“Kissing,” Sebastian repeated, rubbing the back of his neck in what might have been mock contemplation. “And yet… you have kissed me?”
“Well, yes,” she stammered.
“You did, if I might say, extraordinarily well with that particular skill or lack thereof, whatever you wish to call it to flatter the need for propriety.”
She clapped her hands to her face, groaning softly. “Stop,” she muttered. “You’re being awful.”
“Anything else in the handbook I should be aware of?” he teased, leaning forward now, clearly enjoying her discomfort far too much.
“Oh, no!” Maddie exclaimed, shaking her head so vehemently that a few loose curls danced over her shoulders. “You cannot read it! It’s secret. What Ashley and Sera put in there… and most recently, Charlene… absolutely not.”
He paused, an amused silence stretching between them. “Perhaps,” he began, his voice low and warm, “we should try it ourselves.”
She blinked. “Try… what?”
“Adding to it.”
Maddie’s mouth opened and closed before she swallowed hard. “P-p-perhaps,” she managed.
Sebastian stood smoothly, his movements unhurried as he stepped closer. She didn’t shrink back, though he could see her pulse flutter just beneath the delicate skin of her throat.
“I mean, the scandal or the courtship are inevitable, as you said,” he murmured, his voice dropping just slightly, enough to fully captivate her.
“Y-yes,” she whispered.
“So,” he said, his lips curving into the faintest, most wicked of smiles, “shouldn’t we pick the one skillwe prefer to work on then?”
Her gaze darted to his, and for a moment, the only sound between them was the crackle of the fire. Sparks flew there too, bright and alive, a perfect echo of the charge that lingered between them, waiting for one of them to lean just a little closer.
But he didn’t. Not yet. Instead, he waited for her to make the choice. And that, perhaps, was the most maddening part of all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Sebastian’s gaze lingeredon her as the firelight painted soft, golden hues along her cheeks. Maddie was unusually still, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes fixed on the flames. Icy snow outside and fire inside—she felt like the lodge. And Sebastian was lighting the fire inside for her, too.
Beneath the sturdy beams of the lodge’s oiled ceiling wood, with the rich scent of burning wood and the faint edge of wine still hanging in the air, the space between them crackled with something unspoken.
He leaned forward from where he sat on the hearth, his elbow resting casually against his knee. “You’re awfully quiet. Shall I be worried?”
Maddie turned her head just slightly, her curls shifting on her shoulders. Her expression was caught somewhere between shy and mischievous. “No,” she said softly, though her knee bounced just enough to give her away. “I don’t know where to begin my exploration. Research, I suppose. For the book?”
“That sounds unconvincing. I think it’s research for yourself.”
“Why would I need it?”
“To decide whether this is a scandal or a courtship.”
“I already know.”
“Which is it then?” He arched a brow and gave that once-over that instantly made her feel as if she were naked.
“Find out for yourself.”
“Hmm.” He straightened, leaning back on his hands, the careless movement so at odds with the warmth in his eyes. “And here I thought you were concocting some new set of questions to interrogate me with to fill the pages of the handbook with notes.”
Her lips parted in mock offense. “Interrogate? I’d hardly call it that.”
“No? Perhaps you’d prefer the term cross-examine?” His grin widened as her blush deepened, the rosy hue creeping above the delicate neckline of her dress.
