When the footsteps faded, only then did Edward pull away and he let out a breath. “They’re gone.”
She still looked rattled. “What were they talking about?”
He cocked his head, “They are lovers, Alice. They were planning a game.”
“Lovers?” Alice craned her head. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t suppose you do,” Edward replied and wondered how to gently clarify for her. “There are times when the relationships between a man and a woman can take… unusual forms. I should hate to spoil your lovely innocence, little mouse, but sometimes two men or even three can dally with one woman….intimately. And vice-versa. What you just heard was the making of aménage à trois.”
When the penny dropped and realization lit her eyes, she stepped away from him, while he secretly smirked inside. Over the years, dissolution and decadence had prodded him to believe that there were no more innocents in Town—now, he was happy to be proven wrong.
“I must return,” she stressed, “My absence must be noticed by now.”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Edward demanded. “Do you love my brother?”
“I still think that is none of your business.” Her eyes narrowed. “Now, please let me by.”
He wanted to shake the stubbornness out of her. “Are you always this intractable?”
Alice pushed by him—or tried to at least. He was as immovable as a boulder. She glared at him, “It is one of my finest traits.”
“So is foolheartedness,” he replied. “If I had let you follow Rutledge that night, you would not be the same now.”
“I would have found a way out of it,” she countered. “I can defend myself.”
“With what?” He grabbed her hand and cocked a brow. “Can you fight?”
“I have very capable lungs,” she replied.
“That would be smothered in moments,” he snorted. “Unless you had a pistol under those clothes, you were not going to come out of that room unscathed. Admit it, I saved you.”
Mouth-dropping, Alice could not describe his mind-boggling arrogance; he had rendered her speechless. She gaped at him. “You are—you are—”
“Correct.”
“Unbelievable,” she retorted. “Arrogant, superior, proud, and utterly mind-boggling.”
“Still doesn’t mean I am wrong,” the Duke grinned.
“I cannot believe you,” Alice pushed past him, unsteady with him being so close. He radiated virile energy, the essence of a man in his prime, and she wanted—needed to leave before she did something foolish. She had to ignore her pounding heart and flush skin. “Leave me alone.”
“Is thatreallywhat you want?” His tone changed to rich and smoky.
Her head snapped back to him. “What else could I ever want from you.”
“Your first kiss maybe?” he grinned.
How could he know that?
“You are wrong,” she lied, hoping to put him off. “I have been kissed before.”
“Really, by whom?”
Her mind went blank and while her lips opened and closed three times, he chuckled. “Precisely what I thought. When I kiss you, consider it payment for my help with Rutledge.”
She bit her lip. “How do you plan to help?”
“Leave that to me,” Edward smiled, “Do you accept my deal?”
