Page 35 of Beguiling the Baron

Tia laid a hand on his arm with a soft, “I know you did.”

He swallowed. Had she any idea what her nearness was doing to him? He wanted her, not her pity.

Gently, he extricated himself. “I assumed once I’d achieved my ends, there’d be plenty of time to spend together . . . but it was too late. She didn’t tell me . . . she hid from me—”

“What did she hide from you?”

“I’ve revealed too much,” he growled. “I’ve dropped my guard. I’m sorry, Tia, but this has to stop. You can’t keep prying into my affairs or my past, for what you discover would hurt you as much as it hurts me.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I wasn’t prying,” she retorted. “I was seeking an explanation for what seemed to me an irrational decision.”

He gave a bitter laugh. “Irrational not to approve Polly’s desire to attend the fair? I think I’ve explained my reasons with perfect logic. What’s really irrational is the way I’ve let you get under my skin, divert me from my duty, and tempt me beyond all reason.”

“Tempt you? I never meant to.”

No, of course, she hadn’t. The fault was all his. But if he were to move past this growing obsession with her, he would need her to exercise restraint as well.

He took her by the shoulders and brought his face close to hers. “My dear,” he ground out, “you’d shrivel up in shame if you could see the visions running through my mind right now. You need to be afraid of me, Tia. You need to keep a respectful distance and never be alone with me again.”

He gave her a little shake before pushing her away. A cold draught seemed to rush between their bodies, like a vengeful spirit.

Her eyes searched his face, but he refused to soften his expression. Let her be afraid of him, fear his lusts and desires. Let her agonize over his secrets. They weren’t suited, they would never agree, and she expected too much of him.

Far, far too much.

“So.” He took a sustaining breath. “I’ll be traveling to London shortly. I have an elderly aunt who’s expressed a desire to see me. I could be gone some time. Please don’t take any liberties with Polly in my absence. I don’t mean her to be miserable, believe me, but I don’t want her to have too much leeway either, or she’ll take advantage. I mean her to grow up into a young woman with a character so blameless, she’ll never suffer censure on account of her parents, or her past. Now, if that’s all, I’ve business to attend to.”

He dragged open the door, skinning his knuckles on the wood in his haste. Relishing the pain, he strode away.

How he’d allowed Tia so close to his heart, he didn’t know.

She mustn’t get any closer. Absenting himself from Foxleaze was the best way to achieve that end for now. Afterward, he’d return to exactly what he’d been before her arrival, and if she didn’t like it . . .

Well, he’d have to give their future arrangements serious consideration.