" I can’t imagine how I could help you in that regard, my lady.”
The “my lady” particularly hurt. She’d thought that they’d moved past his acting like Proud Pinter, and her hurt made her peevish. “Well, you kept insisting when I hired you that there must be some suitable gentlemen out there who would marry me. So go find some, blast you. So far, all you’ve done is criticize the ones I found for myself.”
He flashed her a small smile. “Excellent point.”
“I know,” she shot back.
Though now it occurred to her that his vehement protests over her choice of suitors were odd. Given his heated caresses yesterday, his behavior smacked of jealousy. So if he cared enough to be jealous of the other men, why didn’t he care enough to court her himself?
I told her that there was nothing between us.
Was that just his way of soothing Grans fears and protecting his pride? Or had their encounter yesterday truly been only a dalliance?
“For a man whose task is to solve problems,” she grumbled, “you create more than you solve.”
“In my defense , I’m not used to matchmaking work,” he pointed out.
“Clearly. "

― Sabrina Jeffries , A Lady Never Surrenders (Hellions of Halstead Hall, #5)