One Scandalous Kiss by Christy Carlyle Page A

explanation, especially with Alice’s refusal to even speak the word. As if it was the ultimate sin. As if it was wicked. And while kissing a stranger had felt a bit sinful and, if she considered it too long, yes, wicked, it had been so much more. A revelation, a rare moment of bliss.
    Jess pushed her empty cup away. “Yes, maybe. I don’t know. I kissed him. All right? I kissed him!” Confession was shockingly liberating, and yet the leers from the gentlemen seated at the table next to them quelled the pleasure of it.
    “Do you want me to go with you to see Lady Katherine?”
    “I’m not afraid of Kitty Adderly. Besides, I’m returning her money. She’ll surely be pleased.”
    Alice looked dubious. “I hope you’re right.”
    T HE A DDERLYS’ DRAWI NG room was as cold and miserable on her second visit as it had been on her first. More so because Jess hadn’t allowed Alice to accompany her. But she couldn’t involve her in this business. Kitty might have presented it as charity, but her one hundred pounds represented a good deal more now.
    Reaching inside her pocket, Jess pulled out the check and smoothed it across her lap, attempting to work out all the crumples and folds it had acquired since Kitty placed it in her hands two days before.
    “And who might you be?”
    Jess jumped and her back stiffened at the man’s imperious tone. She turned to glance at her questioner, but three heavy footsteps brought the older man into view. He was tall and elegant, handsome and beautifully attired, and he exuded an unmistakable air of authority. She’d expected Lord Grimsby to be intimidating, but he’d been encouraging compared to the man standing inches away, examining her and looking increasingly impatient for an answer.
    “My name is Jessamin Wright, sir.”
    She shot to her feet and nearly dropped the check before clutching it ungracefully against her skirt and remembering it was men who were to stand when women entered a room, not the other way around.
    “And I am Lord Clayborne. This is my home, and I am not a sir. But you couldn’t have known that as we’ve never met.” The high-handed tone faded from his voice as he spoke, and he ended with a smile so warm and seemingly genuine that Jess almost forgot his earlier bluster.
    “Please retake your seat. My guess is that you’re here to see one of my daughters.”
    “Yes, my lord, Lady Katherine.”
    He sat and crossed one slim leg over the other while he studied her, narrowing his eyes and reaching up to stroke his neatly trimmed beard.
    “May I ask your business with my daughter?”
    Jess began tapping her foot and pressed down on her knee to stop herself. What could she say? Before taking Kitty’s money, they’d barely exchanged glances at the Women’s Union meetings.
    “We are members of the same ladies’ organization, my lord.”
    The information seemed to shock him, though if Jess hadn’t been watching closely, she might have missed the twitch at the edge of his mouth and the moment of confusion that shadowed his gaze.
    “I see. And what is the purpose of this ladies’ organization? Charitable ventures?”
    Charity was certainly among the union’s initiatives, but they’d first come together over the cause of women’s suffrage. Based on the man’s surprise about Kitty’s involvement in the group, Jess hesitated to mention its political aims.
    “We wish to see all women given the right to vote.” Speaking as she glided into the room, Kitty’s voice trailed like a ribbon of sound behind her.
    She perched on the edge of a chair and beamed at her father, who’d begun to go slightly pink along his neck and forehead, as if he’d taken too much pepper in his soup, or swallowed a hot coal.
    Kitty held her smile until her cheeks looked tight and unnatural. Her father’s color heightened, but he too tipped his mouth in a perverse semblance of a smile. Jess shifted her glance from one to other, wondering if a skirmish was about to commence in