The Duke's Wife (The Three Mrs #3) - Jess Michaels Page 0,53
said.
“I’d wager you do,” she said with her own laugh.
“Oh, a wager! What do you have in mind?”
She rolled her eyes, the tension and connection of the last few moments tempered now. She thought perhaps he did that on purpose, for both their comfort. “You are a cad, Your Grace.”
“Proudly so.”
“But do you think it’s wise to make these bets? They tend to lead us into temptation.”
He tilted his head. “Well, we are to be married in just a little more than a week, once the third set of banns are read on Sunday. So temptation is on the table, as far as I’m concerned, as long as you agree.”
She nodded slowly. “I…do.” When his eyes lit up, she got to her feet and moved away from him. Mostly so that she didn’t do something too foolish. “And I would wager that there will be some nasty blind item about us before our wedding, probably the morning of.”
He shook his head. “Well, that is no wager. I’ve done my best to make sure a few blind items appear about us.”
“No, those are nice things. That we’re truly in…” She cleared her throat. “…in love. I’m talking about something cruel. Something horrible.”
His face twisted. “Like what? You must have a little more specificity, Abigail.”
She glared at him playfully. “Someone will say that I have a secret fortune and you are angling for it.”
“Interesting.” He stroked his fingers over his chin. “Do you have a secret fortune I should be angling for?”
“No.” She smiled. “Nothing to my name, I’m afraid, except for a pile of dusty books and a few pretty gowns.”
“I’ve been known to put a high value on a pretty gown,” he said. “Very well. Then I think the blind item will contain a strong implication that I have gotten you with child.”
She froze and stared at him. A child. With him. He would want children, of course. Heirs and spares were required for a man of his station.
What kind of father would he be? Harsh like her own? Distant like so many? Or would he be kind and loving and unfashionably involved in the raising of his sons and daughters?
“Abigail?” he said, tilting his head. “Are you well?”
“Yes.” She shook her thoughts away. “I was just thinking what a good guess that is. Better than mine, considering the way we were caught together and your reminder that we’ve been spreading the word that we are desperately in love.”
He got to his feet and smoothed his jacket. “Yes. That seems to be taking, too. A few women positively cooed with congratulations when I was at Mattigan’s Bookshop the other day.”
She smiled, because that was the bookshop below Lady Lena’s Salon. That he had returned there, that it was a place she could return to even after she wed because he supported her ability to do so, was very exciting.
“Then is it a wager?” she asked.
“We have not determined what we are wagering for,” he said. “You have now revealed you have no massive fortune, so I think we should not bet with money.”
She let her gaze move over him. He did cut a fine figure—he always had. And if he had admitted out loud that he’d always wanted her, she could admit to herself that those desires had always been returned. Even more so now that she knew the warmth of his touch, the ease with which he could make her come undone.
She wanted to do the same to him. She wanted to feel him squirm for her. Cry out for her. Shake for her.
“I agree.” She stepped closer. “If you win, I will give you a kiss.”
He stared at her a moment, his expression going just a fraction wild as he realized what she was saying. “A kiss like…”
“Yes, like the one you gave me,” she said softly. “Unless you don’t want that.”
“Sometimes ladies don’t want to do that,” he said.
“This lady does.”
His pupils dilated and he cleared his throat. “You’re going to kill me,” he muttered, and she thought it was more to himself than to her. “I’ll be dead within a month of being wed. Happily dead, it seems.”
“Nathan,” she said.
He shook his head. “Yes. Of course. I agree to your terms. But what do you want if you win?”
She folded her arms. She did want something, but there wasn’t anything playful or sensual about it. It was a risk to ask, but here they were and this was the perfect opportunity.