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“That you would marry for convenience and search for love elsewhere”

“That's precisely whata sensible wo else of him, but I believe it hurt her all the sa different”

“That isn't always possible, though”

“It will be for me”

Hoould it be possible? He must have an annulment in mind He would have to be rid of her before he could consider amy

“How can you be certain?” she asked “You have no guarantee that you'll find your soul mate”

“No guarantee,” he agreed, releasing her ankle “Only hope”

He stood until he gazed down at her froht His head was above hers, his face cast in shadow Julia should have let go of his shoulders, but she felt peculiarly off-balance, as if that wouldin the world

“We've met before, you know,” he said softly

The words sent a chill of alarh her “You're mistaken”

“I've never forgotten that night” His hands were fir her steady as he stared into her upturned face “It was three years ago in Warwickshire I had walked froe May Day celebration I saw you dancing” He was silent then, watching as her expression changed fronition

“Oh,” Julia said faintly “I didn't realize…” At first she had thought he was referring to their er who had kissed her that night! She lowered her gaze to the center of his chest, re how the kiss had haunted her for months afterward It was incredible that fate had drawn the if you were one of the Savages, and you denied it Why didn't you tell me who you were?”

“I had no way of knowing how you would react You e of you”

“You did—you kissed ainst my will”

A reluctant smile crossed his face “I couldn't help it You were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen You still are”

Julia tried to pull away, but he kept her anchored against him “What do you want from me?” she asked unsteadily

“I want to see you again”

She shook her head vehe with me, even if you purchase the entire Capital Theatre”

“Why not? Because your husband would object?”

“I've told you I won't discuss him”

“I won't let you refuse without explaining why you won't see me”

“Because I have no interest in an affair with you…and given our respective situations, that is the only thing you would be able to offer me” Julia's blood drummed in a volatile rhyth, sense his heat, and she was drawn to hi toward a flame She wanted to tilt her head back and feel his ainst him There had never been te extraordinary within reach But she would not give in to the self-destructive urge It would be disastrous

“I won't see you again,” she said, twisting until his hands dropped away and she was set free “I must leave” She hurried back to the fountain, and paused at the juncture of two paths

Savage's voice was just behind her “This way” They walked back to the house in silence, seized with a tension that neither seemed able to break

As the carriage rolled aith its lovely occupant tucked safely inside, Damon wandered alone across the marble floor of the entrance hall He felt more restless than he had ever been in his life His mind was filled with her; he relived every moment of the past few hours and craved more

He wanted her He wanted her with an unreasoning, blind insistence that raged through every nerve And he resented her for it

Slowly he went to the long staircase leading to the top two floors of the house He stopped at the first landing and sat on the steps Bracing his forearms on his knees, he stared without interest at the luminous medieval tapestries that covered the wall

Jessica Wentworth was committed elsewhere So was he They occupied separate worlds She was right, there was little he could offer her except an affair And there was Pauline to consider She didn't deserve to be betrayed and abandoned What they had together was coh for him…until Jessica Wentworth

He should put Jessica from hisin hiht He had never felt so confined, his choices lith of iron chain He was married to a woman he didn't even know

If only he could find Julia Hargate, damn her to hell, and cut her from his life once and for all

Chapter 4

The reenrooazes pinned on her The asse of the Shreere unabashedly curious about what had occurred during her evening with Lord Savage

Only Logan Scott seemed too preoccupied with rehearsal notes to notice her entrance “You're late, Mrs Wentworth,” he finally said without looking up

“Forgive me, I overslept,” Julia murmured as she made her way to an empty chair It was the truth After she had returned to her s ti Even after going to bed, she had found sleep elusive It seemed that when she finally dozed off, it was already time to awaken and face the day with bleary, dark-circled eyes

She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Savage Last night had been the culued her for years Now all her ione He was real to her, and nificent ent, powerful, driven, the kind who could dominate a woman's life so completely that she would lose herself in his shadow He was very ard Julia didn't want to be the wife of a strong man—she had worked too, hard to become Jessica Wentworth

It would have been easier to disregard Savage if not for the disarentle way he had touched her, the startling admission that he wanted to marry for love souarded exterior? She could never take the chance of finding out It filled her with a strange despair, thinking of what had transpired between theain, and she knew in her heart that it was for the best But why did it feel as if she had lost so infinitely precious?

“Here you are,” came Arlyss's murmur, and the petite actress passed her a cup of hot tea

Julia accepted it gratefully and sipped the sweet, bracing liquid