Free Breaking the Governess’s Rules by Michelle Styles

waited.
    Instantly her backbone straightened. ‘No.’
    Jonathon blinked. He had misjudged the situation. ‘What do you mean, “no”?’
    ‘You closed the door. You seek to use this collection for your own purposes.’ Louisa ticked each point off her fingers. ‘Deny that if you will. There is another purpose to you.’
    ‘The light is better with the door closed.’ He smiled, daring her to deny it. ‘I want you to come to Chesterholm and help.’
    ‘Why would you ever think that I would agree to help you? After all you did to me?’ Her treacle-heavy voice taunted him as her eyes became more catlike. Jonathon tried to see the girl he had loved so desperately all those years ago, but all he could see was the harridan in the making who cared more for objects than people.
    ‘Does Miss Elliot even know what happened between us?’
    ‘She knows that you ruined me. I drew a veil over the details.’
    ‘You failed to inform Miss Elliot that we were engaged. Or that you left without speaking to me.’ Jonathon stared at Louisa in astonishment. ‘It is a wonder that Miss Elliot continues to receive me. Perhaps she thinks there is more to it than your story.’
    ‘Do not seek to judge me, Jonathon.’ Her cat eyes narrowed and spat fury, but her breath was far too quick and her lips glistened from where her tongue flicked. Jonathon took a steadying breath as he felt his control begin to slip. He concentrated on the cameos and regained his purpose.
    ‘Some day, you will learn, Louisa. When you are playing games, decide in advance the sort of reaction you are hoping to provoke.’
    ‘What sort of response would that be?’ She tossed her head back slightly. ‘Why do you think I seek anything from you?’
    The very air crackled between them. Reaching into the depths of his will-power, Jonathon forced his hands to stay at his sides. If he reached for her now, he would be the one punishing her with a kiss. When they nextkissed, it would come from her. She would be the one to shatter.
    ‘Anything at all.’ An uncertain pucker appeared between her perfectly arched brows.
    ‘Are you seeking to be kissed?’ he said in a lazy voice. ‘I thought last evening would have shown you how dangerous that is.’
    Her rosebud mouth became a perfect O and colour flamed on her cheeks. Deep within him, Jonathon was relieved that she could blush, that not all of her innocence was gone. He reached for her. Fury came into her eyes and she twisted out of his grasp.
    ‘Not much for pleasant conversation or small talk, are you, Jonathon? Always seeking to dominate with the physical. You did not get my immediate agreement to go with you, so you are going to attempt to seduce me into it. The answer will remain no, no for all eternity.’
    ‘I have never felt the need to dominate or use force.’ He took a step closer, touched her arm with a featherlight brush of his hand. She did not move. ‘You came to my bed willing. Stop pretending otherwise.’
    ‘I have never pretended.’ Louisa retreated and bumped against a drawer with a small thud. ‘No doubt in time, you will find someone else to answer your questions about cameos. We would not suit. And in any case, I am wanted elsewhere.’
    ‘When do you depart England?’
    Her eyes darted everywhere but on his face. His blood boiled as Furniss’s intelligence from last night was confirmed. She was going to leave, thinking that he would not follow and that she could live in relative obscurity abroad. A miscalculation on her part.
    ‘We only came for a visit. That visit is now over.’ She snapped her fingers. ‘We are in the waning days.’
    ‘You are planning to abandon Miss Daphne without asking if she wants to visit Chesterholm.’
    ‘Why would she want to do that? She has never mentioned going there before.’ Her voice sounded suddenly less certain. She bit her lip. ‘But you distract me. Read this. Then tell me that I lie.’
    She reached into her reticule and withdrew a heavily