A Rogue to Ruin (The Pretenders #3) - Darcy Burke Page 0,14

around the square?”

He glanced about. “Do you never have a chaperone?”

“I almost always have a chaperone. Except when I have a bodyguard, if you recall.”

Rafe couldn’t help the smile that stole over his mouth. “Still saucy,” he murmured. “We can’t walk around the square and you”—he stopped himself from saying bloody—sometimes the transition from his old life to his new took great effort—“well know it.”

She exhaled. “I suppose not.” Wrapping her hand around his elbow, she pulled him down Davies Street and into the narrow mews. They stood near the corner of a stable.

Out of view of the street, she removed her hand from his arm and faced him. “Why are you visiting my brother-in-law?”

He wished he could see her face better. He could barely make out the sweep of her jaw and the graceful slope of her nose. Her hazel eyes and delightfully dimpled cheeks were completely obscured.

“I had business to attend.”

She put a hand on her hip. “That’s all you’re going to say? After three months?”

“What does my paying a call on your brother-in-law have to do with the last time we saw each other? I should be interrogating you as to why you failed to keep our appointment to go to Aldersgate Street.”

She tipped her head down and turned it to the side. “I wasn’t able to meet you.”

“Was it because of the kissing?” He shouldn’t have brought that up, but damn him if he wasn’t remembering the press of her lips and every stroke of her tongue. “I shouldn’t have mentioned that. Nor should I have done it in the first place.”

Flipping the veil up over her hat, she gave him a wry look. “You speak as if you were the only person responsible. I was a very willing participant.” Her gaze softened. “I have never forgotten you.”

Seeing her face jolted him back to their wonderful afternoons, provoking an ache. “Not even when you were betrothed?” He hadn’t meant to cause her pain, but to point out that she’d clearly moved on. At the flash of distress in her eyes, he hastened to add, “You did what you must. And you should forget me.” Just as he should forget her.

“Is that what you did?”

“Yes,” he lied.

She notched her chin up. “I don’t believe you. You wouldn’t ask why I didn’t meet you nor would you mention my betrothal if you’d forgotten about me, if you didn’t care.”

Bollocks. He didn’t want to be cruel, but it seemed he must. “I don’t care. You were a passing fancy.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “I did try to forget you. And yes, I became betrothed because that was expected of me. I felt terrible that I wasn’t able to meet you anymore—we were foolish not to share our names. I would have sent word.”

“It wasn’t foolish at all. I have no regrets.” That wasn’t entirely true. He should not have kissed her. Hell, he shouldn’t have done any of it. But she’d captivated him from the moment they’d met. He’d been hungry for something, a connection, perhaps.

“Well, I do,” she said softly, sadness dimming the green parts of her hazel eyes. “I enjoyed our friendship and would have liked for it to continue.”

He heard the hope in her voice and sought to squash it. “We were not friends nor will we be. I took advantage of you, and you were smart to put an end to it.”

“That wasn’t my choice. My chaperone was no longer able to escort me to Hatchard’s, and I couldn’t go alone.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t understand why you’re being cruel. You can deny we were friends or that we shared a connection”—at her use of that word, he twitched—“but you won’t convince me. I was there.” She took a step toward him, bringing them closer than they ought to be.

Even so, he didn’t move.

“Why can’t you at least admit we were friends? Are you angry with me for not meeting you?” She tentatively placed her hand on his chest. “I was devastated when I wasn’t able to. I would have given anything to know who you were so I could find you.”

He considered telling her that he could have easily found her but chose not to. But in the end, he didn’t want to hurt her. “We were…friends. That was in the past, however.”

Her gaze held his as her hand pressed firmly against him. “It doesn’t have to be.”

What the hell was she proposing? Rafe took her hand and pushed

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