Page 30 of Tempted By an Unconventional Lady
“Very obviously a speedwell,” she snapped. “The only clue I cannot get isa well-dressed cat.”
Charlotte sensed rather than saw the duke’s surprised glance at her from behind. She didn’t hesitate to consider it, instead finding the lilac and snipping it a bit off, placing it into her reticule along with the snapdragon which poked comically from the top.
She stormed next to the sunflowers and though she picked the smallest one, it would not, of course, fit into the tiny pouch she carried from her wrist. When she straightened,holding the flower and looking about her for a solution, she caught the duke gazing at her and smiling.
“Why on earth are you looking at me like that?” she demanded.
“Because the yellow of the sunflower is reflecting off your face, and it looks simply beautiful. You are both as tender and as hardy as any flower, my lady. Did you know that?”
“I…” Charlotte tried to speak but the words did not come. She had never before been compared to something so dainty as a flower, and yet in the same sentence he had recognized her strength. “Thank you…” she said, her eyes glued to his. “For your kindness, I mean.” She stumbled over the words, her heart loud in her ears, the yearning crying out for him. “Yes, thank you.”
The duke smiled such a gentle, loving smile, and he stepped closer to her. She tensed as he raised his hand and brushed a curl of hair around her ear.
“What are you doing?” she asked in a whisper.
“Give me the sunflower,” he replied.
He held out his hand, but he did not look. He didn’t pull his gaze away from her. She handed it over wordlessly, and he slipped it behind her ear with the curl. When he stepped back to admire his work, she wanted to reach out and pull him back toher. But he looked at her so openly, so full of appreciation, that she coyly smiled in return.
“There,” he said brightly. “That’s the perfect spot for it. A flower for a flower.”
He’d broken the tension with his brightness. “I amnota flower,” she snapped and turned to march away again.
He rolled his eyes as he caught up to her. “No, of course not,” he replied plainly. “May I ask what it is I have done to offend you this time?”
“Nothing.”
“Evidently,” he muttered. “I often notice that the mood turns sour when there is absolutely nothing wrong.”
Charlotte spun around, suddenly furious again. At him, for existing. At herself, for expecting anything more than she had ever received. At her body, for its betrayal of her frustration. At him, for not kissing her.
At him.
“It is not I who turned the mood sour, Your Grace.”
“What did I do?” he cried.
“You should not tease a woman who has never been kissed with the potential of a kiss!”
Chapter 12
Miss Charlotte threw her hand to her mouth as she gasped, her eyes wide in horror at her own words. Alexander paused, shocked. He’d wanted to kiss her; he’d been so very tempted. But he hadn’t realized it had been so obvious. And neither had he realized she wanted it. With a growl of petulant frustration, she turned and once again marched away.
He blinked, watching her go for a long moment, her buttocks swaying as she walked. But then he laughed. The entire situation was amusing, but her frustration was both beautiful and alluring.
“I’m sorry,” he said without meaning it, “but did you just say you’ve never been kissed?”
“Please forget I said anything,” she said, not slowing her steps. “What else is on the list?”
“Forgive me boldness, but I must know. How is it you have reached your age without ever being kissed?”
Alexander hurried to catch up with her. Her cheeks were as red as the snapdragon that brushed against her wrist, and the bright yellow of the sunflower bounced off her forehead. He laughed again, this time with abandon.
She stopped and snarled at him. “And what, tell me, do you find so funny now? Is it really so amusing that I have never been kissed?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. It’s just…” He raised his hand to indicate her face and laughed again. “Draped in flowers and with such bright cheeks, you look like a garden sprite or a little flower fairy.”
She stared at him in horror for a long moment, and Alexander worried that he had made yet another mistake. But then she broke into giggles, a hand to her lips and turning away from him. She reached up to take the sunflower out, but he reached forward and grabbed her hand.
