A Deceptive Wager (Marriage by Design #3) - Ruth Ann Nordin Page 0,51

his mind off of her breasts?

It had to be because she was still at the vanity brushing her hair. Once she was in bed, he would forget all about them because she would have the blankets covering her.

“When will you be done brushing your hair?” he asked, keeping his face turned away from her.

“I’ll be done when I no longer have any tangles,” she replied.

“Well, how many do you have?”

“Quite a few.”

“And you don’t know how long it’ll take to get through them?”

“I need to be careful. If I brush too hard, I’ll lose too many strands of hair.”

“Surely, you won’t go bald if you brush fast.”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “No, I won’t go bald, but I will have a lot more strands to pull out of my brush. I like to make sure my brush is free of hair after I’m done.”

“Why?”

“Because a clean brush works more efficiently.”

He had no idea what she was talking about. He was able to comb his hair every day without any problems, and he never had to worry about whether strands of his hair got pulled out of his scalp or not. “You’re lying,” he finally decided. “You’re not losing any strands of hair when you brush your hair. You just want to stay there for as long as possible because you want me to suffer.”

A loud clacking sound came from the vanity, and it took him a moment to realize she had slammed the brush down. “You think you’re suffering? I’ve had to be subjected to your presence all day, and now I’m to bear with you all through the night. I really hope Teddy feels better by tomorrow because I don’t know if I can tolerate one more day with you.”

Appalled she’d say such a thing, he bolted up in the bed and turned to face her. “You think I like being forced to chaperone you all day?”

Her eyes flashed with annoyance. “Yes, I do. I think you get pleasure from watching me suffer.”

“I’m the one who’s in pain, and there’s nothing you can possibly know about it.” She wasn’t capable of having an erection that caused her entire groin to ache. He tried not to glance at her breasts, but his eyes betrayed him. He gritted his teeth. “Will you just blow out the candles and get to bed? I have to go to sleep.”

She gasped and crossed her arms over her breasts. “I can’t believe you’re trying to get a look at me while I’m not decent!”

“Why didn’t you put on a robe? I, at least, had the decency to do that!”

She gagged. “I have no desire to look at you. It’s all I can do to eat while you’re sitting across from me in the dining room.”

He couldn’t believe she said that. He was a fairly attractive gentleman, and that wasn’t just vanity talking. “That’s not funny.”

“I’m not trying to be funny.” She pointed for him to look away from her. “I’m going to forget about my hair tonight and just go to bed because you are being difficult. Stop looking at me with those lustful eyes.”

He tried to give her a clever retort, but the correct words didn’t come. He turned his back to her, and soon the light went out. Good. If nothing else, he would be spared from accidentally looking at those breasts.

He heard her move past his small bed, and though he couldn’t prove it, he was sure she bumped into it on purpose. Miss Britcher had been here with her for weeks. She knew exactly where this bed was.

Though the curtains were closed, there was a sliver of moonlight that snaked its way into the room, so he saw her as she climbed into her bed. She wiggled under the covers and settled onto her back.

Relieved, he put his head back on the pillow.

“When Mr. Stonewall returns, I’m going to have him give further instructions on where to look when you’re around me,” she said, not hiding the irritation in her voice.

“In that case, I’ll tell Miss Britcher to…to…” He tried to come up with something Miss Britcher could do to teach Kitty to be more like a lady, but he couldn’t think of anything.

“You’ll tell her to what?” Kitty asked.

“I’ll think of something.”

And he would. Surely, there had to be something Kitty had been actively doing to seduce him tonight. He couldn’t be completely to blame for the direction his thoughts had taken. All ladies were seductresses. It was in