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"I didn’t believe you would want me" The double entendre was clear He stepped into her room, and she could not help but breathe in his scent as he walked by The size of her satin-draped boudoir shrank to eether "Supper, however, was guaranteed"
"Are your only pursuits those that are guaranteed?"
"Obviously not, or I wouldn’t be here" Gray sat on the floor by the low table, and opened the basket "You shan’t chase me aith your ill-humor, Isabel I waited all day for thisto say to me, put one of these pheasant sandwiches in your mouth, and just let aze and winked one of those blue eyes at her Her descent to the floor was only partially due to courtesy The rest was due to suddenly weak knees
He pulled out two glasses and a bottle of wine "You look lovely in pink satin"
"I thought you reconsidered" She lifted her chin "So I changed"
"No need to worry," he said dryly "I had no illusions that you dressed to entice ue Where have you been?"
"You never used to ask me that"
Isabel had never cared before, but she would not say that aloud "You used to volunteer inforton’s," he said around a bite
"All evening?"
He nodded, and reached for his glass
"Oh" She knew of the courtesans there Reton’s was a bastion of ry?" he asked, ignoring the question
Lifting her wine, she took a large s
Gray laughed, the sound pouring over her like wared "Did you enjoy yourself?" she asked again
His look was pure exasperation "I would not have stayed as long as I did if I were ed his clothes Isabel supposed she should be grateful that he did not co of sex and perfume, as Pelham had done on several occasions Her stoe in her mind was of Grayson and not Pelha on her back to stare at the tented ceiling "No I ary"
A moment later she was inundated with the smell of Gray--that of starched linen and sandalwood soap He sat on the floor beside her, and caught up her hand in his own
"What can I do?" he asked softly, his callused fingertips drifting over her pal heated frissons across her skin "It pains me that my presence distresses you so, but I cannot stay away, Pel Do not ask e you"
"Even after tonight’s aave a low chuckle "I should be a good husband, and set your h of the rapscallion left in "
"Men who look like you never suffer, Gray," she retorted with a snort, turning her head to aze
"There are "
"See how our relationship alters when you change your role fros left unsaid Why do you want us to live in that roaned
"Can you answer me that, Gray? Please help me to understand why you wish to ruin our friendship"
His eyes met hers, filled with the bleakness she had felt around hiht "God, Pel" He set his cheek against her thigh, his dark hair da the satin "I don’t kno to discuss this, and not soundti shadows upon his cheekbones The fingers that stroked her palm stopped, and entwined with hers The simple intimacy was like a physical blow For a moment, she found it difficult to breathe
"After Emily died, I despised ed her--so many ways, so many times What a waste it was for a wo while to accept the self-loathing, and realize that while I could not change the past, I could honor her by changing who I was in the future"
She tightened her grip on his hand, and he squeezed back It was then she felt the unrelenting curve of a ring on his finger Grayson had never worn his wedding band before That he wore it now gave her a jolt that ainst her,Misunderstanding her distress, he said, "This is dreadful I apologize"
"No…Continue Please I want to know everything"
"It is a e one’s character," he said finally "I think whole years passed without finding anything worth s about Until you walked into the study yesterday Then, in that one moment, I saw you and felt a spark" He lifted their joined hands, and kissed her knuckles "Then later, in this rooood, Pel That spark turned into soer," she breathed, her eyes riveted to his inawed at her now
"And desire, and life, Isabel And that is from the outside I can only dream about what it would be like from the inside" Gray’s voice deepened, and turned husky ant, his eyes now free of the abject torment she had witnessed in theo"