It was a harsh order or seemed to be, since his voice had gone quite raspy. Did he mean the earrings? She wasn’t sure. She couldn’t think clearly again. But just in case, she yanked them off and thrust them at him, then nervously let them drop before his hand actually got close enough, too afraid that she might end up touching him again. It was too soon, though, and he wasn’t quite quick enough to catch them before they fell to the floor.

Embarrassed that her nervousness was so very obvious, she thoughtlessly dropped to one knee to pick the earrings up, overlooking the fact that he might do the same. They butted heads on the way down. She lost her balance, ended up sitting on the floor. And before she could recover on her own, he was helping her up.

This was truly her undoing. She was rendered speechless by the shock of it. Instead of offering his hand, which she most certainly wouldn’t have taken—he must have known that—he lifted her up, grasping her beneath her armpits, as one would a very small child. It should have been impossible, at least from the floor. But he used his own chest for leverage. And in those brief seconds she felt his palms near the sides of her breasts, felt those breasts pressed firmly to his chest before he let her go. Mere seconds. Yet the impressions would last her an eternity.

The pearls hadn’t been picked up yet. He did that now, as well as retrieving the jewel box he’d set down while assisting her. The earrings he closed tightly in his fist rather than put them in the box. For once, he seemed as agitated as she, but it was only a brief display, gone so swiftly, she figured she must have imagined it. He did turn toward the door, however, his errand complete, eager to be gone.

She wouldn’t have stopped him. It was crucial that he leave before she fell completely apart. But her mind simply wasn’t in its proper working order, and with the trunks still in her view, she recalled . . .

“Oh! I was going to find your housekeeper . . . I seem to have been put in the wrong room. I should be closer to my brother—”

She would have said more, but he interrupted her. “You were situated correctly. I usually have guests over the holidays, and these particular guests can’t be made to think they are being given special treatment, you understand, when they are business associates. And rather than move you—if you are still here at that time—it was much easier to just place you here now. Is there a problem with the room?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Good, then think nothing of it.”