Far Too Tempted by Emma Wildes

dowager duchess, were avid about the estate’s gardens. The result was an array that was any botanist’s dream. She idly paused and plucked a white exotic blossom from a glossy-leaved bush and tucked it into the heavy fall of hair behind her ear. The night sky held a lovely spattering of stars and a perfect crescent moon.
    Damn Alex and his unsettling questions. The man had a knack for setting her teeth on edge with his sarcastic insinuations. Especially this one.
    One that hit so close to home.
    Why hadn’t Nathaniel responded to her letter?
    It was possible, of course, that he was off on some business trip just as she’d suggested to Ariel. The Greenes were concerned in many ventures, he’d told her so himself, and he was kept very busy managing them.
    Nathaniel had regretfully informed her that as his wife, she’d be alone a great deal.
    Which was absolutely fine with her.
    Not, she hastily reminded herself as she strolled along, that she wasn’t eager to become Nathaniel’s bride, she was simply used to solitude, especially since the death of her parents. She really did not mind being alone.
    The tall silhouette loomed before her, coming out of nowhere and making her gasp aloud. She stopped abruptly before she careened directly into it. Hard hands shot out to grasp her arms in a steadying grip, and Jessica had to tilt her head up to see the face of the invader into her dreamy, moonlit walk.
    She already knew who it was before she recognized the silver shimmer of his pale hair, the austere and elegant line of mouth and jaw, the blaze of eyes that she knew were bluer than the summer sky.
    Alex.
    “Well, fancy meeting you here, Miss Roweland. I thought that perhaps you had learned your lesson about wandering the gardens at night many years ago.”
    His deliberate direct reference to something so hurtful and shattering was like salt pouring onto tender, abraded skin. She jerked away from his touch and stepped back, theatrically rubbing the spot where his long, strong fingers had held her. “I thought perhaps all the beasts were in for the evening. It seems I was wrong. Again.”
    “It seems you were.” His smile was slow in the darkness and his teeth gleamed white. “There are still a few of us out and prowling about.”
    “God help us all.”
    “Or at least you.” His eyes glittered.
    Jessica took another step backward. “What is that supposed to mean?” Her voice was as icy as she could make it under the circumstances. His very posture was somewhat threatening and she’d seen earlier her deliberate snubs were beginning to get under his skin.
    He was so very large and broad and tall, outlined by the shimmering moonlight like some ancient god, dark and powerful.
    Alex’s voice was soft, lethally so. “This little demonstration you’re putting on has ceased to be amusing. I understand you have no regard for me, fine. But my family is becoming uncomfortable with the tension and I won’t have it. You are a guest in their home and I am only here for the extent of my leave. We should at least be able to be civil to each other, for their sakes, if not our own.”
    Jessica squared her shoulders but her heart was pounding. He sounded very angry. She said evenly as possible, “I am civil. Very much so.”
    “By not looking at me or speaking to me?” he pointed out.
    “Forgive me if I’m not one of your simpering admirers, Lord Alex. And as for speaking, I simply have nothing to say to you. We have very little in common, for which I am grateful.”
    “Well, find something then.”
    “I am afraid I am not well-versed in the most favorable spots for sordid liaisons, nor can I speak eloquently on the easiest methods of removing a lady’s clothing before she even realizes what you are about.” Her smile was a brittle parody of the real thing.
    Alex Ramsey took a long step toward her. She held her ground, glaring up at him with as much defiance as she could summon. He said gratingly, “Do not continue to push