A Most Unladylike Proposition - Chapter 13
'Oh, my God.’ She stepped back again. ‘Oh, no.’ She shook her head, trying to deny it. ‘If we had met before tonight, I would have recognized you.’
‘You don’t know me yet.’
‘H-how?’ she asked, her voice trembling. ‘If that is true, then how is it that you know who I am?’
He did not move from his seat on the bench, only looked at her from behind his mask like some seductive predator with twisted intentions. ‘I won’t touch you. Please,’ he said quietly, ‘come back here. Let me explain. You have nothing to fear.’
She didn’t listen to him. She spun around—then right back again. ‘You must promise you won’t say anything.’ In her panic, her overactive mind turned to the worst-case scenario. She imagined him, this enticing creature of the night, lazing in his club, laughing over her naivety with his friends. ‘I will be ruined! Oh, God. My mother told me this would happen!’
‘I would never betray your trust.’
‘How am I supposed to believe you?’ she whisper-shouted.
‘Practically or truthfully?’
‘Both.’
‘Practically, because your ruination would reflect rather badly on me. Truthfully, because you are suddenly the person I want to protect most from the world.’
Diana ignored how his second point made her heart ache. ‘You are married?’ she guessed.
‘Not yet.’
‘So, how would my ruination reflect badly on you?’ she demanded. ‘In my experience of the world, men are rarely shunned for such things while a woman ruined must carry the burden for both of them.’
He was quiet for a long moment. But when he moved, he still did not stand. He raised his hands to the back of his head and untied his mask. Using one hand, he peeled it from his face and then slowly raised his eyes to hers.
Diana’s breath caught.
She’d known he was handsome, of course. But with the mask, he could have been imperfect. Without it, he was like some fallen angel. Perfect. Sinfully so. She was half tempted to ask him to put it back on. ‘I still don’t know you,’ she said quietly.
‘I know.’ He stood, but he did not approach, only bowed low and said, ‘James Blake. The Earl of Heather.’ When he raised his eyes back to hers, he added, ‘It is an honour and a pleasure to meet you, Lady Diana.’