Page 99 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
God knows why I did.
I knew he was only saying it to wind me up, but reacting to him was like a reflex. Like when a doctor smacks their little hammer tool against your knee and your leg goes ‘boing.’
Really, at this point, I should have been able to control myself, but he just brought something out of me.
Crazy.
It was my crazy that he brought out.
Ugh.
If tangled Christmas lights were a person, they’d be me.
Or my feelings, rather.
This man was a nuisance.
“Pick one.” Thomas set down a bottle of wine, a bottle of gin, and a fancy bottle of whiskey, turning each one until I could see the name on the label.
“What is this?” I asked, scanning each one.
“Me trying to get you drunk enough to enjoy my company.”
“Thomas, this is an emergency sleepover, not Fresher’s Week. Calm down.”
“Yes, but the more you’re drinking, the more you’re warming up to me. The Sylvie of two weeks ago would never be in my house playing Connect-4 with me.”
“That’s appreciation for not leaving me stranded in the snow. Don’t think too much into it. You’ll give yourself a headache.”
“Sylvie, I’ve had a headache ever since I ran into you at the café.” He dropped back down onto the floor in front of the bottles and moved the Connect-4 board to the side.
“Look at that, we have something in common after all.”
His lips tugged to the side. “Make your choice, or I’m not playing you in Connect-4 again.”
“What are you, a child?”
“If I am, it’s a huge problem since you kissed me.”
“I didn’t kiss you.”
“You kissed me. Face it.”
I leant back against the sofa and folded my arms across my chest. “That wasn’t a kiss. Not really.”
“How so?” He raised his eyebrows.
“If I’d wanted to kiss you properly, I’d have kissed you properly. And you’d know the difference between that and that accidental peck.”
Something sparked in his eyes. “Someone’s a bit confident in her kissing skills, isn’t she?”
I reached for the wine and cracked the screw cap. “Well, when someone can bring a man to his knees with a kiss, she’s allowed to be confident.”
“Bring a man to his knees? Really?”
“I said what I said.”
“Have you ever brought a man to his knees?”
