A Lady's Guide to Kiss A Rake: Misadventures of the heart by Tanya Wilde Page A

enemies.”
    “Yet, I would not call us friends,” he murmured with half a smile.
    Right. Jo wanted to summon up annoyance, which was far more preferable to this heated, almost painful awareness of him. But his strength, his confidence, it appealed to her in every damnable way. A truce was out of the question. 
    “It seems to be the way of things, for our encounters to end in an awkward manner.”
    Something flickered in his eyes. “Do I make you uncomfortable?”
    He hadn’t moved, yet somehow he appeared closer, and Jo resisted the urge to take an involuntary step backward. “Yes.”
    “I see.”
    “Then you would understand if I did not agree to accept your boon. I would prefer you kept your distance.”
    He stared down at her, his eyes filled with something she couldn’t read, and a hint of unmistakable amusement.  “I can’t do that.”
    “Can’t or won’t?”
    “Both.”
    “You should leave,” Jo said after a moment.
    “I will leave, Josephine, but I warned you would not like what happened if I found you alone with Craven again.”
    “ You did not find me alone with him.”
    “True, but that does not change the fact that you were alone with him. I will say this only once more—stay away from Craven. Next time I hear a whisper of the two of you together, I will throw you over my knee and give you the spanking you deserve. Did you kiss him again?”
    His low whisper set her cheeks aflame, but she remained silent.
    His eyes hardened.
    Jo folder her arms over her chest and his eyes lowered to her bosom. How vexing this transformation was: from the seductive gentleman to the dominating male in a heartbeat.
    “No, I did not kiss him, he kissed me.”
    Jo watched a flurry of emotions passed his face. Anger, jealousy, desire, murder, all raged together forming such a rousing result she wished she had lied.
    “Do not be mad; it will never be repeated again. He thought only to teach me a lesson. He thought I meant to make you jealous.”
    His eyes narrowed upon hearing that. “Did you mean to?”
    “Of course not. But what else was he supposed to think with you appearing around every nook and crook?”
    Some of his anger faded away, but not all. She noted this with relief, though she remained displeased. Still, she did not pull away when his arm lifted to trace a finger across the line of her jaw.
    Her footman chose that moment to arrive, followed by Belle.
    Drat.
    Her friend’s eyes widened in mock surprise when she spotted Jo’s guest. “Oh my, I did not realize you had a caller, Jo.”
    “Oh, it’s quite all right. The marquis was just about to leave.”
    His smile did not quite reach his eyes when he replied, “Yes, I still have some business I need to see to.”
    “Let us hope your business does not give you a black eye.”
    His lips quirked. “Doubtful.”
    “Oh I don’t know, my lord, visiting a dragon in its lair is far different from kicking a dog when it’s down.”
    Jo straightened when he took a menacing step forward, but Belle’s dry voice halted his advance.
    “Should I perhaps come back another time? I seem to have interrupted a personal matter.”
    Jo shot her a glare. “Do not dare leave. Damien is guided by a misplaced sense of duty to protect me. Apparently my brother is not a good enough a guardian.”
    St. Aldwyn straightened his coat. “If your brother did a good enough job at keeping an eye on his charge, I would not have to.”
    “I daresay my brother would argue with that.”
    “Well by all means, where is the old fellow?”
    “Listen, you oversized bull, perhaps you would care to tell me why an notorious rogue like yourself, and a somewhat amateurish one, like Westfield, feels the need to follow two ladies around like we are about to set fire to London?”
    They stood so close her legs almost buckled under the heat radiating from his body. He was angry, too. His eyes were hard, while his face could have been carved in stone. 
    Belle, who stared with acute