Something in her voice must have convinced him because he raised his free hand in surrender. “Consider it a forbidden topic.”

“Good.” Sighing, she pointed to the stone steps ahead. “Let’s go up and find more eggs.”

Once they were on the back part of the chateau’s property, he pointed them toward an old potter’s shed. “Over there.”

“Are you certain?” The structure appeared one stiff breeze away from falling over.

“Trust me.”

She followed him to the shed, which was hardly bigger than a coat closet. He opened the door. “After you.”

Inside, he set his hat containing their eggs on a large upside-down pot. The shed was stacked with sacks of dirt and feed, rakes and other gardening equipment. There wasn’t much space to move about.

She looked around. “Do you really think there are eggs in here? We are quite far from the tent.”

Kit headed for a large piece of machinery in the corner. “At least two, if I were to guess. Look behind those bags over there.”

Sure enough, three eggs were eventually located behind bags, pots and garden utensils. When they were back outside, Kit said, “So, what shall we discuss if not that off-limits topic?”

As if she had a clue. “No doubt you’ll come up with something.”

“Well, I do have excellent conversation skills with the opposite sex, but I fear pointing that out would bring us around to that off-limits topic.”

She didn’t know whether to laugh or grind her teeth. He was impossible. And sort of adorable. The teasing words fell from her mouth easily. “It’s becoming clear that I should have tried to get to know you better before visiting your room last night.”

He gasped like an actor in the third act of a murder mystery. “Are you saying you would have reconsidered had you known me? You wound me, cruel woman.”

She bit her lip, feeling lighter than she had in ages. This type of natural rapport was new for her. Kit deserved most of the credit, of course. He made everything so effortless.

Joking aside, she did have a desire to learn more about him. Perhaps he wouldn’t give her lessons in seduction, but she might be able to discover the secret to his confidence, the joie de vivre that ensured his appeal. “I am curious about your hobbies and your interests. What do you do with all your nonintrospection time?”

He chuckled and pleasure wound through her, her chest ballooning with the simple delight of amusing this charming man. Hardly anyone laughed with her. Some of the hotel staff would occasionally converse with her but—other than the kitchen staff—they mostly kept a polite distance.

“If you can believe it, I am in the process of opening a supper club,” he said. “I am soon to become a nighttime purveyor of good food and good times.”

“Is that like a social club?”