And that errant and insane thought was enough to scare some sense into him.
It was time to bring this encounter to a close lest he do something idiotic, like kiss her witless or, worse yet, ask her why she hadn’t been as tempted by that first encounter as he had been.
“I think it’s fair to say that after years of enmity between us, a truce is not something you would be agreeable to.”
Alexander, for one mad moment, wished for her to deny his words, to say she wanted nothing more than to end the feud. Perhaps to even begin a relationship which would be the exact opposite of a feud…
Her unladylike snort was all the answer he needed, however.
“So then, you wouldn’t be thrilled to learn of my older friend’s sudden enchantment with your sister?”
He watched as a frown creased her brow, her chocolate eyes snapping.
“Enchantment?” she scoffed. “Hardly. The great big oaf will cause her utter ruin given half the chance. Half a chance he willnotget if I have anything to do with it. And you can tell him from me,” She stepped forward, her finger prodding his chest, “that if he so much as looks at my sister again in a manner that she finds anything less than respectful, I shall—”
“You shall what?” Alexander interrupted, his temper flaring. “You shall screech at him like a common fishwife?”
Her jaw dropped open at his words and then snapped shut. Alexander could actually hear her teeth grinding together.
“How dare you?” she finally gasped, her outrage doing terribly distracting things to the low-cut bodice of her satin gown.
“I dare because your foolish sister is no less interested in whatever this is between them than St. Clare is, only she doesn’t know what she’s doing,” he snapped. “Which is exactly why I wanted to talk to you. I knew he had an interest. But I’m beginning to think that Jane is getting in over her head.”
He watched emotions dash across her expressive face while some internal battle or other raged. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then levelled her gaze at him.
“Alright. What is it you want to talk about then?”
Alexander gritted his teeth at her imperious tone but made no comment.
They’d been at this to-ing and fro-ing long enough as it was.
“It’s fairly obvious that Elliot has taken a shine to your sister,” Alexander started. The hypocrisy of his words did not escape his notice. Elliot’s ‘shine’ to Jane couldn’t have been any less than his own to Olivia this evening. Only Elliot’s made more sense because the object ofhisinterest didn’t have the charm of a spitting, feral cat as Olivia Darington did.
“Are you deaf?” she interrupted, raising his hackles yet again. “Did you not hear me when I said he wouldn’t - ?”
“I heard you,” Alexander interrupted through clenched teeth. “But as shocking as it is, he hasn’t stopped bloody watching the chit all night and that presents a problem.”
“You have just admitted to staring at me all evening, Alexander. Why should Jane and Mr. St. Clare be cause for concern?”
Well, she had him there. Alexander steeled himself against the wave of pleasure at hearing his name on her lips. Her distractingly plump lips, one of which she was currently nibbling.
“Because,” he croaked. “Because I have the good sense not to do anything. Elliot, well I’m not so sure about him. I don’t even know if he possesses any good sense.”
She looked mightily affronted at his words. But really, did the little shrew think he would be pleased about this inexplicable desire he had for her?
“Pity, then, that you didn’t possess the same good sense three years ago when you accosted me in my father’s garden,” she answered with a frown he tried not to find adorable.
The reminder of their proximity, of his reaction to her, the memory of her soft, supple body pressed so firmly against his own, was enough to make Alexander want to run from the danger of her.
“Olivia.” He tried for his most reasonable tone. “Do you want your sister bedded by my friend?”
Her gasp of horror was answer enough.
He knew he shouldn’t use such coarse language around her. But he couldn’t help it. She brought out something base and animalistic in him.
Best not to think along those lines when discussing the subject of tupping with her. The sudden discomfort in his breeches was proof of that.
“I’ll take your silence as a no. Now, unless you want Jane ruined entirely, you’re going to have to help me do something about it.”
