Free To Win His Wayward Wife by Rose Gordon

inner desires and settle for a goodnight kiss, hmm?”
    She stared at the cocky man. He honestly thought to accuse her of practically begging him to stay for a night of heated passion and then he suggests a kiss to tide her over. He was cracked. “I think not,” she said.
    “Why not? Are you afraid you won’t be able to stop at one?” he taunted, a corner of his mouth tipping up.
    Fighting the urge to slap the smug look off his face, she went up on her toes and pressed a quick peck against his handsome, hair bristled cheek before moving back against the door. She thought he’d frown and demand she kiss him again, on the lips this time. But instead, she noticed his face broke out into a wide grin like she’d seen at their wedding and he said, “That’ll do.”
    She blinked at him. That wasn’t expected. What was he up to?
    “Good night, Madison,” he said softly before leaning over and brushing a warm kiss over her brow.
    Too stunned to say anything in return, she watched as he walked away whistling. When her mind was finally able to form a rational thought, she reached for the door handle and found it was already opened. He must have turned it for her when he leaned in for the kiss, she thought, bringing her cool fingers to where her skin still felt like it was on fire from his kiss.
    ***
    Benjamin felt wealthier than a king as he walked away from Madison. She’d kissed him. It may not have been on the lips. It may not have been out of love and adoration. It may not have been because of any great passion she felt. It may have only been to rid herself of his presence. But it didn’t matter. She’d kissed him. And he’d liked it.
    He liked that he could still feel the scorching heat of her lips on his cheek that branded him far more than if she’d slapped him. He liked that she’d had the spunk to act that way with him. She could have just denied his request completely or just stood there and acted rigid while he pressed his lips to her. Instead, she’d completely surprised him with her cheeky peck on his cheek.
    Downstairs, he was walking out of the house when he caught sight of Townson holding his little boy against his shoulder. “Thank you,” Benjamin said softly, so not to wake the baby.
    “You’re welcome,” Townson said quietly, seeming to understand what Benjamin was thanking him for. “Would you care to sit a minute?”
    He really didn’t want to. He’d rather be alone planning his next move. And yet, he found himself taking a seat across from Townson and his sleeping son. How fortunate he was, and he probably didn’t even know it, Benjamin thought. To wake up every morning next to the one you love and have a child with her. A wave of jealousy for Townson similar to the one more than fifteen years ago bubbled inside him.
    He’d once let his jealously of Townson get the better of him and no good had come of it. The two shared a common relation (of sorts): Townson’s mother. Lizzie, the dowager countess, raised both of them. She’d raised Andrew as her son, which he was, and himself as her brother, which he wasn’t. Through a sloppy genealogy and several sordid affairs, Benjamin and Elizabeth Black shared a common connection: the previous Duke of Gateway. When the old duke was a green lad, he had a liaison with a maid that resulted in Lizzie’s conception. Fortunately for Lizzie, the current duke at that time (Benjamin's supposed grandfather) took her in as a ward against the wishes of everyone else in the family.
    Before she came of age to be introduced to society, which her grandfather fully intended to do, the man died, leaving her a ward to the duke at the time, her newly married biological father. Her father had been forced to make a match for her in order to his receive funds. So he matched her with the first wastrel who asked: Thomas Black, the former Lord Townson.
    Immediately after Lizzie and Thomas’ marriage, the new duchess inadvertently exposed Lizzie’s bastardy, thus