A Scandalous Proposal by Julia Justiss Page A

would have been intolerable. Small wonder she’d chosen, despite her undeniable talent, to abandon portraiture.
    That she had managed to amass enough capital to return to England and begin a business was nothing short of astounding. Stirred initially by her beauty, he found himself even more fascinated by the resourceful, courageous character beneath.
    â€œWill you be offended if I express my admiration for how cleverly you’ve built a successful business?”
    â€œHow could I be? When one lives solely by her ownlabors, she cannot help but feel gratified that a man praises those efforts rather than her sparkling eyes or raven tresses.”
    He stowed that tidbit away for later use. “I cannot recall ever knowing a woman so completely in charge of her own life.”
    She shrugged. “One does what one must.”
    â€œWas your break with your family that complete?”
    â€œIt was absolute.”
    â€œDo you not think they might reconsider, were they to know you are home now, and widowed?”
    She laughed shortly. “My father could not tolerate being crossed. When he realized I had defied him and run away, he was—ungovernable. He forbade my mother to contact me, had my letters to her returned unopened. That he disowned me is certain; I don’t doubt he left orders in his will that even after his death, no member of the family attempt to communicate with me. Though, quite typically, he rendered such an order superfluous.”
    Her lips twisted in a bitter smile. “I chanced upon a distant connection in Lisbon a few years ago, and she was astonished to see me. It seems my father told everyone I’d died of a fever the summer I turned sixteen.”
    For a moment she stared sightlessly past him. Her voice, when at last she spoke, was a whisper. “I would have starved in the streets of Lisbon before I would have begged him to reconsider.”
    Then the intensity left her and she smiled faintly. “But enough of that. Can I not pour you some port while I…get ready?”
    Instantly the image that phrase conveyed sent the blood pounding to his temples and set his body aflame. Desperately he tried to reel back the passion he’d been riding all evening on the tightest of checkreins. “Th-there’s no n-need to r-rush,” he stuttered.
    Her purple eyes deepened to smoke. “Is there not? I find myself rather—anxious.”
    She leaned up, and the rest of his noble intentions shattered at the first touch of her lips. With a groan, he gathered her close and tangled his fingers in her satin hair, combing out the pins as he deepened the kiss. Her tongue met his, mated with it, then pulled away to caress every surface of his mouth. His hands slid down to her back, to the buttons on her gown, and jerked frantically at them. The soft sound of renting cloth finally stopped him.
    Heartbeat thundering, his breathing a harsh gasp, he made himself push her away. She looked up at him, her lips still parted and her eyes so passion glazed he almost lost control again.
    Hands gripping her shoulders tightly to hang on to his dissolving willpower, he dredged up a ragged smile. “S-sorry! I’m about to take you again like the gr-greenest of saplings. I expect you can’t credit it, but I used to account myself a rather slow and skillful lover.”
    She smiled, smoky, intimate. “Oh, but you are.”
    â€œDon’t!” He cupped her startled face with both hands. “Don’t say pretty things you think I want to hear. Tell me what you truly think and feel, or nothing. Promise me?”
    â€œAll right.” A little warily, she drew back. “Do you wish me to change now?”
    â€œIf you want to spare Francesca sewing back on all your buttons.” He managed a lopsided grin. “And would you wear this, please? For me?”
    He retrieved the package Francesca had brought upstairs for him. After a moment, Emily took it. Some