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mishap. I’m quite convinced we can both carry on without any ill effects.”
    He shook his head again. “Even if we have not been discovered, your chances of making a good match have now been seriously compromised.”
    His eyes met hers, and a frisson of heat traveled down her spine. He was referring to the loss of virginity, of course, something she’d already considered. “Edward will understand. He loves me.”
    She just prayed she was right. There was really no telling what a man would do when confronted with the news that his soon-to-be intended had bedded another man. But if one could not rely on love, then what else was there?
    Ashton pushed off the mantel with a low chuckle. “You truly believe he will turn a blind eye to your indiscretions?”
    “Yes.” She raised her chin a notch higher. Regality was difficult to accomplish swathed in a white linen nightgown, but she attempted it nonetheless. “It was an accident, after all.”
    Ashton shook his head. “Accident or not, a man like Wallingford values propriety above all else, Daphne. He will want a pure, untouched bride—something you definitely are not.”
    Fear knotted in her belly. What if he was right? What would she do if Edward cast her aside? No, he wouldn’t, surely. Edward was kind, steadfast, everything Ashton was not. She must not let Ashton sow the seeds of doubt in her mind. “You are wrong.”
    Again, he loomed dangerously close, his strong, muscular body mere inches from her. “Am I?” His tone was a low, seductive growl.
    Something like desire swirled through her, and she swallowed. He was far too attractive and the memory of his strong hands gliding over her skin, bringing her to the height of pleasure, flooded her.
    She took a measured step back. “Yes. I have complete faith in Edward’s affection for me. So I thank you for your counsel, but it isn’t wanted or needed.”
    His face turned solemn. “He isn’t right for you, Daphne.” He took one step toward her, stopping just a breath away. “I know men like him. In the end, he will only cause you pain.”
    She shook her head, unwilling to believe it. He didn’t know Edward the way she did. Edward wouldn’t hurt her. He was far too kind to ever do something so callous.
    Ashton released a sigh of resignation. “And what exactly do you plan to tell him about us?”
    “I haven’t the slightest intention of revealing anything about ‘us,’” she said. Reaching out, he brushed a strand of hair away from her nape, exposing the bite mark he’d left last night. “I intend to avoid mention of you altogether and convince him I was with someone in my youth. Someone of no importance.”
    Ashton trailed his finger down her arm. Tingles followed in the wake of his touch, rousing something wild and reckless within her. “But does he stir your blood, Daphne? Will worship your body, explore your every dip and curve, take you to the heights of pleasure, then back again?”
    Daphne bit her bottom lip, heat shimmering through her body. No, she didn’t imagine he would. Edward was a simple, practical man, and if the kiss by lake was any indication, he didn’t have a passionate bone in his body. But she could live without passion, couldn’t she?
    “You and me—” Heaven, how did she say this? “Is it always that way?”
    “No.” He moved closer, just half a step, as though it pained him to be too far separated from her. “Never. What we have is…rare.”
    Gazing up into his intense green eyes, she felt the ground shift beneath her feet. What he said was true, she knew, but admitting it would feel too much like surrender. She’d be no better than her mother, falling for a man who couldn’t possibly love her back. Daphne shook her head. “All of this was a mistake. A simple, foolish mistake.”
    His delicious lips curved up into a wicked smile. “Trouble is, Daphne, you gave yourself to me, and mistake or not, I intend to have you.”

Chapter Four
    T he shock on Daphne’s