Page 34 of A Slight Problem with the Wedding
More and more surprising revelations, to the point he was making her giddy. “You would have allowed me to explore you to my heart’s content?”
Amusement sparkled in those devastatingly gorgeous eyes of his. “Yes, Gory.”
She leaned further forward, eager to hear more. “Just how far would you have let me go?”
He arched an eyebrow. “Gad, are you really that innocent? I am a man. We are simple creatures. How far would you have wished to go? Every stitch of clothing removed?”
“Perhaps.” She blushed. “For scientific curiosity, mind you.”
He cast her a rakish grin. “Is that all? Merely science?”
“Well…” She cleared the sudden frog in her throat. “It would have been fun, too. I expect it would have been the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. You are quite finely proportioned. The breadth of your shoulders. Your muscled arms. Did you know that your body tapers perfectly from shoulders to hips?”
He remained grinning at her. “No, I did not.”
“Surely, one of your paramours must have told you. Your legs are long and nicely shaped. I’ll wager your organs are also in excellent condition.”
He laughed. “Stop right there. I will not have you dissecting me to find out.”
“I would never do such a thing!”
“Teasing you, Gory.” He took her hand again and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I doubt I have ever held such a conversation with another young lady.”
“Although plenty have enjoyed undressing you and kissing you.”
He shook his head and emitted a softer, rumbling laugh. “Not a suitable topic for conversation, especially not with you.”
“Because I am unmarried?”
“Because you are blessedly innocent when it comes to men.”
“And likely to remain so,” she thought morosely. “I don’t think I can go through with marrying Lord Allendale. I am going to call off my wedding, Julius. I’ll talk to you and Havers before I say anything to him. But how can I marry him when I no longer trust him? So, I will likely end my days a forlorn spinster because no one else will ever propose to me.”
“Why are you so convinced Allendale is the only man who will ever offer to marry you?”
She shrugged. “He is the only one who has done so up to now.”
“You are still young, Gory.”
“Precisely my point. I am at my desirable best right now, and the only offer I have had is from a man who finds me as fetching as his liverish grandmother. What will change to suddenly make me desirable to others? Other than you, no one has danced with me more than once. They all run off screaming.”
A smile twitched at the corners of his lips. “Because you purposely scare the wits out of any gentleman who dares brave a dance with you. Admit it, Gory. Conversations about cadavers and blood splatter are not going to endear you to any man partnering you.”
“I do not do it all the time,” she muttered. “Only to those I wish to chase away.”
“Which seems to be all of them so far. Except for me. I always enjoy dancing with you.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’ve only done so out of obligation.”
“You are wrong about all of it, Gory. I have never felt obliged to dance with you.”
She sniffed. “You’ve done it out of pity, then.”
“Nor out of pity,” he said with insistence. “Assuming we get through this situation, I can assure you that you will receive at least one other proposal of marriage in your lifetime.”
“Care to wager on it? From whom? The only men I ever talk to are you and your brothers and the staff at the Huntsford Academy. Well, Marigold’s husband, too. And her Farthingale family.”
“I am not going to wager with you because I would win too easily. It would be the same as stealing from you.”
