He did that for a brief moment, tracing the fingers of his free hand along her jawline as he deepened the kiss, tasting her and teasing her and setting her on fire.

But he pulled away at last, shaking off her hand and pacing to the sideboard where he rested both his hands as he calmed his panting breaths. “You are temptation embodied, my lady,” he said, and cast a glance over his shoulder. “But I cannot give in this morning, as much as I’d like to do so. I’ve too much to do and am waiting for the return of Reynolds for—” He shook his head. “I simply cannot.”

She nodded slowly. “Then perhaps we can discuss something else.”

“What is it?” He turned and folded his arms, a shield. Against her, she supposed. Against her demands. That didn’t bode well.

“Anne,” she said softly. “I’m very concerned about her welfare, Jasper.”

His jaw tightened. “If you wished to discuss your sister with me, you didn’t have to play at the game of desire to do it. I don’t need manipulation to consider your thoughts or feelings.”

She drew back. “That isn’t what my intention was at all.”

He arched a brow. “Wasn’t it? You didn’t come in here and glide across my room and look at me just so in order to seduce me into your way of thinking?”

She would have laughed if this sudden turn of his mind were not so seriously taken. “I assure you, Jasper, I have no idea how to seduce anyone to my way of thinking or to anything else.”

“That isn’t true,” he muttered, and shook his head almost as if that thought wasn’t meant to be stated out loud.

She swallowed. “I came here to see you because it is the first full day of our marriage and you slipped out of our bed this morning like you weren’t supposed to be there.”

He caught his breath and then bent his head as though he felt some level of shame at that action.

She continued, “I came to see you because I wanted to make sure I hadn’t displeased you—” He opened his mouth as if to speak, but she plowed forward because if she didn’t, she would never be brave enough again. “I came to see you because I…I…” She stopped. There was no place for confession here. Not yet. “I care about you. And when I saw your expression I thought you might need…need a friend. Or comfort, in whatever form you would allow. Those were my first thoughts. Nothing so mercenary as you seem to believe.”

He held her gaze for what felt like an eternity. “I was short with you, I was rude. I assumed. You did not deserve that. I’m sorry.”

Those words were clearly not easy for him to say judging from his clipped tone and shifting posture. But she believed them to be honestly given. And she was shocked by that. Her father had never apologized for anything in his life. She didn’t know many men who did.