He tried another smile. “I have all my teeth and five houses, actually. One is a horse farm in Ireland.”
“Then you should have proposed to Charlie. I have my own teeth and four houses of my father’s I can visit.”
“Visit. Not be in charge of.”
That got a very dry laugh out of her. “You think so? You have obviously never been the oldest daughter of a busy earl.”
“Don’t you want your own home?”
Down went the teacup. Up went Georgie. She had no idea why. She simply needed to move. She’d forgotten that if she stood so did he. They ended up almost nose to nose.
And blast it, he stood too close. She could feel that odd energy spark again. She was suddenly beset by an urge to get closer. To rediscover that thrumming heat that seemed to live in his hands, his mouth.
She saw his nostrils flare, just a bit; his eyes darkened. So he felt it, too.
“This is not the time to get into the hard facts of women and ownership of homes,” she said. “Suffice it to say that the matter of a home is not high on my list of frustrations.”
“Then what is?”
She glared at him. “You never thought to ask me if Iwantedto get married.”
Again, he seemed sincerely bemused. Setting down his snifter, he returned to the fray. “What else is there?”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. He must have heard that it wasn’t an amused laugh, because he frowned.
She tried to calm herself. “You truly have no idea.”
“Of what?”
She briefly closed her eyes, but that didn’t help. She could still smell him, that sharp pine scent. She could feel him, like standing too near a fire. “How did you come by the marquessate?” she asked.
She seemed to have flummoxed him again. “You know perfectly well. My cousins died.”
“Which means you had no notion of ever assuming the title.”
“Not one.”
“And your father was an army man?”
He was looking completely confused. “Well, he bred horses for the army, but that’s as close as he came.”
She nodded. “Then why aren’t you breeding horses?”
His grin was perfectly comfortable. “I’d be shown out on my ear. To tell the truth, my sister’s husband is better at the task than even my father. My contribution is to ride one of our stallions around and make other officers want a horse just like him.”
“Then how did you end up in the army? Are you the second son?”
“Only son. Four sisters.”
“Then why the army?”
He shrugged. “I’ve been army mad since I can remember. Finished my studies and took my chance. If it weren’t for this blasted title, I’d still be there with the gentlemen of your family.”
She nodded, focused a moment on the darkened windows. “And no one thought to say to you, you are the son of a horsefarmer, and that is the only thing you have a right to be until the day you die. Because it is your only choice.”
That seemed to merit silence. He shook his head and took a step forward. “I don’t understand. Are you telling me there is something you’d rather do than marry?”
“Almost anything.”
