One Scandalous Kiss by Christy Carlyle

say the word.”
    “I suspect I’ll find it easier to say when I’ve actually done it.” Now it was Alice’s turn to go red in the face. Since Alice usually eschewed the notion of marriage, Jess hadn’t given much thought to whether her friend wished for a suitor or had ever had one.
    “Well, I’d certainly never kissed a man before last night.” Jess said the words a bit too emphatically and glanced over her shoulder to make sure the young men playing chess at a table nearby hadn’t overheard.
    When she turned back, Alice leaned forward, her face inches away.
    “What was it like?” she whispered.
    Jess took a long draw of her now pleasantly warm coffee and looked Alice squarely in the eyes.
    “Astonishing.” She swallowed and continued, determined to be just as honest with Alice as her friend had always been. “I was nervous and very nearly turned back. But I’d already taken Lady Katherine’s money and even delivered it to Mr. Briggs at the bank. I couldn’t turn back.”
    “Yes, but the act itself. Was it very awkward? You’d never met the man.”
    None of what she’d done had been proper, and parsing the details made it seem much worse. Discussing it, even with someone Jess trusted completely, had her squirming in her chair and sipping her coffee too quickly. She told herself that was why her cheeks burned as if she’d been sitting in the sun overlong.
    “It was awkward at first, but then . . . it wasn’t.”
    Alice looked awestruck, as if Jess had just imparted a newly discovered law of the universe.
    “I always imagined it would be wretched at first, and one would improve with practice.”
    Jess frowned. “Perhaps I was wretched, but I suspect he’s had a good deal of practice.”
    Alice choked out a laugh before falling silent, waiting for Jess to continue.
    “The kiss was electrifying. I didn’t expect that. And I probably shouldn’t even admit it. But it’s true, even if it cost me the shop. I should regret it more than I do.”
    Though she wasn’t usually given to physical gestures of affection, Alice reached across the table and patted Jess’s hand.
    “What’s done is done. I’ve always appreciated your honesty.” Alice sat up straight and circled her warm mug of coffee with her hands. “But what will you do? His aunt is offering you a remarkable salary, but what will the viscount have to say about it?”
    Alice’s reassurance settled her nerves a bit, and Jess was grateful to broach the topic at hand. Should she accept employment with the aunt of a man with whom she’d shared that electric kiss?
    “Lady Stamford promised I’d see him rarely, and she didn’t seem concerned with his reaction.”
    “She’s quite the Good Samaritan. Perhaps she’d like to contribute to the union.”
    Jess grinned before lifting her cup again. “I’ll be sure to tell her about the union.”
    “You’ve already decided, then?”
    Jess cocked her head and released a breath. She had decided. When she’d asked for Alice’s advice, she’d already been halfway to accepting Lady Stamford’s offer. Now she was certain, and that certainty eased her heart and mind.
    “Yes, I suppose I have. It’s just for a year and it will provide sufficient funds to set me on a new path.”
    “More than sufficient, especially with Lady Katherine Adderly’s contribution.”
    Jess set her cup down harder than she intended, nearly upsetting it and spilling the dregs of her coffee.
    “No, Alice. I have to return that money to Kitty.”
    Alice tipped her mouth wryly. “I don’t think you do.”
    “I do. It would be wrong to keep it.” One hundred pounds was a sufficient sum to tempt anyone, but whether Kitty truly intended the money to aid Jess’s shop or buy her complicity in a harebrained scheme, every penny of it seemed tainted now.
    “Because you enjoyed it?”
    When Jess glared at her, Alice added, “When you . . . you know with the dandy.”
    As if she needed that additional bit of