Page 45 of In the Prince's Bed

“We’re far too acquainted, if you ask me,” she hissed, and cast a furtive glance at the door. “Let go of me, Alec. Mama might see.”

He hoped she did; then Katherine would have to marry him. “Do you think she’d care? She’s so eager for a marriage between us that she’d dance for joy.”

Katherine stiffened. “She’d insist that you marry me right away.” Her voice was a breathy whisper that fired his blood. “Doesn’t that worry you?”

“I enjoy taking risks,” he murmured, then pressed his lips to her heated cheek.

She drew her head back to glare at him. “But I don’t.”

“Don’t you? You like riding headlong through London—that’s a risk.” He traced her mouth with his thumb. “You like kissing me—that’s a risk. So why not take the ultimate risk? Let me court you. It will drive your Sydney insane.” He smiled, devilishly.

Her breath quickened. “But will it make him offer for me?”

“If not, at least you will have done everything you could to win him.” He heard her mother’s step in the hall. “Think of it this way, sweetheart—it will keep your mother from plaguing you for a while. Whereas if you tell her that Sydney is no longer interested, she’ll expect you to entertain offers from men you don’t know. At least with me, you know what you’re getting.”

She lifted one eyebrow.

“You know I won’t hurt you. And if it doesn’t work, what have you lost?”

Katherine sighed. “All right. I suppose it’s worth a try.” Then she slipped from his arms. “But no more of this…reckless behavior, do you hear? Or you’ll find yourself married to me whether you want it or not.”

He bit back a grin. He damned well hoped so.

***

For the next hour, Katherine smiled and endured her mother’s unsubtle probing into the earl’s affairs, but her mind was awhirl.

And if it doesn’t work, what have you lost?

Her heart? No, she wouldn’t lose her heart to such a rogue—she wouldn’t allow it. But she might lose her freedom to choose her own husband.

He’d already proved she wasn’t immune to his advances. Every time he kissed her…Well, she’d simply have to hold firm on her no-kissing rule.

If only he didn’t make it so difficult. Especially when he showed his charming side. Look at how kindly he’d treated Molly earlier, too. From the tenets inThe Rake’s Rhetorick,she’d assumed all rakes were selfish boors. Papa had always ranked his own needs above anyone else’s.

But Alec had endured a poetry reading to be with her. All right, so he’d poked fun at the poets and demanded a kiss for his trouble…

She scowled. Yes, he had, hadn’t he? A kiss and much more. That was the trouble with men like him—they would do anything to seduce a woman. Idly, she rubbed the hand he’d caressed earlier. Given how easily he could breach her defenses, she must be out of her mind to go along with his scheme.

And yet…shedidenjoy his company. He made her laugh, something she sorely needed these days. And if he did hope to seduce her in the end—which was clearly his aim—she could withstand that. She knew Alec for what he was, and as he had said, knowledge was the best defense.

Or was that one more tactic to seduce her?

“You are very quiet, my angel,” Mama said from her seat on the sofa beside Alec. “You haven’t asked Lord Iversley one question about his estate in Suffolk.”

“That’s because you were handling it quite nicely, Mama.”

Besides, she would never get to see his estate. But she wished she could. From his fervent descriptions, Edenmore sounded as idyllic as its name, and for a man pleasure-bent, he seemed inordinately proud of it.

“Surely you’re curious,” Mama persisted. “I know how interested you are in household management—always questioning Cook about this or that.”

Katherine gave her mother a tight smile. “Somebody has to.”

“Nonsense. These things take care of themselves if you have a good housekeeper.” She turned to Alec. “I’m always telling her she doesn’t have enough fun. She’s so serious all the time, worrying about the price of our coal and such.”

Alec’s gaze fell warmly on her. “Not a frivolous woman, I take it?”

“No, indeed. That one could use some frivolity. She’s too dull by half.”