One of the brass buttons that adorned his waistcoat brushed the bared skin at her throat. The cold metal chilled her reactions, and Anna broke the embrace. Here she was, kissing a man as if she—and it was Greyley, which made it all the worse. “Heavens!” she heard herself say. The room was awhirl with color and silence, her mouth and cheeks tingled as if they’d both been assaulted by the earl’s talented lips.

“Heaven, indeed,” Greyley murmured. His gaze was fastened on her mouth, a disturbing glint in his dark gaze. “Congratulations, Thraxton. You are indeed as fiery as you look.”

Anna thought she could hear a dismissal in his tone and she stiffened, her heart lurching. By God, she wouldn’t be made a fool of—not this time. “Fiery? I only wish I could say the same of you,” she managed to puff out. “I’ve been better kissed by the footman.”

The statement shocked her as much as it did Greyley. His brows snapped down. “Been kissing the footman, have you? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Anna didn’t know about that—she was certainly surprised at the information, especially as they didn’t even have a footman. She ran her fingers over her bottom lip and tried to clear her mind. When had Greyley learned to kiss in such an expert manner?

She burned to realize what he must think of her wanton response. She’d never allowed anyone such liberties before. It must be because he was Sara’s brother. Anna had known Greyley for years, and though their discourse had never been easy, they had always managed to ignore the heated discord that echoed between them. Until now. “I don’t know why that happened—”

“I do,” he said. “I know exactly why it happened.”

To Anna’s unease, a touch of humor lit his gaze. “What?”

“You provoked me.”

“I did no such thing!” she sputtered, anger burning away the last remaining vestige of desire. “How like a man to say such a thing.”

“And then you provoked me once more when you compared my embrace to that of your footman’s.” A faint hint of a grin touched his mouth. “I’m tempted to kiss you again just to prove you wrong.”

If Greyley was attractive even when he was ordering her about, he was devastating when he teased. She took an instinctive step back. “Don’t you dare.”

“I would indeed dare if I didn’t think your grandfather would burst into the room and demand I marry you.”

Good God, not content to insult her by calling her a governess in that superior tone of voice, now he dared suggest that she might try and trick him into marriage. It was almost more than Anna could stand. “Don’t worry about my grandfather. He is much more freethinking than that. Furthermore, I have no wish to marry you. Not now. Not ever. Perhaps this happened just to show us why we shouldn’t be under the same roof. I can never work for—”

“You have no choice.”