Did that come from her lips? She sounded such a prig. As dour and grating as Mrs. Pembroke from the village. Nora had been forced into that unpleasant woman’s company on far too many occasions. She could scarcely stomach the lady . . . and she certainly could not stomach the notion that she was anything like the wretched woman.

“You’re trespassing.” She winced at the shrill edge to her voice.

Instead of answering that charge, he replied with equanimity, “What were you doing up in that tree?”

“Never you mind my business,” she sputtered. Why was he still here in this pond? With her? “Get out! Out!”

He lifted a hand and wiped it over his face as though clearing it of water droplets would also help to clear away the vision of her before him. Of course it was for naught, she was still very much before him. No magical creature but flesh and blood.

His lashes were long and dark, jagged wet spikes that snared her attention—even given her state of distress. The small detail should be beneath her notice. Such things usually were. She rarely gave much consideration to the male gender as a whole unless the man was a patient in need of treatment. Certainly a man’s lashes had never caught her interest before.

This man, she noted, had likely never been ill a day in his life. He appeared quite robust. The very vision of health. He appeared to have no trouble treading water. Water lapped at his rather large and well-formed shoulders.

“Getting out of this pond presents some difficulty,” he finally answered.

“How is that?” she asked, snapping her focus away from his bare shoulders.

“You see”—he glanced toward the shore—“my clothes are over there.”

She followed his gaze, her stare arresting on the pile of clothing on the pebbled ground. She gave a croak and swung her attention back on him.

Evidently his shoulders weren’t the only part of him that happened to be bare. He was fully unclothed and only inches from her. Thankfully, she could not see the rest of him through the murky depths of the pond—not that she attempted to gain a glimpse.

He looked at her rather expectantly. He clearly anticipated for her to turn into a blushing and squeamish female, exclaiming in maidenly protest.

She lifted her chin in an attempt at dignity. He would be sadly disappointed over her lack of histrionics. She had never been a female given to maidenly airs. Another thing that set her apart from other ladies.

“I can assure you, sir . . . you are not in possession of anything I have not seen before.”

Astonishment flickered in his dark eyes . . . and something else. Interest perhaps? For a moment the sentiment was there and then it vanished.

“Indeed,” he murmured slowly, as though digesting her bold claim.

She gave a hard nod. “Indeed.”