Read Online Baroness by Susan May Warren - Free Book Online Page B

out of taxis, dressed in sequins and pearls, feathered headbands, the men in suits and shiny silk vests.
    She strode down the Boulevard Montparnasse, the music spilling from La Select and the Dome, and from them more partygoers, most of them wildly tight, their tongues soaked with absinthe and preening loudly about life.
    She clasped her hands to her bare arms, brushing away the gooseflesh. What was she doing here, in this world? She should go home, back to Rosie, apologize, figure out how she’d let Rennie—
    â€œLilly!”
    She didn’t turn, but heard his feet scuffing down the sidewalk. He grabbed her arm, stopping her, breathing hard. He must have run all the way from La Rotonde. “What are you doing? Where are you going?”
    She ran her hand along her cheek, keeping her face away from him, hating her tears. She didn’t need Rennie or his—
    â€œLilly-Peach, what’s egging you?” He’d stopped her fully now, putting himself in front of her, grabbing both arms. “You’re freezing out here.”
    He shook out of his suit coat and settled it on her shoulders, searching for her eyes. She looked away, but he touched her chin, brought her head up.
    â€œWhat did that snipe Presley say?”
    Lilly’s jaw hardened. “Was she your wife?”
    â€œWho, Presley?”
    â€œDon’t mock me.”
    â€œFine. Yes. For three blissful weeks and eight agonizing months. We’re better as friends.”
    â€œAnd parents?”
    He shook his head. “Duffy? He’s not mine. Ginny was already carrying him when I met her. I thought I could change her, but she’s her own person. In the end, she didn’t want me.”
    â€œIt looks like she wants you.”
    â€œShe wants what she can’t have.”
    Lilly could hardly bear how those words weakened her. How she wanted to throw herself into his arms, to press her lips to his cheek, to sob out her apologies. Instead she drew his suit coat tighter around her. “So, you’re not…you’re not going to throw me over for Lady Virginia?”
    â€œShe’s a dish all right, but she’s not my Calamity Jane.” He tucked his hand along her cheek. “Forgive me for not telling you? It didn’t even occur to me. That’s how little she means to me.”
    She found the courage to meet his eyes then, and drank in the apology in them.
    â€œPresley said…she said I was too nice to be with you. I don’t understand.”
    â€œThere’s nothing to understand.” He ran his thumb down her jaw. “You make me better, Lilly. Make me the person I should be.”
    She didn’t understand him, not at all. But it didn’t matter then, because he leaned close and hesitated only a moment, question in his eyes, before he kissed her.
    She closed her eyes because she’d seen it done that way and let his lips whisper against hers, lightly. He tasted of licorice, and at his touch, a tingle shot through her entire body. She stilled, but when he slid his hand behind her neck, when his lips moved against hers, she relaxed. After a moment, she even found the courage to respond, to explore his kiss with her own.
    She didn’t realize he’d put his arms around her, tucking her close to him, until he leaned away, leaving her body buzzing, her mind still caught in his smell, his touch.
    He smiled. “I’ve been wanting to do that all week.”
    She had no voice. It had simply abandoned her, and she could do nothing but stare up at him, drink in his affection.
    â€œHave you ever been kissed before, Lilly?”
    She shook her head.
    He made a face. “I hope…I hope I didn’t frighten you.”
    â€œNo,” she squeaked, and was mortified.
    He grinned. “Oh, you are a peach, aren’t you?” He swung his arm around her, walking her back toward the Rotonde. “What would you say if I asked you to run away with