“It is cold,” she said.
The excuse sounded weak even to her own ears.
Alexander glanced slowly toward the sunlight spilling through the trees above them.
“Is it?” His voice carried just enough amusement to make her cheeks warm further.
Diana lifted her chin stubbornly, forcing her shoulders back as though sheer determination might steady the restless sensation that had spread through her.
“You will not convince me that you have won through… seduction.”
For a moment, Alexander did not respond. His brows rose slightly, his expression shifting with interest as he studied her.
“Seduction?” he repeated slowly. “I am seducing you?”
Diana felt the warmth climb higher into her face. “That is not what I meant.”
“No?” His voice softened then, the teasing note in it lowering just enough to send a faint tremor through her chest.
There was something knowing in the way he regarded her now, something that made her feel as though he had suddenly begun seeing far more than she wished him to.
“Because,” he continued mildly, “it sounded very much as if you just admitted something rather interesting.”
Diana folded her arms quickly, more to steady herself than to appear defiant. “I admitted nothing.”
Alexander stepped closer. His eyes had grown darker now, the amusement still there but edged with something hotter. The space between them felt suddenly charged, as though the air itself had grown heavier.
“Tell me, Diana,” he murmured, leaning closer as he spoke, the movement slow enough that she saw it happening, and yet could not quite bring herself to step away. “Do you find me seductive?”
Her heart slammed hard against her ribs. She was certain he could hear it.
Every sensible instinct in her mind told her to retreat, to break the strange spell settling over the moment before it carried them somewhere far more dangerous than a simple argument over a game.
Yet she did not move.
The warmth of him seemed to surround her now, the intensity in his gaze holding her attention in a way that made the rest of the garden fade into distant background noise.
Her thoughts betrayed her.
Yes. Very much so.
But the words that finally left her mouth were far less cooperative.
“You are rather self-possessed.”
Alexander smiled slowly. “That,” he said, “was not an answer.”
He leaned closer again. She became painfully aware of the small space still separating their lips. For one dangerously suspended moment, Diana realized just how easily he could close it. How easily she might let him.
She knew she should want to stop him, but the truth was that she did not entirely wish to.
Then–
“Well now.” Lady Salford’s voice cut cleanly through the moment.
Both of them turned.
The hedge behind them rustled as several figures appeared from the garden path. Emma and Martin emerged first, followed closely by Lady Salford, who surveyed the scene before her with unmistakable amusement.
