He did smile then. He couldn’t help himself. It was one of the worst days of his life, the day he was to shackle himself to a woman he suspected he loved, but who would probably make every day of his life a living hell with her demands for attention and things he couldn’t provide. Yet he couldn’t keep from smiling at her. She was just so…damned…Charlotte!

Evidently she didn’t quite see his smile as he intended. Her blue eyes flashed such heat at him as to ignite a lesser man, but Dare just gloried in her magnificence. Despite it all, all the sacrifices he was making, all the setbacks and heartbreak she was sure to bring him, she was his and his alone. No one else would be the recipient of the sparks flying from those beautiful eyes.

“Oooh! How dare you smirk at me!” She stomped her foot and poked him in the shoulder. “Aren’t you even going to ask me why I won’t marry you?”

He decided to humor her. After all, he had a lifetime to rile her up and enjoy the fireworks. It was better to calm her now so the wedding could proceed and he could return to work on his engine. He allowed his smile to fade, adopting a serious mien as befitted one who was about to grovel and sue for favor. He even added a courtly little bow for good effect. “I am all ears, Lady Charlotte.”

The look in Charlotte’s eyes metamorphosed from the white-hot heat of anger to the flushed glow of something much more intriguing as she ran her gaze over his shoulders and chest.

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” she murmured in a conciliatory tone.

He raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

A maidenly blush pinked her cheeks. Dare bit back the urge to throw back his head and laugh aloud with the joy of her. She never failed to surprise him—one moment she was saying the most outlandish things he’d ever heard, the next she was blushing like a virgin.

“You. You’re more than just ears.”

He fought long and hard, but at last he was able to speak without having to grab her and kiss her first. Now was not the time for kissing. Now was the time to get her into the church and wed her before she drove him daft with her innocent, highly seductive charm. Later, perhaps, he would allow himself to kiss her. Just one kiss, and a short one at that, given before he made it absolutely clear that despite the fact that she had trapped him into marriage, he had no intention of bedding her until he was good and ready. He put on his martyred face and bent his head to her. “Charlotte, I am distraught and filled with sorrow at this grievous news. What task might I undertake to encourage you to change your mind?”

She sighed with obvious relief, dimpling at him in a fashion that made his heart do odd little gymnastics in his chest. God’s kidneys, but she made his vow not to give in to her wiles difficult! “I’m so glad you’re being more reasonable, Alasdair. It’s about this wedding you’ve planned.”