Someone Irresistible (18 page)

Mimi’s interest, he decided, was positively charming in its innocence, but it annoyed him nonetheless. He bit off another smaller bite of the meat pastry in his hands, regarding her head tipped in thought, her brown eyes large in an attempt to convince, her beautiful face flushed with eagerness and exasperation.

“And yet this wise woman married my father,” he said, his tone a bit harsher than intended. “What an illogical, stupid thing to do.”

Mimi’s eyes sharpened with a frankness he found almost intimidating. “How can you say such a thing?”

He shook his head. “Do not misunderstand me, Mimi. I admire my father, his hard work, his physical efforts to provide for a family.

Likewise I adore my mother, primarily because she has always cherished me, and wanted the best for me and my brothers. My parents are honest and admirable people.” He leaned toward her, and to his complete satisfaction, she didn’t pull away, but faced him squarely.

“However, this love of family simply cannot negate the fact that she should not have had to ‘find’ me a sponsor for anything. If she had not married beneath her—”

“Was she happy?”

The soft question startled him, and he jerked back a little. “I can’t imagine why that matters. Happiness is a relative thing. One is happiest when life is easiest. Life would have been easier for everybody had she married someone of her class. I, as her child, would have been accepted in that class, I would have been able to study on my own, with my own funds. I would never have had to rely on someone else’s generosity—”

“And you would also not be
you
.”

At that moment, sitting face to face, Nathan couldn’t decide if he wanted to argue with her logically as he would a man, or kiss her silly for being the clever, beautiful thing she was right now—all sunshine and heat and shimmering radiance that made even the cold air surrounding them a forgotten presence.

Mimi snickered at him, but never pulled away from the magnetic stare they shared. “I find you too levelheaded for your own good, Nathan.”

He tried not to look surprised. “How can one be too levelheaded?”

The left corner of her mouth turned up coyly and her eyes narrowed minutely.

“It’s very disheartening, isn’t it?” she noted softly. “To be so desirous of something you adore and be told time and again that it’s not for you?

I know that anger you felt inside, Nathan, though I must admit I’m extremely jealous that you’ve been able to rise above the shadow of adversity with such success and style. So much grace. I admire you more than you possibly know.”

Nathan was totally baffled. He had no idea how they’d arrived at this subject, or even what the subject was, exactly. And how could she possibly understand his feelings of rejection and inferiority? His features must have expressed his confusion of thought, for at that moment, she smiled and leaned toward him, her face so close he could see a tiny bridge of freckles on the tip of her nose.

“It’s amusing, I think,” she added in a sultry voice, “that you don’t see it.”

See what?

Then without dropping her intense gaze, she reached up with her forefinger, and dragged it across the side of his mouth.

Her sizzling touch shocked him, partly because it was so unexpected,

partly because just the idea of having Mimi touch him purposely was the first part of his perfect erotic fantasy. Even if only on the mouth.

Her grin deepened and she pulled her finger back enough for him to see a smidgen of gravy on the tip. He’d been talking to her, so serious and rationally, he’d thought, about manners and rising above his class, and all the while he’d had food on his face.

Before she could move, he grabbed her wrist, holding it before him for a second or two. Then, prior decisiveness to avoid her forgotten, he slowly, deliberately, drew her finger into his mouth, past the crook of the first knuckle, to the second, and beyond, until nearly her entire finger rested on his tongue. Then he began to suck, purposely, smoothly, his eyes melding with hers, his grip tightening even as she tried to pull away.

It was amazing, really, how quickly her expression of triumph turned to one first of astonishment, then smoldering heat. He drew the tip of his tongue along the tender skin between her fingers, to the nail, then back down again. He heard her steal a sharp breath, and could have sworn she squirmed beneath her skirts. Her cheeks flushed pink and she bit her bottom lip, her eyes growing glassy, and Nathan could take no more.

Gradually, he pulled her finger from his mouth, kissed the tip, and lowered her hand to the blanket.

Why are you doing this, Mimi? Why are you testing me with
forbidden fruit when you know I can’t resist?

He couldn’t ask her; he wouldn’t let her make a fool of him, no matter how hard she tried. She now played not with his feelings of inferiority, but with his desires as a man. He didn’t understand her motives and couldn’t begin to speculate on them right now. He needed to think things through.

As she blinked rapidly and licked her lips in an attempt at recovery, Nathan stood in front of her, legs leaden, mouth watering with insatiable hunger, aware that she could bloody well see his body’s reaction. He didn’t care this time. She did this to him and he wanted her to know it.

After a deep sigh and a harsh rub of his neck, he did exactly what he knew would trouble her most. He turned and walked away, leaving her with the food, Mrs. Sheffield’s linens and basket, and the rest of a most expensive bottle of wine.

« ^ »

T
he cold dampness clung to her cheeks as Mimi descended her front brick steps for her short walk to May Street Gardens, the park closest to her home. The hour was early, the air very still after nighttime showers, a slight drizzle remaining. Yet she wanted to get this meeting over with as soon and as quickly as possible, before she lost her nerve and retreated to the safety of her studio. She also wanted to be away from prying ears, and of course the dreariness of the day would keep most casual strollers indoors where they belonged. She was glad for that. She didn’t need the gossip right now, and although in half mourning one could reasonably ascend, albeit slowly, from the reclusiveness one had been forced to realize, an impression of gaiety could be most destructive to one’s reputation. Mimi wanted to avoid that.

Closing her mantle tightly around her, the hood pulled high over her head to cover her hair completely, she held her chin high and walked briskly west, toward the park’s south entrance.

Her upcoming meeting with Justin had been pure inspiration on her part, though absolutely necessary in light of yesterday’s revelations.

Nathan’s candor, coupled with his continued restraint, had unleashed something in her, something wild and even a bit foreign, something exotic and forbidden. But she couldn’t resist it. To see his need for her, placed so purposely before her eyes, and then to have him walk away from her with such control made her nearly shriek in frustration. Had he no idea what he did to her? Did he not see the heat in her eyes? Yet through all of it, most maddening of all, was that as a respectable lady, she could not act on her feelings and desires. Nathan certainly understood that, and she was positive he took advantage of it.

She only hoped that Justin could somehow help her, in a manner of speaking, which was why she’d sent him a personal note yesterday afternoon, following Nathan’s sudden departure. That’s why she was here now instead of meeting with Nathan for another day of suppressed desire while sculpting. She needed some… assessment, and help, from a

friend, a male friend, and Justin was the only man who was not family that she knew well enough to trust with such a delicate issue.

She’d known him for years, and she believed that he would, above everything else, respect her privacy in this matter.

Mimi spotted him at once as she rounded the black iron bars that outlined the entrance. The park was empty save for the two of them and a strolling couple with a child on the other side of an oblong pond.

Justin sat in front of it, on a wood-framed bench, wearing a black wool coat and hat, looking ever distinguished, as Justin always did. His mouth curled down slightly in a frown, but he hadn’t noticed her yet as he stared at the shallow water now topped with dead, russet colored leaves.

Her determination faltered for only the briefest second, but she refused to turn away now.

At last he heard the crunching of her shoes on the pebble pathway and his eyes darted in her direction. He smiled tentatively at her and she returned it.

Strolling to his side, she raised a gloved hand toward him. “Justin, thank you so much for meeting me this morning, especially on such short notice.”

He stood, his brown eyes capturing hers rather frankly as he lifted her knuckles to his lips. “The pleasure is mine, Mimi, though I cannot imagine what could be so urgent as to get you outside on such a dreary day.”

She laughed softly, appropriately, probably because it was the best way for her to hide, and relieve, some of her building nervousness. “May we be seated?”

“Of course,” he replied at once, smiling in true gentlemanly fashion, eyes softening at the corners, which always made him appear younger than his twenty-nine years.

Mimi lowered herself to sit comfortably on the bench built for two, daintily pushing her light brown skirts to the side so that he could fit beside her without touching. She brushed her leather-covered palms down her black woolen pelisse and cleared her throat.

“I’ve got something… personal to discuss with you, Justin,” she began, staring not at him but straight ahead. With obvious warning, she added, “It is my expectation that this conversation will not be repeated.”

For a second he did nothing, though Mimi could feel his gaze boring into the side of her face.

“If it is indeed personal, then I won’t repeat it to a soul, Mimi,” he said thoughtfully. “You have my word on that.”

Relaxing, she replied, “Thank you.”

“Does this have anything to do with Nathan Price?”

She supposed she should have expected that. Shivering, she dropped her gaze to her hands, clutching them together in her lap, thankful that her hood concealed her reddening cheeks that had nothing to do with the cold. “You’re quite right, Justin. It does.”

He drew a long, slow breath. “I assumed as much.”

She didn’t want to comment on that; it disconcerted her. After waiting a moment, she chanced a peek at his face. He no longer smiled, and his eyes sliced hers with a slyness she had not expected from him, at least, not before she’d stated her intentions. It intimidated her a little, and she almost stood to make a fast, tactless departure.

“You’re wondering what he sees in you romantically, aren’t you?”

Justin asked very softly.

She pressed her lips tightly together to keep from gasping as embarrassment coursed through her at his inference, her eyes opening wide. He never looked away.

She swallowed. “Well, that’s… part of it, of course, though it’s more than just that.”

His right brow rose faintly, but he offered nothing in reply.

“I—I’m more… concerned, shall we say, that he’s not interested in me at all as a woman. Is this because I am a widow, do you think?”

She could sense that he wanted to laugh. He blinked instead, sucking in his cheeks a bit. Then he angled his large body toward her more, gloved fingers interlocked in his lap, his dark brows drawn in a display of mild confusion.

“I’m sure the fact that you were once married has nothing to do with anything where Nathan’s thoughts about you are concerned,” he maintained guardedly.

Her heart sank as her mind suddenly acknowledged the obvious. “It’s because I married Carter, then. I knew they disliked each other intensely, but I never thought—”

His loud groan cut her off. Closing his eyes briefly, he mumbled,

“Why the devil do women always think everything is about them?”

It was a rhetorical question, but she felt slightly affronted nonetheless. “Where men and their stupidity come into play, isn’t it usually?”

He shook his head and chuckled, wiping his large palm down his face then glancing out over the still, shallow pond. “Mimi, trust me when I say this is strictly about Nathan.”

What is strictly about Nathan
? she wanted to scream. Good breeding restrained her, however, though she did tighten her grip on her fingers in her lap, smiling pleasantly.

“Why doesn’t he…” She paused to rethink and rephrase her question so as not to sound too indelicate. “Why does he not act on his attraction to me, then?”

If Justin were disturbed by her frankness he didn’t show it. He continued to stare at the still water in front of them, though she could tell he was deciding what to say to her. The drizzle of the morning now began to strengthen from mist to light rain, but he didn’t appear to be bothered by the tapping of water on the shoulders of his coat. And she certainly had more important considerations than a little sprinkling.

“What is it you’d have him do, Mimi?” he finally asked without expression.

She shifted her bottom a bit on the wooden bench. “I want him to notice me.”

His lips turned up wryly, though he still didn’t look at her. “I know that. But what I asked was what you think he should
do
.”

Her face flushed with deep heat. If he looked at her he’d see it. Yet she knew what she wanted and would have to make it clear to him. “I want him to respond when I seduce him.”

Justin wasn’t nearly as shocked as she thought he’d be. In fact she was certain she noticed a twitch of genuine amusement at the corner of his lips. But she couldn’t stop now.

Breathing deeply for inward strength, she admitted, “I’ve been doing my best to entice him, Justin, and the man is clearly not interested.

Those times I’ve tried to get him to respond he usually just leaves me.”

He turned to look at her again, his forehead creased in puzzlement.

“Leaves you?”

She endured her deep felt abashment and continued. “Every time the conversation turns personal, or when I make my interest in him more than apparent, he walks away from me. He leaves.” She tightened her jaw and looked down to her hands. “It’s really getting to be quite funny, if it weren’t so annoying. I don’t understand the man’s actions when I know he’s attracted to me. At least I think he is—”