“You are right.” As if sensing his anger, she put a hand on his arm. “I should have done so. It just hasn’t happened in a while and caught me unaware.”

Alex took one look at the very dainty, very soft and feminine hand resting on his arm and felt the strangest sensation. It was both instantly calming and instantly something else—something hot, jolting, and filled with awareness. He’d never felt anything like it, and the fierceness of the sensations took him aback.

Bella’s daughter, he reminded himself. But that was too easy to forget when her very womanly body was only a few inches from his in a dark and suddenly excruciatingly small stairwell.

The lass was far too desirable for his peace of mind. He also felt a strange connection to her—as if he knew her. He didn’t, but feeling as if he did was oddly disarming. She was disarming.

With effort, he forced his mind from bedchambers, thin chemises barely covered by velvet robes that did little to hide a body that he’d give his eyeteeth to see naked, silky, tousled hair that should be spread out on a pillow—or draped over his naked chest like a silken veil—and the faint scent of rose water.

“Come,” he said, holding out his hand. “I will be forced to turn in my spurs if you do not let me help you back to your chamber.”

She tilted her head, studying him with a slightly bemused expression on her face. “You take your knightly duties seriously, don’t you?”

There was something dry in her voice that bordered almost on sarcasm. He frowned, stiffening. “I do.”

She studied him a few moments longer before finally putting her hand in his. “Well,” she conceded. “I wouldn’t want to be responsible for interfering with a knight’s duties.”

The shock of contact was followed by a blast of warmth. Her fingers were so soft and small tucked inside his. He didn’t want to let them go, but reluctantly he moved her hand to the curve of his elbow for support.

Alex liked that she was teasing him. He’d wager it was just as much a rarity for her as it was for him. “And I wouldn’t be much of a knight if I let you think it was all duty.”

Christ, was he actually flirting with her? He didn’t flirt with anyone. He was too serious, too focused on the war, and had been since he wasn’t much older than she. Women weren’t to be trifled with, they were to be protected, admired, and treated with formality and respect.

Disarming.

He concentrated on helping her down the last few stairs, which wasn’t easy, as she seemed reluctant to put too much weight on him or lean into him too closely.

Does she feel it, too?