Page 13 of The Wallflower’s Great Escape (The Wallflowers’ Revolt #1)

G eorgie was almost certain he was going to refuse her.

That had, in fact, been part of the reason she’d come up with her third condition, to see what he would do, how he would look at her.

Partly to scandalize him too.

And partly—though she would never admit it aloud—because she’d realized, somewhere between her discussion with Bea earlier and now, that she rather desperately wanted to kiss him.

She wanted to see what it was like. After all, she’d never been kissed before. And an indecent kiss? It sounded…well…delightful.

Kisses themselves were rumored to be enjoyable.

At least they were if they were administered by handsome young men, and Pembroke was that.

And if the giggling whispers she’d overheard from other girls behind their fans were to be believed, kisses were agreeable indeed.

Add to that, Bea’s revelation that Lord Pembroke’s kiss was “indecent,” well, it wasn’t Georgie’s fault that asking for a kiss from him was practically irresistible.

She was already on her way to being ruined, wasn’t she? What did a little kiss beside the mews matter?

Not that she intended to become indecent once she was ruined. Quite the opposite. She intended to disappear quietly into obscurity, playing lady’s maid to her dear friend Martha’s middle-aged cousin in Northumbria.

Martha was currently visiting Bath at the moment with her very progressive-thinking aunt, who had agreed to help.

That was why Georgie had arranged to flee there next week after she escaped from her wedding.

Martha’s cousin had never met Georgie, so she would be none the wiser when Martha introduced her to the woman under a completely different name with a forged reference.

Georgie’s own family would be none the wiser. If they traced her route to Bath, it would end at the boarding house where the coach dropped her.

Of course, even if she managed to vanish neatly and with dignity, there would be a scandal in London.

And if Georgie was about to give up everything—Society, her name, any pretense of being a proper lady—then she saw no reason not to take at least one memory with her.

One wicked, reckless, marvelous memory. If Lord Pembroke agreed, that is.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Pembroke’s low, incredulous voice cut through the night air. “You want me to kiss you ?”

She lifted her chin and met his gaze. “Yes,” she said coolly. “Indecently, if you please.”

Pembroke blinked at her. “May I ask,” he said slowly, “why?”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a look meant to convey exactly how stupid that question was.

“After I tell you what I intend to do to cause a scandal, it may become more obvious. But the fact is…” She took a deliberate step closer, watching the way his eyes narrowed at her advance.

“You are extremely handsome, I have reason to believe you might know how to deliver an extraordinary kiss, and I would greatly like to experience one before I do what I’m planning to do. ”

His jaw worked, and his green eyes darkened as they scanned her face. “That,” he said at last, “sounds quite ominous.”

She arched a brow. “May I remind you,” she said sweetly, “you already promised not to tell my family, or to watch me any longer?”

His eyes narrowed farther.

She tilted her head, her lips curling into a sly smile. “Now. Will you kiss me or not?”

He hesitated. She could see the battle on his face, could almost hear the words, I don’t think I should , forming in his mind.

And then he said it aloud. “I don’t think I should?—”

Hmm. Georgie may have predicted as much, but as one of the founding members of the Society for Resourceful Young Ladies Who’ve Had Quite Enough, and as one of them who was even currently plotting the first Wallflowers’ Revolt, she decided such a young woman would hardly take no for an answer.

In fact, such a young woman would instead take matters into her own hands.

So she stepped forward, grabbed the lapels of his coat, lifted up on her toes, and kissed him.

That shut him up quite nicely.

For the space of a heartbeat, he was still.

And then—with a low, almost feral sound—he kissed her back.

His hands came up to her face, threading into her hair, and his mouth slanted over hers in a way that made her knees actually, literally weaken.

Oh.

Oh, this was much better than she’d expected.

Much more heat.

Much…more everything .

He backed her gently but firmly into the wall of the mews, one hand cradling the side of her face while the other slid down to her waist, his fingers digging into the fabric of her gown as though he couldn’t quite help himself.

She gasped, and he took advantage, deepening the kiss, his tongue teasing at hers, his breath warm and rough against her cheek.

His scent surrounded her, clean linen and soap, yes, but also something darker, something distinctly male that made her pulse hammer in her throat.

Her hands, of their own accord, slid up over his shoulders, her fingers curling into his hair. Oh, how she’d been longing to run her fingers through his hair.

He groaned low in his chest and pressed closer, his body flush against hers now, the hard lines of him sending a shiver down her spine.

She’d wanted to scandalize him—and herself—just a little.

But this…

This was something else entirely.

When he finally pulled back, it wasn’t because he wanted to.

It was because they both needed to breathe. She could feel it in his tightly wound body. The tremor in his exhale.

He rested his forehead against hers, still holding her face, his breath ragged.

Her own chest was heaving, and she couldn’t quite suppress the smile that curled over her lips. “Well,” she whispered a little roughly. “I’d say you’ve exceeded expectations.”

Pembroke let out a shaky laugh, though his eyes still burned into hers.

“You’re impossible,” he muttered.

Her smile widened. “Not the first time I’ve heard that.” And then… “You are good at that.”

Both of his brows arched. “Just good ?”

She rolled her eyes. “Very well. Excellent.”

Now she knew what all the girls had been giggling about. And Bea’s friend, whoever she was, was right.

And heaven help her. Georgie already wanted more.