She gasped and clutched his shoulders, which only served to make him even hotter, and he slid his hand up until he reached the spot where her stockings ended. He stroked his finger along her bare skin, glorying in the way she shivered at his touch.

“Oh, Charles,” she moaned, and that was enough to set him on fire. Just the sound of his name on her lips.

“Ellie,” he said, his voice so hoarse he barely recognized it, “we have to go upstairs. Now.”

She didn't react for a moment, just sagged against him, and then she blinked and said, “I can't.”

“Don't say that,” he said, dragging her toward the door. “Say anything but that.”

“No, I have to stir the jam.”

That stopped him in his tracks. “What the devil are you talking about?”

“I have to…” She paused and wet her lips. “Don't look at me like that.”

“Like what?” he drawled, his good humor slowly returning.

She planted her hands on her hips and leveled a stern look in his direction. “Like you want to gobble me up.”

“But I do.”

“Charles!”

He shrugged. “My mother told me never to lie.”

She looked as if she were about to stamp her foot. “I really must leave.”

“Wonderful. I'll accompany you upstairs.”

“I have to go to the kitchen,” she said pointedly.

He sighed. “Not the kitchen.”

Her mouth clamped itself into a straight, angry line before she ground out, “I'm making jam to give to the tenants as a holiday gift. I told you about it yesterday.”

“Very well, then. The kitchen. And then the bedroom.”

“But I…” Ellie let her words trail off as she realized that she didn't want to fight him any longer. She wanted his hands on her, she wanted to listen to his soft words of seduction. She wanted to feel like she was the most desirable woman in the world, which was exactly how she felt every time he looked at her with that smoldering, heavy-lidded gaze of his.

Her mind made up, she smiled shyly and said, “All right.”

Charles obviously hadn't expected her agreement, because he blurted out, “You will?”

She nodded, not quite meeting his eyes.

“Brilliant!” He looked like an excited young boy, which seemed a little strange to Ellie, considering that she was about to let herself be seduced by him.

“But I have to go to the kitchen first,” she reminded him.

“The kitchen. Right. The kitchen.” He shot her a sideways glance as he pulled her into the hall. “It takes a bit of the spontaneity away, don't you think?”

“Charles,” she said in a warning tone.

“Very well.” He switched direction and started dragging her toward the kitchen, moving even faster than he had when he'd been dragging her toward the bedroom.

“Trying to make up for lost time in advance?” she joked.

He pulled her around a corner, pinned her against a wall, and joined his mouth to hers for a brief, proprietary kiss. “You have three minutes in the kitchen,” he said. “Three. That is all.”