Page 28 of When the Scoundrel Sins

“Because of that damned fight?”Christ.Not this again! With frustration simmering inside him that she refused to leave that night to the past where it belonged, he planted his hands on the stone on either side of her and leaned in, her face level with his. Close enough that he saw the gold flecks in her irises when her eyes flared at his boldness.Thisfight was a long time in coming, and they would finally have it all out. Here and now. “Was I supposed to just stand there and do nothing while Williams said those things about you?”

“Yes!” She straightened her spine. “Better to be insulted than to have my reputation ruined, don’t you think?”

“Ididn’t ruin your reputation,” he countered. “That was nothing more than an accident and poor timing.”

She imperially raised a brow, in a gesture that eerily reminded him of Aunt Agatha. “And was slamming your fist into Williams’s jaw accidental?”

“No.” He grinned, just to irritate her. “That was pure pleasure.”

“Thatwas your arrogance getting in the way,” she snapped.

He gritted his teeth. “I was defending your honor.”

“I didn’t need my honor defended.” She jabbed her finger into his chest. “But you wouldn’t listen to me and had to throw your fists at Williams—”

“I did notthrowmy fists at him!”Good Lord.She made it sound like a grammar school shoving match. But if she thought she could guilt him into marriage, she’d better think again. He deliberately bit out each word, “That night was not my fault.”

She cast him a contemptuous look, one so cold it shivered through him. “So you keep saying.”

She looked down at the wild rose blossom she still held in her hand, then threw it away. She shoved him back, giving herself just enough room to slip to the ground and hurry away.

Oh no.That little force of nature was going nowhere! Not after the bomb she’d just exploded.

He grabbed her arm as she tried to step past him. “Listen to me, damn it!”

With a fierce yank, she tried to wrench herself away, but he held tight. He took both of her arms and pulled her up against him to hold her still.

“What do you want from me, Annabelle?” he demanded, unable to keep the exasperation from his voice. “An apology?”

“You can keep your apologies!” she spat back. So much anger radiated from her that she shook with it, her breath coming quick and ragged, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “I don’t want them.”

“Good. Because I’m not giving any.” Her eyes blazed indignantly at that and stirred the burning inside him. “I’m not sorry for fighting over you that night. I’ll never be.” He pulled her closer as he leaned back against the rock. “But it’s not the fight that upsets you, is it?”

“Let me go!” she hissed.

The hell he would. He lowered his head until his mouth nearly touched hers. Each panting little breath of hers fanned across his lips, and beneath his hands he could feel her pulse racing. “It’s what happened before the fight that bothers you. How we kissed.”

When her face darkened, he knew he was right. An electric thrill spun through him.

“When you played another one of your childish pranks on me,” she ground out accusingly. “What was the goal that time, Quinton? To put me into tears by making me think you wanted to kiss me, when it was only a joke to you?”

He stared down into her eyes, seeing a heated mix of anger and arousal that had her nearly breathless. “I kissed you because I couldn’t help myself.”

She inhaled sharply at his confession, and his gaze dropped to her mouth and fixed there. As if he could devour her simply by looking.

“Because you were beautiful in the moonlight, because I wanted to taste your lips and feel you pressed against me.” Then he dared to admit all— “Because I couldn’t believe that the awkward little girl I’d spent years tormenting had grown into a woman who was so unaware of her own allure that she’d venture into the shadows of the garden with a rogue like me.”

“You’re lying,” she breathed, stunned by that raw admission.

“I’m not.” He shifted her in his arms, until he wasn’t keeping her from fleeing but holding her willingly against him. “Or about how much I enjoyed that kiss.” He felt the catch of her breath against his lips. “And so did you.”

She swallowed nervously, and he suppressed the urge to place his mouth right there at her throat to feel the soft undulation beneath his lips. “I didn’t.”

“Liar,” he rasped. “But if you don’t believe me, I’m happy to prove it.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t—”

He lowered his head and kissed her, unable to resist one heartbeat longer.