Page 30 of Scandal with a Sinful Scot

“Yes.” Abbie curled up in one of the wingchairs before the hearth. Once he poured the drinks in crystal tumblers, he handed her one and sat opposite. “Tell me about your wild streak in your twenties.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “How in hell did you hear about that?”

“Sir Walter was a hermit, but he did enjoy sharing gossip in his correspondence with Alberta. She told me the other day. I am curious.”

“And what of your past?”

“Let us speak of you for the remainder of the night.”

Garrett curled his lip and took a long draw on his scotch, clenching his teeth as the burn trailed down his throat. A brief dissolute episode in his life and she honed in on it. “I could blame Aidan, for even at sixteen he was rather naughty. He confided in me that he lost his virginity the year before at The Crimson Club. It is a place in London that the men in my family like to frequent on occasion. It is a tasteful and respected brothel.”

“Did you lose your virginity there as well? Is it a rite of passage for the men of your family?” she asked, her tone curious.

“Since you wish to discuss my secrets, here is one I have shared with no one: I lost my virginity…to you. There was no other young lady before you.” Garrett gave her a heated gaze. “Emotionally speaking, there has been no woman after you. The encounters meant nothing.”

“Oh, my,” she murmured. “I am rather shocked about your virginity. I assumed most sons of peers indulged as young as Aidan. Forgive me for feeling rather satisfied at the fact I was your first, and pleased that the only encounter that meant anything…was ours.” She sipped her scotch. “However, I was not your last. Hence the adventures with your nephew. Do tell.”

Did he hear a tinge of hurt at her statement that she was not his last? Perhaps he imagined it. “I was twenty-one and hadn’t been with another female since I stupidly pushed you away. Aidan proposed a short jaunt to London. It lasted close to two years.”

Abbie’s eyes widened. “Good heavens. What did you do in all that time?”

“When we were not staying at the London townhouse, we were at The Crimson Club. Or other houses of ill repute. Gambling, attending scandalous parties. As the months clicked by, the places grew increasingly seedier. Aidan strived for more stimuli, more thrills, and did not care where he obtained them.” Garrett threw back another swallow of scotch. “I should have seen the signs then and there. Regardless, I eventually grew bored with the meaningless, indiscriminant sex. Aidan did not.” He caught her gaze. “We agree to tell the absolute truth?”

She nodded.

“You haunted my nightly dreams from the day we parted. It became torturous. I thought that I could effectively erase you from my subconscious with other women. It was a complete and utter failure.” He exhaled. “I was determined to not think of you during the day, but you entered my dreams without fail, night after night. Taunting me.”

“I cannot find it in me to be smug at this information. It merely proves how mistaken we were to so cavalierly toss what we had aside. For you haunted my dreams as well.” She took another drink. “This is rather good.”

“Care for another?”

“If it keeps us talking civilly and truthfully, then yes.” She held the near-empty tumbler out and he strode to the sideboard and refilled the glasses. Blast it all, he had been in a state of arousal since before he opened the door to find her there. Talk? He could think of a more strenuous and sensual activity than conversing. But he innately understood that Abbie needed this. And truth be told, he did as well. For how could they move forward—if that is what they truly wanted—unless they discussed what had happened, and what was to come?

Garrett stood before her and held out the glass, and her gaze lingered on his low-riding breeches. His erection was plain to see. Pink color washed her cheeks as she clutched the glass and looked away to stare at the dancing flames in the fireplace.

“Did you have any serious relationship with any woman?” she whispered, still staring at the fire.

“There was one.” Abbie turned to look at him. “In Scotland. I visited my grandparents the summer after ending my debauched journey. I was twenty-three, the age a young man should begin to shop about for a prospective wife. The Wollstonecraft line did not depend on me procreating; what was the rush? I met her at a social in Edinburgh. Lovely young lady. My grandparents were thrilled. Perhaps, they thought, I would settle in Scotland.”

God, it had been ages since he thought of Elspeth. How much to reveal? All of it, you fool. “I thought myself half in love. Elspeth was beautiful, her hair a rich caramel shade, her eyes shining with a matching incandescent color. We kissed, touched, and even came close to having actual sex. There is nothing quite like rolling about in the heather kissing a pretty young lass…” His voice trailed off and a smile curled about his lips at the memory.

“I do not think I care much for this bit of your past,” Abbie stated, her mouth pulling into a taut line.

“Nothing came of it, for I did not want to be responsible for breaking another woman’s heart or placing her in danger because of the curse. But more importantly, my heart was not completely engaged. I ended it before it became too serious. It did not come close to what we shared, and I discovered that I would never settle for less. If that meant I would be alone the rest of my days, so be it. I had already vowed to live a solitary life anyway.”

Their gazes caught. The heat between them could easily ignite a raging forest fire.

“What happens now?” she whispered.

“Come to my bed.”

“Bounder,” she replied softly, her eyelids lowered. “Beyond that.”

“You tell me. You have my complete attention.”

“I do want you, Garrett. But could we possibly…take things a bit slower? As I told you, I do not know exactly where this will lead, if anywhere.”

He couldn’t believe what she had just said. Garrett stared at her incredulously. “You come to my room, claim you want me, bare your heart, and ask me to bare mine; now you state that you want to take things slow? Are you out to purposely torment me?”