Page 20 of The Lady’s Reckless Abandon (Safely in Scotland #1)

O ne month. Finn felt as if he’d gotten a brief stay of execution. He stretched a smile on his face, hoping it looked sincere. Even though he thought her own smile seemed a bit brittle as well.

Did she not want to leave?

He would happily have her stay, but he knew there was only one way to make that happen.

He’d not wanted to marry someone simply to fill the emptiness in his life or to fulfill a duty to his title. He had seen the great love between his parents enough to know he wanted that. And he didn’t want to use someone in that way. Now, after his time with Lily, he wanted to think his wish for her to stay was because he enjoyed her company. Not just the way she filled his days with something far better than emptiness.

He thought of all the things he liked about Lily, aside from the distraction she provided, and that kiss they’d shared—for he was not supposed to remember that. He loved listening and watching her play any instrument. The way she often closed her eyes as if she were envisioning the music in her mind as another person might read the music from a page.

“I am asking you to stay, your father is asking you to stay. But what do you want to do, Lily?”

She shook her head but he didn’t think it was because she didn’t know.

“That is just the problem. I cannot trust myself and what I want. For doing what I wanted landed me in Scotland amid scandal and ruin.”

He guessed he could understand why she might not trust her own judgement after she’d been shaken so thoroughly.

“I would argue it is not your judgement that caused the error, but that you were at a disadvantage. You didn’t have all the necessary information to make a sound choice. I daresay that had The Ferret told you he was indeed a ferret-faced, weasel—”

“Of an arse,” Lily supplied when he paused in remembering the litany of foul names quickly enough.

“Aye, him,” Finn said before continuing, “If he’d told you he had no true intensions to marry, you would not have spared a moment of your time alone with him.”

“No. Never.”

“So, you see, your decision-making skills are intact. What you lack is the ability to discern when a man who appears to be a gentleman is lying to you. I happen to be quite adept at it.”

“How did you become so adept, Your Grace?”

“I can’t speak of such things in front of a lady, but if you were to guess I spent too much time at the gaming tables with my brutish friends while at Heriot’s, I would have to admit you are right.”

She laughed, which was what he had hoped to do.

“Will you teach me?” she asked.

“Of course. Why don’t we stroll the gardens so we might enjoy the day whilst I teach my lesson.”

She began to follow him and then stopped.

“Is this part of the lesson?”

He laughed. “No, but you are wise to question my intensions. I am a man after all.” He offered a wink before leading her out to the gardens.

After picking her a few blooms, he began sharing what he knew.

“When a person lies, they generally react in a certain way without even realizing it. Many people cannot hold another person’s gaze when they lie to them. They may look away, even if only for a second. Others might fidget. Once you know what it is they do, you can ask a question and then watch to see if the person is telling the truth.”

“Do you work for the Home Office, Your Grace?” she asked with a little smile.

“Nay, but I know someone who did and he is better at it than anyone I’ve ever seen.” It was the reason Finn never sat across the table from Reese. It would be more efficient to just empty his pockets and hand it over to the man.

“So how do I know what a person does when they lie.”

“You test them.”

She tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes adorably. She would need to look at him, and he was happy to look at her as well, so he led her over to a bench his mother had placed in a private spot.

He turned to face her and she did the same.

“Now. Ask me three questions. I will answer two questions with the truth and one question will be a lie. Watch for me to react in a certain way when I answer one of the questions.”

“What should I ask?”

“Anything you wish to know. If I don’t want to answer, I’ll simply lie.” He offered a wink and enjoyed the flush that touched her cheeks.

“Very well. What month were you born?”

“September.” This was true.

“And what date?”

“The fifteenth.” This was a lie and while he tried to keep from tilting his head down and to the side, he hadn’t succeeded. She must have noticed because she grinned.

She placed her index finger on the edge of her lip as if thinking. He would need to answer the next question with the truth or it would ruin the lesson.

She smiled widely and leaned slightly closer, so that the scent of oranges touched his nose.

“Did you enjoy our kiss?”

Bloody hell. Mayhap this had been a huge mistake.

*

Lily almost laughed at the look on Finn’s face. She’d been able to tell the last answer had been a lie so by his own rules that meant he would tell the truth this time. The opportunity was too good to pass up.

He let out a breath before shaking his head as if realizing how adeptly he’d wiggled himself into a corner. She might have let him off the hook if she didn’t want to know the answer so badly.

She’d gone from hoping he hadn’t remembered to wanting to do it again in a short amount of time.

“Very well… yes. I did like it. I liked it so much, it hasn’t been far from my mind since that night and I think about doing it again more often than I shall confess.”

She couldn’t help the smug smile that took over her face. She felt like she’d won something of great value.

“I see. So when is your birthdate really?” she all but preened at her success.

“The seventeenth,” he said while shaking his head. “It seems your lesson was unnecessary. You are a natural.”

She frowned. She didn’t know if that was true, for she’d never even considered whether or not Reggie had been telling the truth. She’d wanted it to be true so she hadn’t doubted him. She would not be so foolish again.

Fortunately the duke had been easy to read. And even now as she looked at him she could almost tell exactly what he was thinking.

He’d not been lying when he’d said he thought about their kiss often. She knew he was thinking about it right then. From the way his amber gaze flickered from her eyes down to her lips and back again.

Perhaps it was time for her to reciprocate.

“Should you like to ask me three questions, Your Grace?”

His eyes flared with interest and a slow grin pulled up his perfect lips.

“What month were born?” he asked her the same question she’d asked him.

She went with the truth. “July.”

“Hmm… And the date?”

Again, she told the truth. “The twenty-fifth.”

She quickly realized this game was not as fun from this side of things.

“Did you like the kiss, Lily?” His voice had dropped low and raspy as his eyes flicked as he watched her so intently.

She had to answer with a lie, which also revealed the truth.

“No,” she said, her breath catching on the short word. “I hated every second of it and haven’t given it a thought since that evening.”

She knew she could have left it with that one simple word, but he had shared more with her and she wanted to be fair.

“Can I kiss you again?” he asked.

She smiled. “I thought there was to be only three questions.”

His eyes had gone to a dark gold, all the green seemed to have been eaten up by his large pupils. She leaned closer and nodded her answer before he bent to take her lips.