A Little Bit Sinful(9)

She still didn’t know why Justin had sought her out tonight let alone what had made him kiss her. She had never even considered that he might be tempted to do such a thing. George certainly never had. Nor had any other gentleman. Well, except for Harry Parsons, but they’d been all of seven at the time and he’d mostly just mashed his lips upon hers. It hadn’t been exciting for either of them and they’d agreed on the spot to never do such a thing again.

“Clarissa, dear, did you hear me?” Aunt Maureen said.

“What?” Clarissa looked up and across the carriage to her aunt. The inside lantern lit the space and illuminated the older woman’s face. She looked at Clarissa expectantly. “No, my apologies, Aunt Maureen, I’m afraid my mind was elsewhere. It was such an exhilarating exhibit. What did you say?”

Maureen’s features softened. “I’m glad you enjoyed the exhibit, dear. Was the manuscript as magnificent as you expected?”

It had been and yet Beethoven’s creation paled in comparison to Justin’s kiss. “Indeed,” was all Clarissa could manage.

“Very good. As I was saying your brother and Miss March, well, I suppose I cannot call her that now that they’re married. They’re coming home tomorrow. We’ll be hosting a small dinner party upon their return.”

“That should be nice,” Clarissa said.

The kiss aside, it had been quite fortuitous seeing Justin tonight. His presence had solved one of her problems. She’d been wondering who could assist her in her charade as Mr. Bembridge and then the perfect answer had nearly fallen in her lap, as it were.

Justin Rodale.

He was a man known in social circles, even accepted, for the most part. He certainly didn’t owe her any favors, but she knew she could trust him. It appeared it was once again time to pay him a visit. This time though she’d avoid any would-be scandals by not going to his gaming hell, she’d go directly to his house.

…

The mantle clock chimed midnight and Justin looked up for the first time in two hours. He stood, stretched his back, and walked the length of his office twice. He’d been going over the quarterly records for Rodale’s since he had returned from the museum, and it would seem they had increased profits for the ninth quarter in a row. To say Rodale’s was doing well was a significant understatement. He smiled. Would that his arse of a father been alive to see his success.

It had taken him some significant concentration to get his mind on the books tonight. After the kiss he’d shared with Chrissy in the museum, he couldn’t get her off his mind. He kept hearing her words again and again, “thank you.” He’d never had a woman thank him for kissing her before.

He definitely intended to kiss her again, until she told him to stop.

There was a pounding as someone slammed the knocker into his front door. Justin glanced at the clock again, quite late for a visitor and he couldn’t recall expecting anyone. Perhaps it was his brother. Roe kept mostly nighttime hours, seeming to prefer moving about the world in the darkness. Justin’s butler knocked on the study door, then opened it. “Lady Clarissa here to see you.”

She entered wearing a dark cloak, the hood covering her facial features. She swept it back off her head and smiled. “Hello, Justin.”

“Chrissy. This is a surprise.” Justin nodded to the butler who turned and left the room. “Twice in one night, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Can I not simply come for a visit?”

“No, you would not do such a thing. Not after the last time you came to see me. Quite the trouble you caused.” He clicked his tongue. “Come in and sit.”

She came out of her cloak and laid it against one of the leather chairs, then sat in the one opposite. “Well, now that you’ve been established as a dear friend of the family, perhaps it’s not too scandalizing. But you see right through me. I came because I need a favor.”

She still wore that pink confection she’d had on earlier. Pretty, feminine, and so damned tempting. Though he had seen her a handful of times now, he still was not quite used to Clarissa as a woman. He still remembered how she’d looked as a thin girl of fifteen. Now, though, the only hint of the young girl he’d known had been her eyes. You never forgot eyes that blue. Gone were the gangly arms and legs, and in their place was a woman full of delicious curves. “More debts to pay off?”

“Not exactly.”

He’d asked about George earlier that evening to see if the man had been progressing their relationship, it did not seem as if he were. Still Justin wanted to remind Clarissa of George’s poorer qualities so that she might change her mind about marrying him.