll only be a ‘little’ pain?”

With that she sailed out the door. And for long moments after she left, he sat there laughing.

Chapter 6

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

English proverb written on a list once mounted on the Templemore schoolroom wall

Drat it all, she’d made an enormous tactical error. When Juliet had proposed spending time alone with Lord Templemore for the silly reason she’d given him, she’d thought it a good method for unmasking him. Though she didn’t like playing such games, she saw no way around it when he was so infernally stubborn. What she hadn’t considered was how he’d regard the matter.

He’d clarified that in the study. He regarded it as any good sportsman would. As open season. On her.

So now as she sat at luncheon with him and her family two hours later, she couldn’t help fretting over what was to come. This was far beyond her experience with men, to be sure. Oh, why had she thought criticizing his ability to kiss would help her cause? Why had she laid down a gauntlet he seemed more than eager to take up?

If he did, she was in deep trouble. Because if Lord Templemore set out to prove himself any better at kissing than he already was, they’d have to scrape her off the floor when he was done with her.

She shot a furtive look to where he presided over the table in the overbearingly magnificent dining room. Officious and formal, he hid well his rakish character. Gone was the sensual smile caressing her from tip to toe. Gone the challenging gaze, black and secret as a cave promising treasures beyond imagining.

As they ate from a light spread of sausages, bread, and a local cheese, he offered her the same remote courtesy he offered Rosalind and Griff. But she knew it for a farce, even if nobody else did. It contrasted too sharply with his teasing comments in the study and last night’s kisses.

She groaned. She refused to think of his hot, hard mouth doing the most unnatural, intriguing things to hers. Bad enough that she’d lain awake half the night remembering his silky, masterful kisses, his hands anchoring her possessively against him—

Enough of that! she reprimanded her too acute memory. Remember the plan. Don’t let him distract you.