Free Twice the Temptation by Suzanne Enoch Page B

to his continued survival.
     
      “Miss Munroe!” her maid squeaked in a hushed, horrified voice. “Lord Rawley! You must stop that at once!”
     
      No, he thought, sliding his arms down from her waist to her hips, drawing her harder against him.Never .
     
      “Someone is coming! Please!”
     
      That caught his attention. “Damnation,” he swore against Gilly’s mouth. Blinking, half surprised they were still clothed, much less upright, he tore his mouth from hers. Pulling the bonnet back over her hair, he wiped a hand across his lips and turned just in time to see the barouche stop beside his curricle.
     
      “I thought I recognized your carriage, Conn,” came the booming voice of Lewis Blanchard, Lord Ivey. “You know my betrothed.”
     
      Clenching his jaw, Connoll faced the slender, raven-haired chit seated beside Ivey, her arm wrapped around his. “Of course I do. Good afternoon, Daisy.”
     
      Chapter 6
     
      Daisy. Evangeline looked from the lovely younglady to Connoll, standing there looking calm as anything, except for his hands, clenched so tightly into fists that his knuckles were white.
     
      She cleared her throat. “Aren’t you going to introduce me, Connoll?” she asked, forcing a smile and choosing not to question why she felt the need to step in.
     
      Black eyes gazed at her, assessing, curious…and jealous? She wasn’t certain. But little as she liked the idea of being a bit player in someone else’s theatrical production, at the moment her foremost thought was that she wanted Connoll Addison to kiss her again.
     
      He stirred. “My apologies, Gilly,” he said easily, taking her hand in his and gently squeezing before he placed her fingers on his sleeve. “Gilly, Lewis Blanchard, Lord Ivey, and his fiancée, Daisy, Lady Applegate. Lewis, Daisy, Miss Munroe.”
     
      “Hello,” she said, with a nod and a smile.
     
      “Miss Munroe.” The large Lord Ivey grinned. “Nowonder you didn’t want my services as a matchmaker, Connoll. You might have said something.”
     
      “I don’t gossip, even about myself,” the marquis returned. “Lady Applegate, best wishes to you on your betrothal.”
     
      “Thank you, Lord Rawley. I hope you and Miss Munroe will come to our engagement ball.”
     
      “I can’t speak for Evangeline, but I would be honored.”
     
      “As would I,” Evangeline echoed, rather surprised to hear herself volunteering. It had been a very exceptional kiss, however, even better than the first one. And to herself she could admit that though it wasn’t supposed to matter, the kiss from Lord Redmond had repulsed her.
     
      “Splendid.” Ivey chuckled again. “Very well. We’ll leave you to your picnic, then.” He doffed his hat. “Good day, Miss Munroe, Conn.”
     
      “Ivey, Lady Applegate.”
     
      She watched them down the path. “So that was the famous Daisy, eh?” she asked, facing Connoll again.
     
      He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her hard on the mouth. “Thank you,” he murmured, running a finger along her lips as he straightened.
     
      Good heavens. “Don’t trouble yourself. It was a small matter.” She blinked, trying to pull her mind back to the events at hand, and to what exactly she was doing there. “Did you kiss her the same way you kissed me?”
     
      “What kind of question is that?” With a quizzical look at her, he returned to the back of the carriage and lowered Doretta and the picnic basket to the ground.
     
      “It’s a very pertinent question,” she returned, taking the blanket out of his hands and spreading it on the grass. “The first time you kissed me, you thought Iwas her. Daisy, Lady Applegate. Now you seem to be courting me or something, but I have to wonder whether you might merely want to have some other female on your arm so your lady won’t think you miss her.”
     
      She sank onto the blanket, congratulating herself on figuring out his motives, and