Page 32 of Miss Ellis Unleashed

“You speak of my admirers as if there were legions,” she complained, flipping her hand around. “I don’t see them around now because you scared most away.”

He glanced to the floor and started to lift the tablecloth. “Are there no scoundrels hidden away under this table?”

She blushed at the reminder of her deceptions that hadn’t gone unnoticed, after all. “I haven’t done that since you left.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” he said, scowling once more. “Anyone worthy of your hand in marriage should have stood their ground and faced me like a man.”

“And what would you have done with them then?”

“Agreed to the match if you’d said you wanted it,” he claimed immediately

She blushed. “There was never anyone in particular I wanted.”

“No?”

“No.” She squirmed, thinking of him and that heated kiss they’d shared. “Shall we withdraw to the sitting room to continue our conversation?”

“Why not.”

Daisy rose from the table, feeling awkward all of a sudden.

Perhaps there never had been a man worthy of her hand in marriage or brave enough to endure Throsby’s scowls and seek his approval. But that also meant she was not worthy of fighting for. It was a lowering thought, indeed, and one that would require time to reflect upon in private.

She moved toward her favorite chair, where she’d spent much of her morning calls with Throsby looking stern and forbidding in his own nearby chair. It was unsettling how right it felt to have him back here again. But he would leave at the end of the evening and she’d be alone again.

She did not sit down straight away.

“Did I say something wrong?” Throsby asked suddenly.

“No. Not really.” Daisy shivered and rubbed her arms, unable to find the right words at first to explain her sadness. “Men only choose women they find appealing, don’t they?”

“Women often do, as well,” he countered. “Those in our society marry for a variety of reasons though. Connections, wealth and land, and want of a title, particularly.”

“I guess I failed on all counts then. No one chose me this season because I have and want none of those.”

Throsby drew close, and his fingers settled on her shoulder. He turned her to face him. “I think you are very eligible for marriage.”

She shivered at the husky tone of his voice and looked up into his eyes. “Then why did you never tell me that? I’ve spent the whole season doubting my appeal.”

He frowned again. “What I think of you shouldn’t have made a difference. You have to make your own decisions in this world, especially when it comes to choosing the man you would marry. I would never presume to do that for you, or for anyone.”

“You were my guardian!”

“I’m not now.” He reached out and caught her gently by the chin. “I have always thought you the most surprising debutant of the season, vexing and unpredictable perhaps, but lovely, and if no one but me saw the challenge in you, then the fools deserve to have missed their chance to be made happy.”

Daisy gaped at Throsby, astonished that he could say something so romantic she might swoon.

He wasn’t her guardian anymore. He was different, they were different, freer than they’d ever been with each other. She wanted more of the unexpected thrill his words filled her with, and more of his touch, as well.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she reached for his face, too, lightly touching his clean-shaven jaw. His skin was warm and supple under her fingers. “But who are you, and what have you done with my Throsby?”

He laughed. “I’m here.”

Daisy’s heart fluttered at the sound…and she rose on her toes to claim his mouth in a soft kiss she’d been longing for all night.

It was different, being the one to kiss rather than wait. He was tall and she was short. But then it didn’t seem to be a strange thing to do at all when he kissed her back.

Throsby was as exciting a kisser as she remembered, though she still wasn’t prepared for the storm of arousal that flooded her senses. He was not a passionless man, and she had accepted that startling fact. Why else would she be dreaming of his lips against hers again, or had no other man interested her since their first kiss?