She was going to slap him, as hard as she could. An action worth a thousand words so there would be no mistaking what she felt for him now. But she didn’t do it. Standing that close, she was caught by the golden glow in his eyes, then entrapped for several long moments as her body reacted in myriad ways to being near to him again.

Good God, how could she still be attracted to him? How could she desire him still, when she despised him beyond reason? When his hand reached toward her cheek, her knees nearly buckled. His caress was imminent. It was going to destroy her resolve and make her forget, briefly, why she never wanted to see him again.

“Larissa—”

“Don’t touch me!”

She jumped back, nearly tripped on the stairs. Her pulse was racing. That had been too close, her senses returning nearly too late to stop him.

“Don’t touch me again,” she repeated in a calmer, though scathing tone. “You use that as a tactic to bend my will to yours, but I’m aware of that now and won’t be—”

“Larissa, marry me.”

Moisture sprang immediately to her eyes. “You ask too late.”

“I know, but to not ask would be one more regret to add to the rest.”

She should have turned to leave then. She should have ignored the pain in his eyes that was ripping at her heart. That she couldn’t bear to walk away from him yet infuriated her, and that came out in her tone.

“Nothing you can say will rectify what you’ve done, so why do you put us both through this?”

“Because I need to wipe the slate clean, and there are still things you don’t know that must be confessed before I can do that.”

“Your needs are no longer a concern of mine.”

“Hear me out at least. It won’t take much of your time. And I actually have more fuel for you to add to the fire, lies I told you, and why I did.”

“I’ve already realized that just about everything you’ve ever said to me was a lie,” she replied. “There’s no need to confirm that.”

“Hardly everything,” he said with a sigh.

She had the feeling he wanted to caress her again. Was he experiencing the same pull that she was, which was almost irresistible? Very well, so perhaps he hadn’t hated touching her, hadn’t laughed at how easy it had been to seduce her. Perhaps this powerful attraction really was mutual. But that changed nothing. He had still used her to get at her father. He hadn’t hesitated to trample the innocent on the path to his goals.