“I don’t want to speak about that,” he said, his voice rougher.

She shifted at the tactic being used to put her off. And at the questions she continued to have. But they could wait.

“And why are you in my chamber?” she asked, her breath coming short. “Instead of joining the rest of the family for supper upon your return?”

He looked at her again, his eyes trailing over her slowly, with a heat she didn’t fully understand but that created an answering clench in every muscle in her body. That made her ache in very inappropriate places. That made her want more of his kiss, as she had been dreaming of since he left her the night before.

“I don’t know,” he whispered. His voice cracked a fraction. “I don’t know why I’m here, but I-I needed to be here. In your room. With you, alone. Even though I shouldn’t. Even though it’s wrong. It goes against everything I’m trying to…”

He broke off and shook his head. “So I must ask you, since you might have more sense than I do in this moment. Do you want me to leave, Thomasina?”

Chapter 8

Thomasina couldn’t breathe as she stared up into Jasper’s face. His expression had changed again in the firelight and now he wasn’t hiding what he felt. It was written in every line of his mouth and eyes. The same expression that had been written on that beautiful face before he kissed her.

He wanted her, somehow. Wanted to touch her just as she longed for him to do the same. He was asking her to give him a reason to walk away. To go back to propriety. But in this moment, she wasn’t strong enough to save them from themselves.

“I don’t want you to leave,” she whispered.

He let out a shaky breath and nodded. “Very well. But before we…we proceed, I do want to talk to you about something.”

She swallowed hard, her uncertainty filling her throat with a lump that she could barely speak beyond. “Then do so. We promised we would be honest with each other, Jasper. I know that is important.”

His gaze flitted away at that statement and he fiddled with a loose thread at his wrist before he said, “I mentioned to you before I left that we needed to have a conversation about our marriage. It would be best to do this now before…before anything else clouds both our judgment.”

She shifted a little. “I have thought about that statement quite a bit since yesterday, but I’m not certain what to say on the subject. After all, I’ve never been married, so I don’t know the kinds of expectations you might have of me. I will try to be a good countess, of course. It isn’t something I specifically prepared for, but my father always hoped for good matches for all his daughters, so I know about running a household.”

He shifted, and she thought she heard him curse beneath his breath as he turned away and paced off toward the window. He looked out for a moment and then said, “I don’t doubt you are more than capable of being a fine countess, Thomasina. You have already been kind and thoughtful toward my tenants and my staff during your time here. It isn’t those sorts of things to which I refer.”