Page 47 of When the Scoundrel Sins
Since Quinn and Robert arrived, she hadn’t been able to sneak away for her usual evening swims, instead having to remain at the house to help Lady Ainsley with hostess duties before dinner. So after yet another restless night, when there was no point in lying in bed any longer and trying for sleep that wouldn’t come, she’d decided to selfishly enjoy the peace and quiet of a dawn swim before her day began. Before she had to face Lady Ainsley’s plans to marry her off. Before she had to deal with all the estate’s ongoing problems.
And before she had to suffer the continuous exasperation that was Quinton Carlisle.
Despite Lady Ainsley’s close watch, the audition process for future husbands—and truly, wasn’t that what it had turned into?—was off to a less than auspicious start. After the first week, the score was Gentlemen Callers 2, Carlisle Brothers 28. Quinton was resolved to protect her, yet as equally resolved to never marrying her himself. And they had yet to find a way for her to keep Glenarvon except through marriage.
Her only consolation was knowing that Glenarvon would be hers and that she would never have to leave her home. Instead of being relieved, though, she felt trapped.
She removed her half boots and stockings, then walked to the edge of the pond to dip a bare toe hesitantly into the water to test it. A weary sigh escaped her. If only she could test the temperature of men this way, how much easier her life would be!
She reached behind her back to unfasten her dress—
“So you ventured out of the library,” a deep voice drawled behind her. “I didn’t think that was possible.”
Quinton.She rolled her eyes. Of all the people to interfere with her one moment of solitude…“Books don’t sneak up on people uninvited,” she threw back pointedly.
He gave her a half smile as he walked down the sloping bank toward her. “Then invite me to swim with you.”
She shot him her best ice-cold glare, knowing the answer before she even asked. “Will you behave yourself?”
His smile blossomed into a full-out grin. “Have I ever?”
“No,” she answered earnestly and reached again for the back of her dress. “So you’d better go back to the house.” She’d come here for a swim, and she wasn’t going to let him stop her from taking this bit of solace. “After all,” she muttered dryly, “you have a herd of husbands to prepare for.”
“I wouldn’t have to if you gave up this notion of marriage.”
“You’re right,” she agreed with a heavy sigh. Her fingers worked free the half dozen buttons down her back. “You’renotbehaving yourself.”
“Then I’ll keep misbehaving until you come to your senses.”
“What other choice do I have?” she challenged. “You’d rather I remain unmarried and lose Glenarvon?”
“I’d rather you be happy.” His voice was quiet on the morning air, curling around her in the blue-gray shadows with its sudden seriousness. “Wherever you live.”
Her throat tightened with emotion. “Now you’re playing dirty.”
Widening his stance, he crossed his arms over his chest, in his best impersonation of an unmovable mountain. “Whatever it takes, Annabelle.”
Her shoulders sagged as the suffocating frustration she’d been living under once more settled over her. The moment of peace she’d hoped to have vanished like the morning fog. “I don’t want to argue about this anymore.” Shaking her head, she freed the last button and let her bodice sag loose. “So unless you’ve found a way out of this for me, there’s nothing more to talk about.”
She pulled down her sleeves, the bodice dropping around her waist and leaving her modestly covered in her stays and shift from the waist up.
His eyes flared, and his voice grew uncharacteristically hoarse as he demanded, “What are you doing?”
She paused, and beneath the curious warmth of his attention, a knot of nervousness tied in her stomach. But something deep inside her thrilled to it, too, that she’d caught him by surprise and inverted whatever bluestocking—and false—notions he held about her. She might be forced into marriage, but she certainly wasn’t a mouse. And she’d never wanted to prove that to anyone more than she did at that moment to Quinton.
She forced down her rising nervousness and casually shrugged a shoulder. As if she removed her clothes in front of men all the time. “Undressing.”And hoping to make you leave.
But when he didn’t move, she gathered her courage, resigned what little dignity she had left, and dropped her dress to the grass around her bare feet.
“Annabelle, stop.” He ran a shaking hand through his blond hair and looked away.
He was…nervous? She gave a soft laugh of disbelief. “I’m surprised that you’re offended by the sight of an undressed woman.”
“I’m not offended,” he assured her. Then, as if to prove it, he let his gaze travel languidly over her. Everywhere he looked, heat prickled over her skin. “Quite the opposite, in fact,” he murmured, and she felt a ribbon of heat slowly thread itself through her, from her breasts down to between her legs. “I’m only concerned about your reputation.”
She laughed at the absurdity of that. Her life as she’d known it was ending, and he was worried about herreputation? Not one of the gentlemen calling on her cared whether she behaved properly, not as long as Glenarvon remained in her dowry. It would take more than getting caught taking a morning swim—even a naked one—to run them off. “My reputation be damned!”
Not caring if she’d shocked him with her outburst—good if he was!—she untied the front lacings of her stays and let them fall away to join the dress at her feet. Lifting her chin in defiance, she reached her hand up to the shoulder of the shift, preparing to push it down and remove even that last bit of clothing if she had to in order to chase him away…although she sent up a silent prayer that she wouldn’t have to. Not in front of those blue eyes which now stared at her as hungrily as a tiger contemplating the best way to devour a gazelle.
