Her blush deepened. “Yes, but I believe the information it provides women far outweighs any trodden-upon sensibilities. Charles Brightmore should be praised for what he’s done.”
“Again you fiercely defend him. Almost as if you… knew him.”
She pressed her lips together, then shifted out of his embrace. He let her go, watching her slide off the bed, then retrieve her robe, slipping her arms into the silk sleeves. After she’d tightened the sash around her waist, she turned to face him, her eyes intense with suppressed emotion.
“I defend him because God knows I wish I’d had access to the information provided by the Guide before I’d wed. Or at any time during the early days of my marriage. I went to my marriage bed knowing nothing about what to do or what to expect. I did not know women could experience pleasure during lovemaking. I had no idea lovemaking involved anything more than a few minutes in a darkened room with my nightgown rucked up to my waist. I didn’t know that the warmth that began during those few minutes could, if properly tended, ignite into a blazing inferno that scorched everything in its path. I did not know I was capable of the sort of lust and hunger that I’d always associated with men. Charles Brightmore taught me all those things and more. He taught me, encouraged me, to allow myself to feel those things. And to act upon them.”
“I see. You know, I’ve heard rumors that suggest Brightmore may in fact be a woman,” he remarked casually, watching her.
“Indeed? Where did you hear that?”
He rose, and adjusted his clothing while he spoke. “Most recently at your father’s birthday party. Personally, I think it’s intriguing, and entirely possible. Brightmore writes with an understanding of women that I’ve never before encountered in a man, no matter how sophisticated or worldly.” He smiled. “In case you aren’t aware, women are notoriously difficult to understand, yet Brightmore clearly does not suffer from the same confusions as the rest of us poor males.”
“Obviously he is well-versed in the ways of women.”
“Obviously. Yet it makes one curious as to how he gained such knowledge.”
“Through numerous intimacies, like the ones we’ve recently shared, I imagine,” she said, walking forward until they almost touched. She splayed her hands on his abdomen; yet even while he welcomed her touch, he had the undeniable suspicion that she was trying to distract him. But considering she was so very distracting, he shoved the suspicion aside.
“Perhaps,”he conceded. “You do realize, of course, that this now means that I am the winner of our wager.”
She cocked a brow. “Indeed? The wager that only last night you led me to believe I’d won?”
“I beg to differ. As I recall, you insisted, quite emphatically, that you’d won. I, in the spirit of being a gentleman, simply did not argue with you.”
He bit back a smile at her snort. “Not argue with me? Well, that is a first.”
“I sensed it was the wisest course, and I very much wanted to know what boon you wished. Believe me when I say that I was delighted to discover that your wish so closely mirrored my own.”
“Yet now I owe you a boon.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“And what do you desire?”
His fingers kneaded her supple waist. “So many things… it will require a great deal of thought to settle upon just one.” He ran his palms down, over her hips. “What is this?” he asked, fingering a small, hard bump near her hip.
After a slight hesitation she slipped her hand into her robe’s pocket and withdrew a ring, which she held up to the light. Prisms of diamond flash glittered, bouncing off the walls, floor, and ceiling, as if she’d tossed a handful of stars into the air. “My wedding ring,” she said.
Unreasonable, ridiculous jealousy slapped Andrew at that physical symbol of her husband’s claim upon her. He knew a fair amount about gems, yet one did not need to be an expert to see that the stones were exquisite. Forcing his voice to remain neutral, he said, “I’ve never seen you wear it. Why was it in your pocket?”
“I don’t wear it. I was merely looking at it. When I heard the knock on my door, I slipped it into my pocket and forgot about it.” She handed him the ring. “What do you think of it?”
He studied it carefully. “The stones, individually, are all beautiful, even the smaller ones. Yet, I’m surprised this is a ring you would have chosen.”
“Why?”
He handed it back to her, not wanting to touch it any longer. “It just somehow doesn’t seem to suit you.” Because I didn’t give it to you. “It looks a bit overwhelming for your delicate hand. But I suppose that there is no such thing as too large a jewel.”
“Actually, I think there is. And while I’d wager many would think this ring lovely, I hate it. I’ve always hated it.”
He watched her closely. “Why is that?”
“Believe it or not, I’m not overly fond of diamonds. I find them colorless and cold. Although he was aware of that, Bertrand still gave me this ring, not because he thought I would like it, but because it was the ring he wanted me to wear. It did not matter what I liked or wanted. Unfortunately, I was too naive at the time he gave it to me to see it as a harbinger of things to come.”
“And what had you wanted?”
“Anything other than a diamond. Emerald. Sapphire. Something with color and life. My mother used to wear an emerald brooch that I loved-it is one of my most prized possessions.” She inclined her head and gazed at him curiously. “With all your travels I imagine you’ve collected some very interesting items. Which one do you prize the most?”
He hesitated for several seconds, then said, “I’d rather show you than tell you. I’ll bring it back with me tomorrow so you may see it.”
“All right.”
“Catherine… if you dislike this ring so much, why do you keep it?” Why were you looking at it?
“Because it is another of my most prized possessions- but not because of its monetary value.”
“Then why?”
“It’s a reminder. Of what I had with Bertrand.” She stared down at the ring resting in her palm. “Unhappiness. Loneliness. And what I didn’t have with him. Laughter. Love. Sharing. Our union was colorless and cold, just like these stones.”
He tipped up her chin until their gazes met. “Why would you want to be reminded of that?”
Something in her gaze hardened. “Because I never want to forget. I refuse to make that same mistake again. Refuse to give my life, my happiness, my care, or that of my son, over to another man again. To allow anyone to have that sort of control over me or Spencer ever again.”
Andrew clearly read the resolution in her voice. Her eyes. And realized with a sinking heart that her words were a subtle warning, reiterating the fact that she did not want another marriage-the one thing he wanted more than anything.
He’d hoped, prayed, that after making love, she would have come to see that they belonged together. That there was room for him in her life. That their relationship would be nothing like her previous marriage. But the ring in her pocket was very telling. Clearly the thoughts their night together had inspired were not what he’d been hoping for.
Well, obviously he’d lost the battle. But he’d be damned if he would lose the war.
Chapter 16
Today's Modern Woman needs to maintain an air of mystery in order to keep her gentleman’s interest alive. Once he knows-or thinks he knows-everything about a woman, he will consider her a “solved” puzzle and seek out a more intriguing enigma to decipher. To achieve this mysterious air, Today’s Modern Woman should never allow a gentleman to be too certain of what she’s thinking, or how she’s feeling.