His smile took the sting out of his words, but they still hurt. Without knowing it, he’d touched on her most painful insecurity. Still, she managed to respond with the perfect composure of a woman who’d been born to rule. “How many little girls have you kissed?”

“More than you can imagine.”

“Really? How bizarre.”

“Not too bizarre. I have seven younger sisters.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Believe me, it’s not something I kid about.” He walked over to the mini bar. “Would you like a drink?”

She knew she should leave while she had the chance, but she didn’t want to. Instead, she wanted to be reckless and irresponsible, more like easygoing Nell Kelly than uptight Cornelia Case. “I don’t suppose there’s a nice merlot in there.”

He bent down to look. “There’s a merlot, but it’s got a screw top, so I don’t know how nice it is.” He withdrew the bottle, then crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow at her stomach. “No drinking while you’re pregnant.”

She smiled and self-consciously slipped her hands under her nightgown from the back to release the straps. The pillow fell.

He eyed her baggy nightgown as he unscrewed the lid. “Not much of an improvement.”

She picked up the pillow and held it in her lap as she sat in the chair. “I had to leave all my sexy peignoirs behind.”

“Too bad. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.” He poured the wine into a glass, handed it to her, then pulled a Coke out for himself. “How’s come you’re so skittish?”

“I’m not skittish,” she said defensively. “Just because I didn’t slobber all over you doesn’t mean I’m skittish.”

He threw a pillow against the headboard and stretched out on the bed with the Coke can propped on his chest. As he leaned back and crossed his bare ankles, he looked a lot more comfortable than she felt.

“So you’re not attracted to me.” There was a glint in his eye, a subtle male audacity that spoke of a wealth of sexual confidence.

She felt like a kid seeing how close she could get to the traffic before someone swatted her back. “I didn’t say that.”

“You are attracted to me.”

“I didn’t say that, either. And why should you care? After all, I kiss like a little girl.” She wanted to bite her tongue. Why hadn’t she just let it go?

“I didn’t mean it as an insult.”

“It’s certainly not a compliment.”

“I apologize.”

“It’s just not a nice thing to say.”

“I’ll never say it again.”

The note of amusement in his voice made her snappish. “I supposed if I’d tried to remove your tonsils with my tongue, you’d have been happy.”

“I’ve already apologized.”

“I can’t abide kisses like that. They’re suffocating.”