“You are one who is accustomed to ladies fawning and falling down for you,” she said quietly to herself. “You turn forth a grin and a laugh to ease the truth of your coldness.” His face froze in an unmoving mask. “Mayhap the world does not see past that. They see what you ask them to see.” Just as she naively had allowed herself to see in the library. Yet, that was not his fault. It was hers for wanting to see diamonds in the dust. “They see your smile. They hear your teasing words. They are so focused on those smiles that they do not realize…” At his narrowing eyes, she blinked and let her words die. She’d said too much, to a man who truly was nothing but a stranger. A stranger whose kiss still burns on my lips. “They see what?” he bit out. Gone was that smooth edge to his words. “The façade.” She knew because she was a woman who’d donned the same, stifling mask these five years. A harsh light glinted in his eyes. “You do not know anything of it.” “Oh, I suspect I know more than you’d care to think.” FacadeEmpathFawningBeyond The Mask Book:The Lure of a Rake Source: The Lure of a Rake