Page 66 of The Trouble with Anna

Anna’s jaw clenched. “Your grandmother was quite clear that we must pretend to be engaged, at least for a while.”

“Then by all means, let’s pretend. I’d hate to disappoint my grandmother.” Julian pulled her close and she squeaked. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said, his voice scraping roughly across her skin. “I’m pretending. This is how I would hold you, if you were my fiancée. I’d hold you as close as I could without causing scandal.”

“I see.” Anna tried to ignore the black of his jacket, how it almost touched her cheek. Just a few more inches and she could rest her face against his chest. She returned doggedly to her subject. “Tell me, my lord, do people really pack in like this for entertainment?”

He barked a laugh, a strange, harsh sound. “More polite conversation? If I were your fiancé, we wouldn’t talk about thecrowd. I’d tell you I lost my sanity the moment I met you. I’d say you stole it, just as you stole my reason and my—”

“Enough!” Anna pushed back against the circle of his arms. “You may not like me, but there’s no need to tease me like this!”

His arms tightened around her. “Notlikeyou? My god, Anna, is that what you—”

“I don’t want to discuss it!”

Julian’s face darkened, even as he continued to spin her deftly around the room. “Very well. But we will talk about your future. Perhaps not now, but soon.”

“My future is no longer your concern!”

“Last I looked, I’m still your guardian. I’ve spoken with my lawyers. I can’t recover Chatham, but I’ll buy the horses for you and provide a settlement large enough to start a stable of your own.”

“Settlement?” Humiliation left Anna scorched. “I won’t take it.”

“I won’t leave you destitute.”

“Only a very rich man could call me destitute!” she cried. “Besides, Charlotte and I have a—”

Anna snapped her mouth shut, but the damage was done.

Julian searched her face, arrested.

Guilt heated her cheeks, but his mouth began to curve and his tension fell away. The more rattled Anna got, the wider and more infuriating his smile.

“Charlotte and you…?” he prompted. “I’m afraid I didn’t catch that.”

Julian let the silence stretch out, long enough for Anna to trip on it.

The little troublemaker. What was she up to that was making her flustered, harassed, and pinker by the moment?

“I’m afraid I cut you off?” he offered politely. “I could have sworn you were about to say something.”

“Nothing interesting!” she snapped.

What a pretty pink she’d turned, the color of Cook’s bonbonsthat Julian tortured himself over. He was overcome with thoughts of sugar, and nibbling, and the shockingly addictive feel of Anna’s mouth. It wouldn’t take a moment to whisk her up the stairs and into Lord Maltraver’s rather notorious study.

He spun her around the dance floor, navigating neatly into a corner where his broad back and a convenient potted tree blocked her from the rest of the room. Anna’s neck was looking particularly naked tonight, and if they were in Maltraver’s study Julian could give in to his increasingly irresistible urge to lean over and—

He brought himself up short and bitterness flooded back. She wasn’t his to nibble. She wasn’t his at all.

In fact, she hated him.

Anna pushed up on her tiptoes and tried to peek over his shoulder. “How did you do that?”

“Do what?” She always smelled so fresh, like lemons dipped in sugar. He frowned. Tonight she smelled smoky and almost peaty, like…

She looked up at him, full of accusation. “We were in the middle of the dance floor and all of a sudden it feels as if we’re completely alone. What a peculiar talent! Is it something all gentlemen can do?”

Julian frowned. “If any other gentleman attempts it, inform me at once.”

“Oh? But you may do as you wish?”

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