Simply Forbidden by Kate Pearce Read Free Book Online

not want you after the ball.”
    “And I probably won’t want you either and will have thought better of it. Then we’ll have nothing to say to each other after all, will we?”
    Anger stirred in his stomach, curdling the lust. “Is this because I danced with your sister first?”
    “What?”
    “Are you toying with me because you lost your wager?”
    “How did you know about that?” She turned back to him, her expression suddenly formidable.
    “I overheard something to the effect quite by accident.”
    She stormed back toward him. “And you thought what? That I’d deliberately met you in the stables to coerce you into asking me to
dance
?”
    “It was a possibility.”
    Her hazel eyes widened as she stared at him. “Is that why you kissed me? You kept asking me whether I had something I wanted to ask you. Was that it?”
    “I wanted to give you the opportunity to win the wager.”
    “Because dancing with you is such an honor? I knew there was something wrong, I knew it.” She swept him another curtsey. “If I’d wanted to win the wager, I would’ve won it. The whole idea was my sister’s, and I simply went along with her.”
    “Easy for you to say now you’ve lost.”
    “Lord Swanfield, let me repeat myself. I’m not stupid. If I’d
wanted
to dance with you, I would have asked you. I’ve never needed to resort to deceit to make a man do
anything
for me.”
    He bowed. “Indeed. And as you’ve obviously decided to blow a trivial thing out of all proportion just so that you can run away from me, I’ll wish you good night.”
    “Trivial thing?” She spared him another scathing glance. “Good night and good riddance, my lord. You conceited, arrogant presumptuous idiot!”
    She stormed away from him, leaving him alone on the secluded terrace, his thoughts at war with his body’s demands, his temper barely under control. Was he conceited? Surely not. Arrogant? Perhaps …
    He sighed and headed for his room. He’d had enough of theball and of Miss Ross for one night. Her opinion of him certainly didn’t matter; he hardly knew her. He paused on the edge of the ballroom, watched her smiling at her father. So why did he feel so damn wounded? She’d only behaved like the rest of her class. But that wasn’t true, was it? She’d actually admitted to wanting him, and only his stupid insistence on mentioning the wager had spoiled the erotic possibility of a night in her arms.
    He bit off a curse. Aye, daft and stupid, that was it. He’d managed to alienate the only woman who had interested him in years. Now all that was left was for him to leave with his dignity intact and try and forget her.

4
    L isette glanced up at her two smiling companions and tried to decide which one of them seemed most likely to aid her. It was the fashionable hour to be seen in the park and she knew she looked well in her new blue pelisse. Being accompanied by such handsome men only gave her an additional caché. It was hard to decide whom she preferred between the dashing Captain Merrival and the quietly amusing Lieutenant St. Clare. Both men were of a similar age to the irritating Lord Swanfield, and both of them had served in Spain with the army.
    Lord Swanfield refused to leave her thoughts or her most heated dreams. Lisette had decided the best way to rid herself of him was to find out exactly what he had done to make himself such a pariah. Surely then he would lose his allure? She’d gleaned enough information to decide that he must have done something socially unacceptable, but most people seemed unsure exactly what.
    She bestowed a dazzling smile on Captain Merrival. “Would you mind if I asked you something personal?”
    The captain winked at her, his brown eyes full of interest. “Itdepends, Miss Ross. If you wish to know if I’m married, the answer is no.”
    “I’m fascinated to hear that, sir, but my question was more about the past and of a military nature.”
    “You are interested in the military, Miss