Free Jacquie D'Alessandro - [Regency Historical 04] by Not Quite A Gentleman Page B

her skin.
    She turned again and pursed her lips, drawing his attention to their rosy plumpness. In spite of the passage of three years, he recalled every exact detail of those lips. Their smooth texture. Their lush fullness. Their delicious taste. The sensuous glide of them against his mouth and tongue. He’d kissed his fair share of women before that stolen moment with Lady Victoria, but those few minutes with her in the gallery had effectively wiped his memory clean of those previous encounters.
    He’d also kissed his fair share of women after that stolen moment with Lady Victoria. To his profound puzzlement—and annoyance—he’d discovered that while other lips might feel nice and taste fine, no other lips felt quite like hers. Tasted quite like hers. Indeed, the need to prove to himself that he was wrong on this score had turned into something of a quest—until he’d started feeling like the prince in the Cinderella fairy tale, only rather than trying to discover whose foot fit the glass slipper, he attempted to find a set of lips that suited him as well. The prince had eventually succeeded. Unfortunately, he had yet to be so lucky.
    Perhaps because you’ve been looking in the wrong places , his inner voice whispered. Kissing the wrong women. Perhaps you should look no further than this very room….
    Nathan consigned his damn inner voice to the devil then clenched his hands at his sides to keep from reaching out to snag Lady Victoria as she paced by him again, to snatch her into his arms and kiss her. Prove to himself that he’d attached far too much significance to a meaninglesskiss. It couldn’t have been that good. Yes, he’d obviously blown the entire episode out of proportion. And there was one sure way to prove that.
    Before he could move, however, Lady Victoria ceased pacing and swirled to face him. “If this tale you’ve related is true,” she said, eyeing him with the sort of ripe suspicion a mouse would cast upon a hungry tabby, “then my father must somehow be involved.”
    Damn. He’d known she might add two and two and arrive at the correct sum. He’d hoped she would not, gambled that like many women of her station, her head would be filled with nothing more than gossip and fashions. Clearly Lady Victoria wasn’t a fool. A denial rose to his lips, but he somehow couldn’t bring himself to voice it. Instead he found himself fascinated to hear what she’d say next.
    She obliged him by rushing on. “Even if Father wasn’t the person who hid the note in my bag, he must have known of its existence. He was most emphatic that I travel to Cornwall. Too emphatic, now that I ponder upon it.” She slowly shook her head, her frown growing more pronounced as her gaze shifted to the flames dancing in the grate. “It would explain so much….” she murmured.
    Nathan kept his features completely impassive—a talent left over from his spying days—and simply watched her. After nearly a full minute of silence, her gaze swiveled and bore into him. “My father works for the Crown.”
    The words were a statement rather than a question, and said in an utterly flat tone.
    Nathan saw no point in prevaricating. “Yes.”
    A humorless sound escaped her. “It’s all so clear now…the late night clandestine meetings in his study, his frequent absences, the worried look in his eyes whenhe thought himself unobserved.” She blew out a long breath and shook her head. “I knew, in my heart, that he wasn’t being truthful, that there was more going on than just the gambling and male frivolity he used as excuses, but I never pressed him.” Her expression changed to one of profound hurt, and the area around his heart seemed to collapse in on itself at that distressed look. “I thought he had a mistress and was merely being circumvent and discreet for the sake of my sensibilities.”
    “I’m afraid secrecy goes hand in hand with spying.”
    “Secrecy? You mean lying.”
    He could see she was floundering,