One Tempting Proposal by Christy Carlyle

Author:Christy Carlyle
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

“COME WITH ME.” He demanded more than asked, and it sent an odd tremor skittering across Kitty’s skin.

No man commanded her. Only her father tried, and she’d been bucking his control most of her life. She should have loathed Sebastian’s tone of command, but she didn’t. She loved the strength of his much larger hand enclosing her own, the heat of his palm, and the tickle of his fingers as he tugged her along. He’d snatched her away from Lady Stamford’s ballroom like this, guiding her out into the garden. She’d done the persuading that night, but caught against the warm wall of his chest, he could have convinced her too. Convinced her to accept more than a fleeting kiss if they hadn’t been distracted by this silly ruse between them.

“This is where I retreat each time I enter Wrexford House.”

When he turned up the gaslight and lit the study, Kitty could easily picture him behind the massive cherrywood desk or bent over the table covered with books and papers and scientific gadgets she struggled to identify. The dark blue wallpaper suited him, and the shelves of books matched the image she had of a devoted scholar. Then she remembered how recently he’d inherited his title and begun living in the late duke’s residences. Perhaps the books lining these shelves came with the house, and the late duke had favored literature over science. Perhaps they didn’t reflect Sebastian’s taste at all. How strange it must be to step into another’s life. He achieved it with more grace than she suspected she’d manage.

“What’s all that?” Pointing to the cluttered table in the center of the room, she suddenly wished she’d spent more of her education on scientific study and less time on deportment and acquiring bland ladylike skills.

“The makings of a paper for the Mathematical Society. Believe it or not, all of that boils down to a few pages that will take me an hour to present and be as quickly forgotten.”

She might find the topic of his paper beyond the limits of the basic math she’d learned from her governess, but she understood devotion to a beloved task.

“I spend months tending a plant for a few glorious blooms. They’re well worth the effort.”

She cast a wary glance at his face. If her father could be trusted as a guide, a man’s pride was easily offended, especially when it came to his life’s work. Perhaps his study of mathematics and her efforts to bring the family conservatory to life wasn’t the most apt comparison. But Sebastian didn’t look offended.

He nodded, his eyes crinkling around the edges. “Yes, I imagine they are. Though I’m not sure anyone will say the same of my paper.”

Kitty blinked, then again, before narrowing her eyes. He continually surprised her. As if he worked at overturning all of her expectations. Could any man be so affable, or look so at ease pretending to be, if that’s what he was doing?

“Is that feigned humility, Your Grace, or

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