Free Tempting a Devil by Samantha Kane Page A

Harry.
    “Rules,” Harry said breathlessly. “I think we need to have some rules. For our affair.”
    “What?” Surely she was jesting. Rules?
    “Yes,” she said through clenched teeth as she shoved back against his hands and broke his hold. “Rules.” She smoothed her hair back into place. Or at least she must have thought she did. He had yet to see those dark blond, unruly locks actually tamed by brush or pins. His first order of business was going to be stripping those pins out and letting her hair fall around her, the only covering she wore, like Botticelli’s Venus. He grew harder just thinking about it.
    She backed away a little more. Perhaps his focus was a tad too intense so early in the game. With a herculean effort he took a step back, and then another. “All right. Rules.” He turned away from her and started walking over to the dark olive-colored sofa to sit back down. He got the feeling that he ought to let Harry dictate this encounter. She’d forced his hand, so to speak, with her pursuit, and she’d admitted to being a little naive about these things that first night he’d seen her again.
    “First, you must understand that I will not marry you,” she began.
    She got no further. Roger spun around, panic now besetting him. “Marriage?” he croaked. “I said nothing about marriage. I won’t marry you, Harry. Don’t expect me to.”
    Harry frowned and her hands found her hips. “Why not?”
    Roger crossed his arms. “I’ve barely kissed you. Why are we discussing marriage?”
    “We are not discussing marriage,” Harry answered sharply. “I have no wish to marry again. There, I’m done. No discussion.”
    Roger breathed a sigh of relief. “I have no desire to marry, ever.” He shook his head and held out his arms, shaking his hands in a no gesture. “Oh, no. Marriage is not for me.”
    “Why not?” Harry asked again, although this time she was more curious than irritated.
    Roger laughed without humor. “Because I’m a penniless rake, that’s why. Do you know what people would say if we got married, Harry? Trust me, it wouldn’t be flattering to either one of us.”
    Harry walked over and dropped onto the sofa, sitting there in an unladylike sprawl. Roger sat down next to her, their shoulders touching. He’d pounce in a minute, as soon as she got these rules of hers established.
    “It’s not fair,” she said. “Women can improve their station by marriage, but men really can’t, can they?” She turned sideways, pulling one leg up on the sofa to sit as she had so often when she was young. She even had the same earnest expression as when she had been seven and had tried to convince him that cats made better pets than dogs. He shook his head. Where had that memory come from? It made him want to smile. “I mean,” she continued, “I became a lady when I married. It’s no secret I married for money, but no one seems to hold that against me. I was accepted by even the highest sticklers in Lincolnshire, and even here in London so far. But you”—she gestured at him with an open hand—“would be vilified were you to do the same. It’s just not fair. You’re handsome enough, and witty enough, to attract a wealthy wife. I’m sure you could marryquite well, actually.”
    “Yes, well, thank you,” Roger said with a smile. “But I happen to know several men who married advantageously and are hardly vilified. It is not, however, a path I wish to take.” He didn’t have the heart to tell her the awful nickname society had given her, which clearly indicated women could be vilified as well. He lost the urge to smile at the reminder of the circumstances of her marriage. “Why, Harry?” he asked. “Or how, I suppose. How could you marry for money? The girl I used to know never would have done it. I don’t remember your entry into society, but you must have had other offers.”
    She turned away then, speaking to the room as she rearranged her legs and her skirt. “I never