A Little Bit Scandalous Page 0,35

but there was a decidedly darker tone. Perhaps she shouldn’t have brought her up at all, if she reminded Roe of their painful past. She had always assumed Roe felt love was beneath him, a pedestrian emotion. She’d never considered he’d once loved and lost.

“Ready?” he asked, indicating the cards in his hand.

“Yes.” He still wanted to play, which relieved her. Perhaps that would lighten his mood.

He dealt her cards and she flipped them over, glanced at both. Twenty. His brow slowly rose.

“I’ll stay.”

“Very good.” He checked his own hand. “Dealer takes one. And another one.” His eyes slowly rose to meet hers. He flipped his cards over. “Dealer has twenty-one.”

She turned over her own cards. “We have nothing we’re playing with,” she said. “What do I owe you?”

He cocked his hand to the side. “Nothing. We can merely play to enjoy the game.”

“You don’t believe that. There must always be stakes. You told me that the first time we played. Otherwise, there is no incentive for someone to play with skill. They get lazy, rely on luck. No, there must be something we could exchange.”

“What can you offer me?”

“A kiss,” she said before she thought better of it. She leaned forward, offering herself to him. If nothing else, her advance would give him a chuckle.

“I am not such a scoundrel that I need to win kisses from women at cards.”

“Perhaps.” She eyed him from under her lashes. “But it is not my kisses that I am offering up as prizes. I’m asking for your kisses.” Even as she said the words, her cheeks flamed, but she did not back down. A successful player never backed down from a bluff.

He leaned slowly back in his chair and studied her from behind his cards. “And why would you need to win my kisses?” he asked in a voice that sent fissures of pleasure through her entire body.

He was so distracting she almost forgot to answer, but finally she cleared her throat and said, “I suspect I’ll be courted by many men now that I have been reintroduced to Society.” That wasn’t at all true, but she’d had to think of something to say. “I am certain many of them will want to kiss me. I will need some experience, will I not, if I am to judge their skill?”

A scowl settled over his handsome features. “Perhaps you should judge your suitors on qualities that are more important than their kisses.”

“Qualities such as?”

“Their ability to provide for you. To protect you.”

“Hmm … I have had a man to do those things for me for the past nine years. In my experience, it’s been dreadfully dull.” She stood, pushing herself away from his desk. “I think I’ll simply retire for tonight.” Before she could move so much as a step toward the door, he rounded the desk, wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, and pulled her close to him. She fully expected him to argue, to call the game off. She felt every second tick by as she waited for him to lower his mouth to hers. When he finally did, her feelings of inadequacy melted beneath his kiss. His hand at her neck was firm and warm, but his lips betrayed his control. In his kiss, he made no attempt to hide his desire or urgency for her. The realization of that flooded her body with lust and hope. If only for a moment—this moment—he wanted her. Not Belinda, nor Penelope.

Only Caroline.

Their tongues intertwined and desire shot through her, hardening her nipples and dampening between her thighs. She wanted him, too. Wanted him to touch her. To kiss her. To take her body and make her forget about the fact that she was merely a baron’s daughter and he was a duke, make her forget about him being her guardian and she being his ward. In this moment they were merely two people who desired one another.

He ended the kiss and gently touched his lips to the top of her head. She sat back in her chair and did her best to appear unaffected, but the truth of the matter was, she knew she was very much in danger. Warmth spread through her and she knew she should run from him, run from the danger in which she’d just placed her heart.

He said nothing for several moments, then he dropped his cards and stood. He walked over to the decanter of brandy and poured himself a glass. He downed