“Why won’t you consider saying yes? You were fine with just a physical engagement; why not more?” he asked again, his voice calm and serious. As if she wasn’t a criminal six years his senior who would ruin everything he and his brother built the moment anyone in the light heard of their activities in the dark, let alone saw her anywhere near Sol’s side.
This time she managed to gather the strength to pull away and march to the exit. The only place he belonged. “Because it’s not done,” she said as she turned the knob and flung open the door.
“Many things worthwhile aren’t ‘done.’ I thought you of all people understood that,” he said, for once not following, but standing firmly where she’d left him. He squinted at her. “You aren’t afraid, are you?”
Afraid. As if someone like her could possibly be afraid of someone like him. Hannah sniffed a little. “No. Not in the slightest.” She inhaled. “I just don’t want to see you—you’ve worked very hard.”
“You care about me?” And the smile on his face—oy, just oy.
“No.” She shook her head more frantically because he needed to stop. Needed to not make her out to be someone she wasn’t. Needed to go. Now. Hannah cleared her throat. “It’s just—”
Sol merely grinned. “It’s just what?”
“You’re very irritating.” She gritted her teeth.
He raised a single finger. “But attractive.”
“Which is why I haven’t told you that I’ll no longer bed you, only that anything more is out of the question. Though that’s not even possible today as I don’t have time. You need to go.” Rolling her eyes, she indicated the open door. “I have work to do.”
“As do I. And I will leave.” He adjusted his hat, brushing through the space to stand before her again. “Tell you what—take a week or two to consider. My brother told me there has been some trouble on the streets, and while I know you can handle yourself, I don’t want you to take unnecessary risks. So, while Frederick is securing his marriage, we’ll all be extra careful with our persons. How does that sound?”
Before she could reply, Sol bent, capturing her lips again, stirring that burning longing anew before pressing his forehead to hers.
“You really think I’m going to say yes, don’t you?” she asked, working to keep her voice sharp, even as her senses reveled in his nearness.
“As you astutely guessed before, Hannah, I don’t like to lose,” he told her before giving her one last lingering kiss. “And I don’t intend to.”
And with a tip of his hat, he released her, trotting down the stairs as she stared after him.
Nary a smart retort in sight.
