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little in her seat as she felt his hand close around hers. His mouth curved slightly as he gave her a quizzical
glance. You re nervous?
Annabelle nodded, her fingers unresisting in his as he held and chafed them gently. Simon spoke quietly,
seeming to choose his words with unusual care. Sweetheart & I assume that your experiences with Lord
Hodgeham were not pleasant. But I hope you ll trust me when I say that it doesn t have to be like that.
Whatever your fears are
Simon, she interrupted with an apprehensive croak, and cleared her throat. That is very kind of you.
A-And the fact that you are prepared to be so understanding about it& well & I appreciate that. But&
I m afraid I wasn t entirely forthcoming about my relationship with Hodgeham. Seeing his sudden
curious stillness, and the way his expression had been wiped clean of emotion, Annabelle took a deep,
steadying breath. The truth is, Hodgeham did indeed come to our house some evenings, and he did pay
some of our bills in return for & for& Pausing, she felt her throat contract until it was hard to force the
words through. But& I wasn t actually the one that he was visiting.
Simon s dark eyes widened slightly. What?
I never slept with him, she admitted. His arrangement was with my mother.
He stared at her, dumbfounded. Holy hell, he breathed.
It started a year ago, she said, her voice edged with defensiveness. Our circumstances were
desperate. We had endless bills and no means to pay them. The income from my mother s jointure had
dwindled because it had been invested badly. Lord Hodgeham had been sniffing at my mother s heels for
some time& I don t know precisely when his evening visits began & butI saw his hat and cane in the
entrance hall at odd hours, and the debts eased a little. I realized what was happening, but I never said
anything about it. And I should have. She sighed and rubbed her temples. At the party, Hodgeham
made it clear that he had tired of my mother and wanted me to take her place. He threatened to expose
the whole secret& with embellishments, he said& and we would be ruined. I refused him, but
somehow my mother managed to keep him quiet.
Why did you let me think thatyou were sleeping with him?
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Annabelle shrugged uncomfortably. You just assumed so& and there didn t seem to be any reason to
correct you, as I certainly never thought that we would end up like this. And then you proposed to me
anyway, which led me to conclude that it wasn t especially important to you whether or not I was a
virgin.
It wasn t, Simon murmured, his voice sounding strange. I wanted you regardless. But now that I&
He broke off and shook his head in amazement. Annabelle just to be clear are you saying that
you ve never been to bed with a man before?
She tugged at her hands, for his grip had become crushingly tight. Well& yes.
Yes, you have, or no, you haven t?
I have never slept with anyone, Annabelle said precisely, and gave him a questioning glance. Are you
annoyed because I didn t tell you earlier? I m sorry. But it s not the sort of thing one can just blurt out
over tea, or in the entrance hall & Here s your hat, and by the way, I m a virgin
I m not annoyed. Simon s gaze traveled over her pensively. I m just wondering what the hell to do
with you now.
The same thing you were going to do before I told you? she asked hopefully.
Simon stood and pulled her to her feet and embraced her rather gingerly, as if he feared she might
shatter with too much pressure. He pressed his face into the shining fall of her hair and breathed deeply.
Believe me, I ll get around to it, he said, sounding bemused. But first it seems there are a few things I
need to ask you.
Annabelle pushed her arms inside the front of his coat and slid them around his hard, sleek torso. The
heat of his body had permeated the thin fabric of his shirt, and she shivered pleasantly as she delved into
the male-scented warmth of his embrace. Yes? she prompted.
Until that moment she had never witnessed Simon being less than fully articulate& but he spoke with
exceptional hesitancy, as if this was a kind of discussion he d never been obliged to have before. Do
you know what to expect? Do you have all the& er, necessary information?
I think so, Annabelle replied, smiling at the interesting discovery that his heart was beating very fast
against her cheek. My mother and I had a talk just a little while ago after which I was strongly tempted
to ask for an annulment.
Suddenly, he gave a muffled laugh. I d better claim my husbandly rights without delay, then. Taking her
fingers in his hot, light grip, he lifted them to his mouth. The touch of his breath was like steam. What did
she tell you? he murmured against her fingertips.
After imparting the basic facts, she said that I should let you do as you wished and try not to complain if
I didn t like something. And she suggested that if it becomes too unpleasant, I should turn my mind to
thoughts of that enormous bank account that you opened for me.
Annabelle regretted the words as soon as they left her lips, expecting that Simon might be offended by
such candor. But he had begun to laugh huskily.
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That s a refreshing change from thinking of England. He drew his head back to look at her. Shall I
woo you with whispers of balance transfers and rates of interest, then?
Turning her hand in his, Annabelle let her fingertips graze the surface of his lips, lingering at the velvety
edge, then drifting down to the masculine scrape of his chin. That won t be necessary. Just say the usual
things.
No& the usual things won t do for you. Simon tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear and cupped [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
