His eyes crinkled around the corners. Since his time in Lebatu, he was rather partial to donkeys. “Such a dilemma for a titled lady.”

“Harry, please help me.” Elise descended the remaining steps until she was on level with him. At her wit’s end, she unsheathed her sgian dubh, the blade glinting in the light.

“Going native on me, eh? Will you paint your face blue as well? If you do, I might consider this unique request.”

The dare was in his eyes. A dare she could never resist. Quick as a wink, she held the knife to his throat.

“Be a gentleman,” she threatened.

“My little tiger lily, that’s not the politest way to ask a man to accompany you to a ball.” Harry grinned; his expression was not the least perturbed.

Elise blinked at the pet name.

Harry grasped her fingers and bent them backward, forcing her to drop the blade or cut him. The sgian dubh clattered onto the stone steps at their feet.

“I believe I am much more the gentleman in this situation than you are the lady.”

Heat burned her skin like fire. The dirty dog. Harry had used that memory to distract her and extricate the knife—an old spymaster trick. And like a novice, she had fallen for it.

“Are you turning me down because you don’t know the reels?” Her eyes fastened on his while the pulse in her throat kept time to her thudding heart.

Harry closed the gap between them. “I can reel with the best of them, my wild Scottish thistle. In fact, I doubt you could keep up with me.”

Another endearment? Elise swallowed as old emotions resurrected from the locked chambers of her heart. The dark-blue specks in his eyes stood out. She’d forgotten how truly beautiful his eyes were. She inhaled and caught a whiff of his aftershave, something woodsy, dangerous, and as compelling as the man himself.

“Where did you learn to reel?” She could have bitten off her tongue. It was none of her business where Harry had learned his dancing skills. It certainly hadn’t been during university. He’d had two left feet back then. Harry must have improved during his military service.

The teasing light left Harry’s eyes. “Are you truly up for a night of dancing?” he asked, sidestepping her question.

“As long as I’m careful.” It didn’t matter if she was up to it or not. When in residence, Elise and her siblings were required to attend all their parents’ formal functions. One of the reasons for her rare visits home had everything to do with those stringent expectations and the added risk of blowing her cover if one of the society papers took her picture.