With a confidence she felt in her bones, she rose and walked over to him. His wary gaze tracked her approach, his hand tightening on the table. Leaning down, she put her lips by his ear. “I’d like to see you in your office, Professor Ward.” Then she nipped his earlobe with her teeth. A satisfying gasp fell from his mouth, but she didn’t tease him further.

No, she needed to see what he’d do. Needed to see if he was willing to meet her halfway, if he wanted to continue their games together. Turning, she started for the back of the dining room, toward the door that led to his office.

What would he do now?

Chapter Twenty-One

Damn it.

Kit rubbed his brow, responsibility and craving at war in his head. The need for Alice was burning through him, a fire spreading through every cell—yet he shouldn’t. She would regret it later. After she married, she would regret giving Kit these firsts that should belong to her husband.

You never do the right thing. Why start now?

Because this was Alice and she deserved better than a little slap and tickle in the back office of his supper club. It had all been a lark at the house party, lessons in exchange for recipes, and he’d been so confident of his abilities. Never one to get attached or worry about anyone other than himself. The life of every party, the man no one took seriously.

But now, not even a month later, everything had changed and he was on the verge of madness, torn in two directions. Part of him longed to go back there, strip her out of those boring clothes and fuck her until she came on his cock. Yet, he could not live with himself afterward if he took something so precious from her.

I’m not like you. I cannot do what we are doing and not feel anything.

She had been right. It was selfish of him to lead her down the path to ruin without offering her marriage in return. Alice was not Lottie or Arabella, a woman who could separate feelings from sexual activity. Alice had a big heart and felt deeply for those around her. She had been raised to expect marriage to a decent man, one accepted in society. A man like Lockwood.

So, Kit had no right to defile her. But God, he longed to.

I’d like to see you in your office, Professor Ward.

Fuck.

His cock thickening, he stared at where she’d disappeared. What if he kept his clothes on and pleasured her one more time? They’d already crossed that line. Where was the harm in crossing it once more before he sent her back to her life of dukes and drives in the park?

You’re rationalizing.