Page 30 of Saving a Scoundrel
He snatched up three books that sat on the padded cushion. This time he simply turned them upside down and shook. Ellie watched in horror as her list fell onto an embroidered pillow.
“Aha!” He turned with a wide grin. “You are a terrible liar, Ellie. Now let’s see what escapades you have planned.”
In a last attempt to save herself from utter embarrassment, she closed the distance between them and made a wild grab for the piece of paper. But Lucius simply raised it over his head with a chuckle. “Let’s see, number one—visit London, check mark. Number two—sail on a boat.” He gave her a sympathetic glance. “We know how that one turned out. Number three—drink too much champagne; now it’s getting interesting.”
“Unfortunately, all young ladies are allowed to drink is tepid lemonade,” Ellie grumbled. “Lucius, give me back my list.”
“Number four—find the author of the letters. Yes, yes. Number five—go to the opera, that we could do. Number six—gamble in a card game. Why Ellie, what would your father say? Number seven—dance the waltz with a handsome stranger.”
Ellie shut her eyes. If only the floor could open up and swallow her before he read number eight. They stood so close she could smell the clean scent of his lemon soap and hear the quick intake of his breath as he read the next item on the list.
“Ellie?”
She refused to open her eyes and face the pity in his. He would be kind like he had been in the graveyard, but this was not how she planned to accomplish number eight. She’d planned to dress in her best new ball gown, and they would have walked out to the garden to get some air. The moonlight would make her look ethereal and beautiful, and he wouldn’t be able to resist gathering her into his arms. But, of course, that was before she had crossed it off in a fit of pique after Hawksridge’s dinner party.
He slid a finger under her chin to lift her face. “Ellie, why iskiss Lucius Grisham againon your list?”
Chapter Sixteen
With her eyesclosed and her cheeks stained pink, Ellie looked beautifully kissable. She stood so close that he could feel the delicate exhale of her sigh against his chin. It would be easy to close the few inches between them and plunder that sweet mouth. He wanted to. God, did he want to.
The whole trip back from Hampton, Lucius had studied her face while she slept. The slope of her pert nose, the high cheekbones sprinkled with tiny freckles, and those plump pink lips that made a perfect bow. In sleep, Ellie’s sharp wary looks and disapproving frown had softened to a tranquil expression. He had gathered her close so that the rough road they traveled over wouldn’t wake her.
But that had been a mistake. The soft sighs she made while dreaming had sent sparks of lust straight to his cock. Every time the carriage had jolted them going over a bump, she had snuggled against him. Her soft curves pressing against his chest and his thigh had flamed an uncomfortable new awareness, hot and itchy inside him.
But all of these thoughts were a bad idea. Eleanor Spencer was not some experienced widow or eager actress willing to have a casual tumble in his bed. Ellie was the girl next door. She had been a good friend forever, and it was wrong of him to be thinking lasciviously of her voluptuous breasts and round ass.
Ellie’s eyes popped open, and her expression turned defiant. “If you must know, I felt the first kiss was quite nice, and I thought it might be a good idea to practice. Kissing, that is. With you.”
He looked down at the list in his hand. “But it’s crossed off.”
“Yes, well. You are courting Miss Macdougal, and it didn’t seem right to ask you to kiss me anymore. For practice.” Ellie stepped back, her gaze slid away.
Confused, he ran a hand through his hair. “So, you were going to use me to practice kissing?”
“And flirting.” She pointed at the list. “It’s number nine. You are the only male friend who I would feel comfortable asking.” She bit her bottom lip, one shoulder rose and fell.
He looked down at the paper.Learn how to flirtwas indeed number nine. Number ten wasGet engaged. Dear Lord, he hoped she didn’t need him for that one. He glanced up at Ellie. “Get engaged?”
She paced away. “My father said that if I didn’t garner any other offers this spring, he wants me to come home and marry Mr. Evans.” She spun around. “This is all terribly embarrassing. And moot, since I found out about Miss Macdougal, I planned to practice on someone else.”
“What?Who?”
She sighed. “I guess Lord Danvers probably will not be interested in kissing me now that he witnessed me cast up my accounts off the side of his boat. I didn’t even get a chance to practice my flirting today. I will have to find someone else.”
“You are far too good for the likes of Danvers. Good riddance.” He paced over to Ellie and gripped her shoulders. Danvers would have pushed her far further than kissing. How could she be so naïve? “Listen, I will help you with your list.”
“You will?”
“Yes, I cannot allow you to recruit random gentlemen to practice your wiles on.”
“But that’s the problem. I haven’t any.” She still worried that bottom lip and the motion made him think of all the places he would like her to use her teeth on him.
“You have far more than you think.” He couldn’t resist tugging on one of her curls. So many had escaped her pins, framing her face and brushing her nape. He wondered what it looked like loose, a riot of golden hair falling around her shoulders. “We’ll start at the top of the list and work our way down. You have all spring to find a husband. There is no reason to rush.”
“Thank you. You are a good friend.” Ellie stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.
He froze, all his senses consumed by her. The heat left behind by her lips, her sweet scent that filled his nose, and the soft lilt of her voice as she thanked him. It took all his willpower not to slide his arms around her waist and start her lesson on kissing right now. How had she bewitched him so thoroughly?
