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purchased stolen property.
    She glared up at him. “Are you going to move away, or are we destined to be caught together in this office?”
    Office … Instead of retreating, he brought his face within an inch of hers. “What were you doing looking for a necklace in an office?”
    Her head tipped back against the door, but she had nowhere to go. She swallowed, her gaze locked with his. “I wasn’t looking for the necklace.”
    God, she smelled delicious. “What were you doing?”
    Her breath hitched, and her pupils expanded. “Looking for something else.”
    “You’ll have to be more forthcoming than that.” He resisted the urge to press his mouth to her cheek, her throat, her parted lips.
    “Evidence. I was looking for evidence that would prove Lord Aldridge is a thief.”
    She was playing a very dangerous game. Did she realize whom she was accusing? He lowered his right hand to just above her bare shoulder. With a feather-light touch, he brushed his thumb along the column of her neck. He was vastly overstepping propriety, but he didn’t care. He’d been trained to use whatever skill and weaponry he possessed to take down a criminal, and right now she might be considered a criminal, regardless of her motivation.
    “You won’t find any. Aldridge is as law-abiding as winter nights are long. If he has your pendant, and”—he lowered his mouth to her ear—“I don’t believe he does, he came by it honestly.”
    She turned her head and met his eyes with an angry stare. “He claims it’s been in his family, but that’s impossible. How obvious that you would take his position without even asking him.”
    “You can’t go searching Aldridge’s office. If you were caught—”
    “I was,” she ground out through gritted teeth.
    “—by anyone other than me, you’d be ruined.”
    “If anyone catches me here with you, I’ll be ruined. But, you see, I don’t give a fig. I’ve no standing in Society whatsoever, no family, no plans to marry.” She gave him a smug, daring smile. “There’s nothing to ruin me for.”
    Daniel had been well versed in propriety during his recent education into the peerage, and she was quite mistaken. “There’s Mrs. Harwood. Your behavior would reflect poorly on her.”
    Her color faded, and he felt a bit of sympathy for her. But it paled next to his need to kiss her. He curled his right hand around the side of her neck and gently pulled her toward him. Her lids lowered and her head tipped up to receive his kiss. Desire pooled in his belly.
    But then her eyes widened, as if she’d just been doused with icy water. Her hand came up and pulled his away from her neck. “Go to the devil.”
    And then she turned abruptly and departed the office without so much as a glance into the corridor before she barreled straight into it.
    Daniel watched the sway of her hips as she walked away. His ardor didn’t cool. If anything it only fanned brighter, hotter. She was incomparable, that was for certain.
    And since he’d heard the jingle of loose items in the pocket of her gown, he had to assume she was also, disappointingly, a thief.

 
     
    Chapter Four
     

     
     
    TWO DAYS later, Jocelyn strolled up Hertford Street after her usual early afternoon walk through Hyde Park. Her fingers went to the pocket of her gown where the three items she’d taken from Lady Aldridge’s dressing chamber were nestled. Not only had she found her mother’s pendant, she’d found two other items that had been stolen from their town house: a pair of pearl earrings and a brooch set with paste jewels. She’d been outraged upon finding them and hadn’t thought twice about taking them back into her possession. They were, after all, hers .
    Given that she’d found multiple items belonging to her family, she’d felt certain she’d find her father’s watch fob amongst Lord Aldridge’s things. However, she’d been unable to get to his dressing room. Disappointed but determined, she’d searched his