“Not that I know of, but he has first cousins, the children of his uncle John Rathban, two of them male, one already married with children.”
“Yes, I met them at the Rathban ball.”
“For pride’s sake, Lord Albert undoubtedly still wants his own son to be his heir, but the word around town is that after his brother’s death, he became a second father to his nephews, so he most certainly does have other options.”
“Well, that’s interesting. So I am not really Albert’s last resort.”
Monty laughed. “You could never be a last resort, sweetheart.”
He did it again. She was sure he didn’t even mean to do it, the flattering words just tumbled out of his mouth.
And he continued, “Now for the lessons that require privacy . . .”
Chapter Forty
AS MONTY TOOK VANESSA’Shand and pulled her to her feet, the palm of his other hand landed perfectly on her right breast. He even squeezed slightly to let her know his touch was no accident. She tried desperately to ignore the sudden flutters in her belly. She ignored the racing of her pulse and the delightful scent of him, which she couldn’t help but notice now that he was so close to her. Somehow, she managed to just raise a brow at him.
He burst out laughing. “Well, I didn’t expect you to already be immune to this brash sort of fondling. This is a demonstration of what Danielmightdo in his effort to scare you away. And I don’t mean in the course of an embrace, when a caress of this kind would be natural, but for no apparent reason.”
“I’m not in the least immune—to your touch.”
He drew in his breath. “Pleaseimagine I am Daniel for this lesson.”
She could never do that. There was utterly no comparison between the two men. But she could see she’d disconcerted him again, so she said, “Sorry, I thought a little levity might be in order.”
“So you were joking?”
She ignored the question and just said, “Do continue the lesson.”
He nodded. “If he touches you like that or even more intimately—”
She cut in. “Are you going to demonstrate what could be more intimate than his putting his hand on my breast?”
He removed his hand, but he did so very slowly, as if he didn’t really want to. “No. You will certainly know if it happens. The point I am making is that no matter where he touches you, don’t look shocked, angry, or otherwise insulted. You want to intrigue him instead by responding in a way he doesn’t expect.”
“Like I did with you?”
He shook his head. “Raising a brow at him could have an adverse effect, even mortify him, resulting in his walking away and your not getting another chance to belittle him.”
“That’s too bad.” She grinned. “He could use a little mortifying.”
“Not if you still want him to join you at the altar,” he warned.
She sighed. “Then intrigue him how?”
“You could lean in and whisper something in his ear, even if it’s only a light scold for his effrontery.”
She leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, “I want you.”
He took a step back from her. “No, no, no, no.”
She laughed. “One was enough.”
“Nessi, are you going to take this seriously or not?”
She managed not to sigh again. “Certainly.”
“Then remember, you want to conduct yourself with a degree of sophistication in that you can imply, just never deliver. That is paramount. Delivering will end the game for him. He will have his momentary satisfaction and go back to being bored with you.”
