“And what should I do,” said Alex in an oddly gentle voice, “if I don’t like this maiden as much as she likes me? You do see the problem, don’t you? I’m afraid I have a tenderness for, oh, the on-the-shelf sort of lady, the sort who has been hanging around ballrooms for three or four years….” His voice trailed off.

Red dots danced before Charlotte’s eyes. No one! No one had ever insinuated that she was an on-the-shelf sort of lady. “I should say that the problem, in fact, is that a more experienced woman may have too much force of mind to accept your offer, my lord,” she said, her mind registering with approval the evenness of her voice.

Alex sighed loudly. Somehow he had again possessed himself of her hand and brought it to his mouth. “I am desolate, Charlotte. I had set my heart on this older lady—why, she must be all of twenty years old, Charlotte—and I’m quite sure that I wouldn’t prefer a sixteen-year-old, no matter how docile.”

Charlotte felt fiercely irritated. What a stupid conversation! She didn’t even know this man, and here they were, talking about marriage. He was insulting her. And he was mauling her fingers, which made it hard to think rationally.

“I feel sure,” she said in a perfectly composed voice with just a drop of uninterest, “that when you actually come to making this painful decision, sir, you will find it to be far easier than you may believe at present.”

Alex growled. She heard it. He growled. And when she looked at him in a rather bewildered fashion, he jerked her forward and up on her knees, and before she could squeak out a protest, Alex pulled Charlotte toward him so that their bodies touched from chest to knee.

In fact, had Charlotte struggled, the whole embrace might have become something more athletic than Alex had in mind. But instead her body betrayed her. She lifted her head as if he kissed her every day. And Alex’s arms tightened in response to her unconscious invitation.

His lips descended fiercely on Charlotte’s and, unbidden, her mouth opened. A warm tongue plunged into her mouth and withdrew, plunged in and withdrew. Charlotte was instantly intoxicated, her body responding with fiery awareness to the push of his belly against hers, the hard strength of his hands molding her back.

Suddenly Alex’s lips left hers. Ruthlessly he avoided her pleading mouth, running his tongue provocatively over her eyebrows, biting the sweet fullness of her bottom lip. Charlotte unconsciously pressed forward, begging silently for more. He pulled her even closer, molding her body to every inch of his. His hardness jutted demandingly into her soft curves. Charlotte gasped and without thinking, she reached up and pulled his mouth down to hers, bringing her tongue, somewhat hesitatingly but seductively, to touch his lips.