Jo relinquished her glass. “Was Lord Graham kind to you?”
She did not know where the question emerged from. It was horribly rude, and she knew it. But she could not seem to stop herself.
Decker did not answer, merely snagged her glass and moved to the sideboard with his effortless grace. His broad back was on display, and she could not help but to admire the sharp lines that proclaimed his strength and masculinity. Even from the rear, he was arresting. His dark coat was fitted perfectly to his form, his trousers worn in the ordinary style and yet seeming to somehow render him taller, more imposing. More compelling, too.
“Decker,” she tried, using his name. Er, his surname. Sans mister, just as he had asked.
He tensed but finished refilling her goblet before turning back to her. “At last, she deigns to use my name.”
“Will you answer my question if I do so from now on?” she countered, inwardly applauding herself for her bravery.
In truth, she was out of her depths, and she knew it. But everything about this evening was extraordinary. She was alone with a notoriously sinful man. And he had read her most private thoughts. Words she had never intended for anyone else to see or read. Words she was not entirely sure she meant.
He was before her once again, holding out her glass. There was too much claret in it, but she did not protest. Instead, she accepted the goblet from him, their fingers brushing over the crystal stem. The same awareness that infected her whenever he was near returned.
“I will answer your question if you answer mine,” he said, his gaze steady upon hers. “I asked you what prompted you to make your list, and you refused to answer. I will respond to your query after you respond. Fair is fair, after all.”
Of course he would want something in return for his answer. He was a businessman, was he not? Her every dealing with him had been firmly grounded in bargaining.
Jo took a deep breath and plunged onward. In for a penny, in for a pound.
“I made the list because I want passion in my life,” she admitted. “Everyone around me is finding happiness and love. Meanwhile, I remain firmly on the periphery. It was a lark, in truth. I never intended to cross off each item on my list. I never intended to finish the list itself. And yet…”
“And yet,” he prompted when she trailed off.
“And yet,” she continued, “part of me very much wants to complete it. Part of me wants to be wicked and reckless and bold. To ignore all the rules. To be unlike myself. To be daring. To throw caution to the wind and see where it leads me.”
His gaze was intent upon hers.
“It led you here. To me.”
There was a gruffness in his voice that sent a frisson down her spine. Not of fear but anticipation.
“Yes,” she agreed, doing her best to hide her breathlessness. “It did. However, as you said, fair is fair. I answered your question and now you owe me a response in kind. What was your relationship like with Lord Graham?”
Decker inclined his head, then took a sip of his wine before speaking at last. “He wished I were legitimate. His wife bore him seven daughters. My mother gave him a son. Graham loathed his heir, a wastrel country cousin he feared would leach the earldom dry in the outside of a year. He gave me everything he could, but not because he loved me. Because he could not bear for the next earl to waste it.”
She did not think she mistook the harshness in his voice, the bitterness in his expression. “Forgive me for asking. I had no wish to bring back painful memories.”
“It is the truth. I cannot change it.” Decker finished his claret and placed his empty glass upon a low table before snagging her hand. “Enough of this grim talk. Come with me.”
He laced his fingers through hers, and the gesture, while casual, filled her with a profound sense of rightness. She clasped his hand, savoring the way it engulfed hers, so much larger. So different from hers. So capable.
“Where are you taking me now?” she asked as he led her from the library.
“Suspense is half the fun, my dear.”
She still held her claret in her left hand. His long-legged strides ate up the distance far quicker than her petite limbs could travel. She