Read Online Jacquie D'Alessandro by Loveand the Single Heiress - Free Book Online Page A

reason to doubt he was all those things. Philip, however, had ne-glected to add, nor had she discerned on any of their previous meetings, that Mr. Stanton was also opinionated, stubborn, and irritating.
    She glanced at him. He was staring out the window, a muscle pulsing in his smoothly shaven cheek, verifying the tight set of his jaw. His stubborn jaw. Although, she couldn’t deny that it was a strong stubborn jaw. With an intriguing hint of a cleft in the center. Philip hadn’t mentioned that. Nor had he mentioned Mr. Stanton’s profile…the slight bump on the bridge of his nose. Most likely a souvenir from one of his pugilistic bouts. It should have detracted from his appearance. Instead, it lent him a rugged air, mixed with just a whiff of danger, reminding her that in spite of his elegant clothes, he was not of her class. Rough around the edges.
    And undeniably attractive.
    “You’ve a most intriguing expression, Lady Catherine. Would you care to share your thoughts?”
    Heat flooded her cheeks. Good Lord, how long had she been staring? And why was he looking at her in that…speculative way? As if he’d already divined her thoughts? Humph. Just another aspect of him to term irritating.
    Adopting what she hoped passed for a casual air, she said, “I was thinking that in spite of the time we’ve spent together over the past fourteen months, we really do not know each other very well.” She lifted her brows. “What were you thinking?”
    “Actually something quite similar—that I do not know you as well as I believed.”
    She wrinkled her nose and pointedly sniffed the air. “Somehow that did not smell like a compliment.”
    “It was not meant as an insult, I assure you.” Mischief flickered in his eyes. “Would you like a compliment? I’m certain I could think of one, if it would please you.”
    “I beg you, do not strain yourself on my account,” she said in a dust-dry voice.
    He made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “’Tis no strain, I assure you.” His gaze flickered over her forest green traveling ensemble. “You look lovely.”
    Three simple words. Yet something about the quiet way he said “lovely,” combined with the unmistakable warmth in his eyes, quivered a fluttery thrill through her. He stole any reply she might have made by focusing his attention on her mouth. “And your lips…” his eyes appeared to darken, and he leaned forward. Everything inside Catherine stilled—except those inexplicable flutters, which suddenly became so much more…fluttery. Good heavens, was he going to kiss her? Surely not…
    Her own gaze riveted on his lips, and for the first time she realized what an attractive mouth he possessed. It somehow managed to appear soft and firm at the sametime. The sort of mouth that would know how to kiss a woman—
    “Your lips,” he said softly, leaning farther still, until less than two feet separated their faces, until she had to fight the overwhelming urge to lean toward him and erase the small distance. “They look so…much less swollen and bruised than they did after last night’s incident. Almost back to their normal loveliness.”
    He leaned back and shot her a grin. Whatever madness had enveloped her disintegrated like a puff of smoke, and she abruptly straightened, pressing her back against the cushion, appalled. Not so much at him, but at herself. Heat crept up her neck, and she prayed her face wasn’t turning red. Good heavens, for one insane instant she’d thought he meant to…that she wanted him to…
    Kiss her. But even more humiliating was the fact that she felt deflated because he hadn’t. Egad, she was losing her mind.
    “You see?” he said. “Contrary to your belief, I’m perfectly capable of bestowing compliments. And I’m greatly looking forward to my visit to your home, as it will give us the opportunity to discover how much more we don’t know about each other.”
    Good Lord, the things he did not know about her, she intended to