The Duke's Dilemma by Nadine Miller Page B

knows whom else, all determined to put a noose about your useless neck.”
    Jared smiled, moved by her sharp words of caution and by the concern he saw stamped on her pale, pinched face. “I take it you think I am the highwayman who is currently terrorizing the local gentry.”
    “I do not think so, sir. I know so. The description was far too accurate to mistake.”
    “It has been my observation, ma’am, that things are not always as they appear to be. However, I see you are not to be persuaded from your conviction.” He raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Tell me then, how can a proper law-abiding citizen like yourself justify coming to the aid of a dangerous, hunted outlaw? For shame, Emily, I fear that beneath that prim country woman facade of yours lies a streak of larceny.”
    Emily’ s blue eyes sparked with anger. “Must you make a jest of everything—even your own impending death?” She leaned forward in the saddle, her neat but ordinary features taut with anxiety and some deeper emotion Jared couldn’t quite name. “Heed me, sir, I beg of you,” she cried. “You must give up this unlawful profession of yours before it is too late. You are an educated man; surely you can find an honest way to make a living.”
    The heat of her fervor washed over Jared’s parched heart like warm rain. She hadn’t the slightest idea who he was; she truly believed him a lawless renegade. Yet, every flash of her expressive eyes, every movement of her tense body spoke volumes. This sweet, gullible innocent honestly feared for his safety. He found himself wondering if she would be as passionate about making love to him as she was about saving his neck from the hangman’s noose.
    He pulled himself up short, remembering his promise to Edgar. Now was the perfect time to tell her the truth and end this ridiculous charade before he sank any deeper into the mire of his own falsehoods.
    He opened his mouth, but his lips refused to form the words. Just a little longer, he told himself. What harm could come of a few more draughts of rich, heady country ale? Too soon he would be forced to settle for the insipid taste of champagne.
    As if reading his mind, Emily raised her chin defiantly and stared him in the face. “I have done my best. If you refuse to acknowledge the danger you face, then so be it. I, for one, shall not weep over your grave.”
    “Liar,” Jared said softly. “Even now your eyes are bright with unshed tears at the thought that I might reap my just desserts at the end of a rope.” He leaned forward to tuck a windblown tendril of hair behind her ear. “Never be ashamed of your too-tender heart, sweet Emily. It is a commodity far more rare than any of the gemstones my ‘unlawful profession’ has yielded me.”
    His fingers grazed her cheek and instantly a hot rush of pleasure coursed through him. He stared at her, amazed by the intense, irrational desire he felt for this plain, unworldly woman—desire all the more poignant because it could never be fulfilled.
    He’d become a master of seduction in the ten years he’d been on the town and he felt no regrets over his many conquests. His baser instincts told him this woman could be his for the taking, but some nobler aspect of his nature warned him that this was one seduction he would live to regret. For to seduce a woman like Emily Haliburton would be to destroy her.
    His hungry gaze slid to her lips—her soft, unconsciously provocative lips. Hell and damnation. He might not be a complete scoundrel; but neither was he a saint. If nothing else, he owed it to himself to taste their sweetness just once before he took his leave of her.
    “I will make you a bargain, Little Sparrow,” he said. “One farewell kiss to remember you by and I will ride away, never again to ply my infamous trade near Brynhaven.”
    Emily stared into the silver eyes perusing her, expecting to see their usual glint of cynical mockery. She saw only a wistful sadness that twisted her heart and