Page 103 of Frankly, My Dear

To his amazement, he realized that he was beginning to understand her foolish riddles and answered, “A frog’s undivided attention?”

Her pink glossed lips parted with surprise. “That’s not the right answer.”

He smiled with satisfaction. “Ah, but a better one, don’t you think? I believe that’s my point, Selene. What’s the score?”

He turned to ask Andrew how his crops did in this hot summer weather, but his neighbor had been pulled into a discussion with his wife and James’s mother about the landscaping work Rufus had started. Pierce, on the other hand, had been following his conversation with Selene, as evidenced by his appreciative eyes raking Selene’s body, no doubt imagining all that bare skin beneath. A grin twitched beneath his mustache.

God, I hate mustaches. James barely stifled a growl.

“I’ve always liked a good joke, Miss Selene. In fact, the Indians are great ones for telling riddles, you know. Perhaps you would like to hear a few I learned whilst a Sioux captive a few years back.”

“No!”

Selene and Pierce both raised their eyebrows at James’s vehement response. He counted to ten to calm himself, then asked bluntly, “So when will you be returning West?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Pierce drawled. “I had thought to stay only a few weeks, but now…” He shrugged, his eyes still locked on Selene’s body.

She twisted in her seat slightly to get a better view of the hyacinth blossom his mother held up for Ellen, and James could have sworn he saw the seams pull in the tucks just beneath her upraised breasts.

Pierce noticed, too. His eyes connected with James’s as if to say, And you’re getting rid of this woman? Are you mad?

Selene stood abruptly. “I think I’ll go to the kitchen and see if Blossom has some drinks prepared for us. We won’t be eating dinner for another hour.”

“I’ll go with you,” Pierce volunteered, standing. He winked suggestively at Selene as he spoke.

“Over my dead body.”

Selene and Pierce looked at James questioningly once again.

“I’ll help Selene. I have to go to the library anyhow to get some bourbon,” James explained weakly, hating the heated blush that crept up his neck to his face.

Selene blinked at him in confusion. Pierce nodded in sudden understanding.

Shoving Pierce rudely back into his chair as he passed, James said in a low voice, “If you wink at Selene one more time, I’m going to cut off your balls.”

He heard Pierce chortling with amusement behind him as he entered the house.

“What did you say to Pierce?”

“I told him his trousers were unbuttoned.”

She gasped. “You did not.”

“How do you know, Selene? Were you looking…there?”

With quick thinking, she countered saucily, “You betcha I was, James, and I liked what I saw. A lot.”

She had the good sense to duck out of his reach, heading down the back stairs to the kitchen. “Gotcha, James. That’s another point for me,” she called gaily over her shoulder. Then she peeked back around the corner, her wonderfully expressive eyes twinkling with devilment. “How do you know when a blonde is really conceited?”

He shook his head in mock despair.

“She calls out her own name when she comes.” With those blunt words, she was gone, leaving him to marvel at her warped sense of humor. Ladies of his acquaintance would never tell such a risqué joke. But then, he admitted, ladies of his acquaintance bored him. Selene did not.

While he was pulling several bottles from the cabinet, Andrew and Pierce entered the library, closing the door after them.

“We’ve been hearing some alarming stories about activities here at Bayou Noir,” Andrew said with concern. “Is it true someone’s been trying to kill you?”

James nodded and updated them on Victor’s activities. Both men offered their help in trapping his nefarious brother and bringing him to justice. He might need them.