Page 74 of His Scandal
He looked up her arm and found her gazing at him wide-eyed.
“Emmeline, does this work?” he asked, lifting his head ever so slightly, letting his breath warm her hand. Her hesitation fed his victory.
“I—I suppose ’twould not betooimproper.”
He released her and stepped back. “Your turn, Max.”
Emmeline gathered her composure as she watched Maxwell take her hand. He kissed it, even lingered, but…it was not the same. Over his head she looked up at Alex, who was staring at her in obvious triumph. Oh, why did he have to know that his kiss affected her more than Maxwell’s?
Maxwell released her and stepped back. “What if a woman does not freely give me her hand?”
Emmeline knew he was imagining Blythe’s rejection.
“Then you take it,” Alex said. “A woman does not always know what is best for her.”
Glaring, she fisted her hands on her hips. “I beg your pardon?”
He held up both hands and laughed. “Perhaps my choice of words was poor. Let us say, ‘A woman does not always know her own mind.’”
She shook her head.
“‘A woman does not always know how she feels about you until you show her’?” he asked, his voice softening.
Emmeline swallowed heavily. “Still not accurate, but not so insulting.”
“Thank you, my lady.”
“Shall we move on to another topic?” she asked, knowing Maxwell watched them with curious eyes.
Alex studied her thoughtfully, his brow furrowed, and even had the audacity to walk about, perusing her from all sides.
“What are you doing?” she finally demanded.
“Deciding what to teach next. My lady, it is not as if I ever deliberately think of the way I relate to a woman. It comes very naturally to me.”
Emmeline suppressed an unladylike snort.
He held up a hand. “I have it! Max, it’s often about how you look at a woman, as well as what you say. A woman wants to know she’s the center of your thoughts—at the moment, anyway—and she should be able to read that on your face. Look deeply into her eyes and don’t look away. Emmeline?”
He caught up her hand again, pressing his lips to the back of it.
“You already demonstrated this,” she said tightly.
“We must reinforce the lesson,” he murmured, then looked up at her with laughing eyes.
But the laughter died and he stared at her as he slowly straightened to his full height. She looked into those black, mysterious depths, transfixed by the intensity and the banked emotion he usually kept hidden.
Then it was all suddenly gone, as if it had never existed.
He grinned at a wide-eyed Maxwell. “Do you see what I mean?”
Emmeline felt like slumping into a chair, as if she were a puppet with her strings cut.
Maxwell shook his head. “I could hardly stare in silence at a woman, Alex. I’d be laughed out of the room.”
“I admit, there’s a trick to knowing exactly how long is enough. But you could be complimenting the style of her gown meanwhile, or the color of her eyes. Women love compliments, don’t they, Emmeline?”
“Uh…of course, provided it’s tastefully done and not to the extreme.”
