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She was incredible, the way she’d endured the horrible gossip that evening. He was suddenly very aware of their position. She was a young woman alone with him, a man clad in only a thin dressing gown.
    He tried to do the right thing. He truly did.
    “Catherine,” he whispered.
    She opened her eyes and stared up at him. “Yes?”
    “You shouldn’t be here.”
    She gave a small nod and started to stand.
    He held her hand, unwilling to let her go. “But I’m so glad you are.”
    He brought his lips to hers and kissed her with all the tenderness she aroused. She leaned into him and he cupped her face in his hands, flicking his tongue over her lips. She opened her mouth instinctively, welcoming him. He moaned softly and took what she offered, stroking her tongue with his.
    Catherine twined her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck as she’d done earlier that evening on the dance floor, and it set him on fire again. His fingers tunneled through her hair, letting her curls loose from their pins. She gasped and he dragged his mouth from hers.
    James ran his gaze over her. Her eyes had darkened to a deep violet and her lips were swollen. He kissed her again, hungrily. She whimpered, the sound soft in her throat. Her hands caressed him, stroking his neck, his shoulders.
    He grabbed her to him, pressing his lips to the soft skin on her neck. “Catherine . . .”
    He ran his hands over her flesh and his mouth followed. His lips brushed over the swell of her breast. He breathed her in. God, she smelled so sweet. He pressed her back against the arm of the chair, eager to take all she had to offer.
    “Lord Roberts.” She sighed.
    The sound of her voice, husky with wanting, stopped him.
    He sat upright and held her away from him. “This isn’t right,” he said, his voice hoarse.
    She shook her head in disagreement and reached for him once more.
    “No,” he said.
    The hurt in her beautiful eyes nearly broke his heart.
    “I . . . I’m sorry,” she whispered.
    Before he could stop her, she ran from the room.
    He stood. “Catherine, wait!”
    He heard the front door slam, heard her carriage pull away, and sank back into the chair. He raked his fingers through his hair. “Ah, hell.”
    What was he going to do? He wanted her like he’d never wanted any other woman. And judging from the way she kissed him just now, she wanted him, too. But what could he do about it? She was his friend’s little sister. She was off-limits to him . . . Or was she?
    Lord, he was weary. He poured more of the fine brandy into his glass and took a long swallow.
    “Has Lady Catherine left?” Giles asked from the doorway.
    “You know damn well she left,” James grumbled. “What were you thinking, sending her in here?”
    Giles raised his eyebrows. “She said she needed to speak to you, so I simply—”
    “It won’t serve, Giles,” James cut in. “You put an innocent girl in a compromising situation.”
    “I wasn’t the one who compromised her.” Giles slanted him a look. “And here I believed I was jesting when I mentioned debauching young ladies in the parlor.”
    James was too tired to argue with the old man, not that he’d any hope of winning. He rubbed his hand over his face. “What am I going to do?”
    Giles said nothing, but James saw the smug expression on the butler’s face.
    “Good night, Giles,” he said pointedly.
    “Good night, my lord.”
    James would have sworn he could hear the man whistling as he took himself off to the servants’ quarters.

Chapter 4
    Catherine sobbed all the way home. After Lady Brookdale told her what had happened, Catherine asked her father to take her home. But Elizabeth had balked at such an early end to the evening, so Paul and Michelle offered to take her and the earl home later, leaving Catherine the use of the carriage on her own. On an impulse she’d instructed the driver to Lord Roberts’s townhouse. What a disastrous decision that turned out to be.
    She threw herself at