It would be nice to ride with an adult for a change. Lovely, actually. The children were prone to go in different directions, and she spent most of her time trying to keep them all together.

Anna peered at Greyley from under her lashes. He looked harmless enough. Oh, he was handsome, and charming when he put his mind to it. But he had none of the polished address of the other wasted fribbles she knew. Perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to go for just one ride. “Oh, very well. But only for a half hour.”

“Half an hour is hardly long enough to give the poor horse a stretch.”

“Forty-five minutes and not a moment more.”

“An hour. I won’t settle for less.”

Heavens, but the man did not know the meaning of the word “no.” Anna sighed. An hour wasn’t that long, she supposed. She had just opened her mouth to agree, when he added, “Every day for a month.”

She gaped at him. “You must be joking.”

“I saved your life,” he reminded her yet again, a very smug grin on his face. His gaze wandered over her face and down to her breasts. Something about the intensity of his expression alerted her, for she followed his gaze and gasped to see how little her wet gown hid. She hurriedly crossed her arms over her chest, but not before Greyley’s grin set her face aflame.

How she disliked arrogant men. They made for beastly earls and horrid employers. “I will ride with you for half an hour every morning, for one week only. I can’t spare more time than that.”

He reached out and brushed the backs of his fingers over her wet cheek. “What’s wrong, Thraxton? Afraid to be alone with me?”

She sniffed. “I’m not afraid of anything. Just don’t expect me to speak. I’m not a witty conversationalist before I’ve had my breakfast.”

“Of course,” he replied smoothly, as if he didn’t care if she bothered to speak at all. “May I add that I hope you teach the girls how to accept an invitation with better grace than you have shown today?”

Drat the man! She plopped her hands on her hips. “Lord Greyley, rest assured that the girls will benefit from the time they have spent with me.”

Too late, she realized that she’d forgotten to cover herself, for his dark brown gaze was once again fastened on her chest. Her temper snapped. “Damn it, Greyley, pay attention! I am speaking, not my breasts.”

His gaze rose to her face, his eyes hot and brown, his mouth strangely soft. “You may not be able to hear your breasts speaking, but I can.”

Anna gasped and covered her chest. “That is quite enough.”

“Indeed it is,” he agreed, taking two swift steps and closing the space between them.

Anna instinctively moved to retreat, but Greyley reached past her and picked up his coat from the grass. He shook it out, then swung it over her shoulders and pulled it closed.