His Reluctant Lady by Ruth Ann Nordin Page B

surprised it took you this long.”
    “ I’d be lying if I didn’t
admit I’ve been dying of curiosity about your engagement. I wanted
to come sooner but was detained by my wife.” He sat in the chair
across from her desk and crossed his legs. “How did it come
about?”
    She went to the decanter and poured him
some sherry. “It wasn’t by choice.”
    “ I didn’t think it would
be.” He accepted the glass and took a sip of his drink. “You were
as opposed to marriage as I used to be.”
    “ I still am opposed to it.”
She settled back in her chair and shrugged. “Your friend
Christopher is unusually perceptive.”
    “ Oh?”
    “ Yes. He figured out I write
for the Tittletattle under the alias Gerard Addison and gave me an ultimatum which
sealed my doom. Either he tells everyone who I am or I marry him. I
didn’t have a choice.”
    His eyebrows furrowed. “Gerard Addison
just wrote a tidbit about two earls wagering on a lady and an
estate. How did you find out about it? Through
Christopher?”
    “ He might have let it slip
into the conversation while I was riding with him, Lord Clement and
my sister.”
    “ Let it slip? That wager was
something we all swore to keep a secret. I find it hard to believe
he was careless with that piece of information.”
    She sighed. “All right. He told me as
an act of good faith.”
    “ Why would he do something
so foolish?” He held up his hand. “Never mind. I already know. He
has deluded himself into thinking he loves you.”
    She gasped and shifted in her chair. “I
don’t think ‘deluded’ is the right word.”
    “ Of course, it is. You’ve
let him know, in no uncertain terms, that you don’t want to have
anything to do with him. And yet he has the audacity to keep
pursuing you. The gentleman has lost his mind.”
    “ He’s persistent. He kept
after me until he trapped me so I’d do what he wanted. I’d say he’s
very clever. His wits are fully intact.” After a moment’s pause,
she added, “I think he told me about those earls just so he could
marry me. I believe I’m a victim.”
    Ethan rolled his eyes. “Agatha, I agree
that you are some things, but a victim isn’t one of them. So he
found a way to outwit you. He is aware of how much you detest
marriage, isn’t he?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ So why does he want to
marry you?”
    “ He’s your friend; you tell
me.”
    “ I don’t know.” He glanced
at her and drank more sherry. “All right. Maybe I do. It has to be
his attraction to you. He came by my townhouse for a book on
pleasuring a lady in bed.”
    Her jaw dropped. “He what?”
    “ And that’s not the worst
part. The worst part is that word is going around London that I’m
the gentleman to go to if anyone needs help with
his…personal…situation.” He rubbed his eyes and shook his head.
“It’s horrible.”
    “ That’s what’s troubling
you? Good heavens, Ethan. You wanted the reputation of a rake and
no one minds if a gentleman engages in rakish activities. But I’m a
lady, a lady who knows firsthand how,” she shivered, “unforgettable
the marital bed is. Why would you encourage him by sending him a
book? You ought to be telling him to find a mistress to handle his
base desires.”
    “ Agatha, there’s nothing
awful about the bed. I can assure you of that. Catherine pursues me
more often than not. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that there
are times when she tires me out.”
    “ Perhaps she’s studying a
certain part of you so she can draw you in her drawing
pad.”
    “ She’s drawn my profile a
couple times.”
    “ No, my dear Ethan, that’s
not the part I’m talking about. I am referring to your favorite
part.”
    It took a moment for her meaning to
sink in and when it did, his eyes grew wide. “What?”
    “ You don’t have a single
piece of clothing on when she draws you.”
    His jaw dropped but then a slow smile
crossed his face. “She really does that? And then she hides it so I
can’t find