“I have taken for you a rake but not a brute,” she muttered.
“That is hurtful,” he said dryly.
“Thisis hurtful,” she countered, pointing at the bruise that looked like a small island. “How did you earn this?”
Alexander smiled faintly. “From boxing.”
Theodora stared at him, but her fingers were gentle as she traced the edge of a bruise. His breath hitched, and she pulled her hand away immediately.
“I am sorry. Did I hurt you?”
“Barely, the opposite actually.” He winked at her.
Men.
“You should not jest about such things, and why, in God’s name, are you boxing?” She placed her hands on her hips and spoke to him sternly, but Alexander seemed to enjoy it.
“It is a passion of mine, like reading is for you.” He shrugged as if it did not matter and that injuries were a normal part of it.
Theo sighed loudly. “You need a cream; I can bring one tomorrow.”
“I would appreciate that.”
She nodded, trying to focus on the injury, and not on how warm his skin felt beneath her fingertips or the way his muscles tensed under her touch. It surprised her that he was affected by her as much as she was by him.
“Who did this to you?” she asked.
“My sparring partner, Briggs,” he said casually. “He has a strong right hook.”
“I do not understand the concept of boxing. Youlethim hit you?”
Alexander shrugged and responded with a cocky smile.
Theodora shook her head. “You are truly impossible.”
“And you are avoiding something,” he said.
She frowned. “I am not.”
“You are,” he said softly. “You always do when you are flustered.”
“I am not flustered.”
“All right,” he said, amused.
“Perhaps you should put your shirt on. I have examined the injury and know how to assist you now.” She spoke more sternly.
Alexander stayed as he was, not attempting to put his shirt on at all. “How is your experiment going?”
She crossed her arms and looked around the room for a distraction. “I have found…someevidence that love is not deeper than attraction.”
Alexander tipped his head to the side and stared at her for a long beat before asking, “And did you heed my advice?”
Theodora could almost taste the sweetness of his breath. “I…I have not had the chance to.”
He smiled slowly as if the delay of her experiment was the best news ever. “Physical touch was on your list, was it not?”
Her heart lurched.
