Tempted by a Scoundrel

Chapter 10

Julia was sitting by the pond in the woods by her grandfather's estate. His corgi, Victoria had followed her out and was currently asleep by her side.

She'd tried to sleep but after last night's excitement, sleep had eluded her. So she'd made her way here. Fred had shown her this pond when they'd arrived in Kent and she'd immediately fallen in love with the setting. She'd never seen anything like it in India.

She couldn't help but replay the kiss she'd shared with Michael.

She'd dreamt of her first kiss for years. She'd thought that the man she loved would tenderly hold her face between his palms and kiss her—most of the heroines in the novels she'd read had experienced this.

And her? She'd been dragged onto Michael's lap with no tenderness whatsoever. And there was certainly no love or even affection in the way he'd kissed her. And yet...

She groaned and kicked at the water. Victoria stood up at the same time, her ears perked up.

"It's nothing," she cooed at the dog and scratched her ears. Victoria sat down but her attention was still engaged by something.

Julia was just about to get up to investigate when the source of Victoria's distraction appeared.

It was Michael. What the hell?

"What are you doing here?" she exclaimed at the same time he did.

"I couldn't sleep," they answered simultaneously again.

The Duke grinned and Julia smiled tentatively.

And then she remembered that she was in her night gown and the hem lay upon the tops of her knees. She'd put her legs in the water and hadn't wanted her clothes to get wet.

Her hands went to her unbound hair and then reached down to tug at the hem of her night gown. She looked up to see if the Duke has averted his eyes but no. In fact, he was staring quite shamelessly—no doubt to mortify her.

"So much for gentlemanliness," she muttered under her breath and stood up. Two could play this game, she thought. And then she began to look at him the way he'd been looking at her.

She'd die before she admitted it out loud but right then, Julia felt like she'd never seen a more handsome man. The top of his shirt was unbuttoned and Julia could see the corded strength in his neck and the defined muscles on his chest. She swallowed. This was clearly backfiring.

"Like what you see?" he grinned unrepentantly, his amber eyes twinkling with delight.

"I'm afraid not," she huffed and turned to Victoria. But the corgi wasn't there.

"Victoria—" she hollered and turned around to find the dog panting by the Duke's feet, her tail wagging with a speed Julia hadn't thought her capable of.

"It appears his charm doesn't even spare the females of the canine species," she muttered and stomped towards the dog.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

"Why are you pretending to be something you're not?" Michael asked softly once she'd neared them.

"What?" she stopped short. Had Poppy told him something?

"You're no jezebel. The mere sight of my chest made you blush. So—"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she cut him off. She tried to meet his eyes but she couldn't. She had the strangest feeling that if she did, he'd discover all of her secrets. Michael was that way—perceptive, intelligent.