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“Lured? My dear, what a horrid word. No, I simply knew you would be too impatient to wait, once you had made up your mind. And I was right. Here you are. I’d ring for tea, but I think that news of your being here would ruin us both beyond repair. Howdidyou get in, by the way? I’m amazed that you managed to sneak past the butler.”

Emily had the grace to look ashamed. “The kitchen door hadn’t been locked. I think it’s locked now, though.”

“Effectively trapping you here. Oh dear.”

“I came to the library because I thought you’d come here when you returned home,” she continued, determined to be honest. “And I was right.”

“You were right,” he acknowledged.

Striding forward, he reached the square desk between them. Leaning forward, he rested his fingertips on the wood. His gaze seemed to bore into her, and she felt the familiar shudder of desire.

“Well?” he prompted. “You came here to say something, Miss Belmont. Say it.”

“I thought you were going to call me Emily.”

He tilted his head, smiling. “Emily,” he murmured, rolling the name around in his mouth.

His grin widened, the tip of his pink tongue coming out and sweeping briefly over his bottom lip. Emily swallowed thickly, not sure what to do with the insistent pulse in her belly.

“I have thought long and hard about it,” she managed at last, her voice quavering just a little, “and I have decided that the best thing for us both is to get married.”

The duke chuckled. “Yes, I agree. I am very delighted you have come to this conclusion. I do hope you don’t consider yourselfruined.”

She lifted her chin. “I do not. But if I want freedom, I must marry—I see that now. It’s most inconvenient, but I believe that you will be a suitable husband, and I will do my best to be a suitable wife. A marriage of convenience is what you require, yes?”

“Yes,” he responded languidly, his gaze lingering on her and making goosebumps rise over her skin. “But the terms can be rather…fluid.”

She frowned. “What does that mean?”

He lifted a hand, half-covered in the expensive lace sprouting from his sleeves, and beckoned her forward.

To her amazement, Emily found herself moving, circling the desk so that they stood face to face.

Well, face to chest, really, as the duke was too tall for her to look him in the eye with any ease.

“I appreciate your honesty,” he murmured, his voice soft. “But I would like you to promise that you won’t run away again. A man can only be embarrassed at the altar by the same woman so many times.”

Emily flushed. “Of course. Although, in fairness, it was notIwho ran away from you.”

He glanced away, suppressing a smile.

“I am of the opinion that you will make my life extremely interesting, Emily.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Don’t force me to chase you, darling.”

The flutter of desire in her belly had solidified into something stronger, something harder to ignore. The witty comments that usually danced on the tip of her tongue seemed to have deserted her.

“Well, you all but forced me to marry you, so I suppose making you chase me is no more than you deserve,” she shot back, holding his gaze. “Besides, I thought that gentlemen liked the chase, as it were.”

Cassian’s eyes narrowed, his gaze heating. He took a step forward, and she reflexively stepped back. Her hips knocked into the edge of the desk.

“I can’t help but think, Miss Belmont, that somebody ought to teach you a lesson in manners,” he whispered.

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

Emily bit her lower lip, holding his gaze. “I am a quick learner,” she responded. “But only when the subject interests me.”

That earned her a smile.

He lifted his hand, his fingertips grazing the side of her throat, hovering above where her pulse hammered under her skin.