Page 49 of Affair

Baxter took a step forward. “Charlotte—”

“And in my dream, I know that I will fail to protect my sister.”

“It’s only a dream, Charlotte.” Baxter hesitated. “I have one of my own that recurs from time to time and is unpleasant enough to awaken me in the middle of the night.”

She searched his face. “Dreams can be troublesome things.”

“Yes.” Baxter set his glass down on a nearby table. “Let us talk of other things.”

“Of course. Our inquiries.”

“No, not our inquiries. Did you enjoy your waltz?”

“With Lennox?” Charlotte grimaced. “I believe I know why Drusilla Heskett was in the habit of comparing him to a stallion.”

Baxter raised his brows.

Charlotte chuckled. “His lordship does, indeed, possess a great deal of stamina. When the music stopped, I felt as though I had just finished a brisk morning ride on a sturdy jumper.”

Baxter gazed thoughtfully at her for a moment. “Did I tell you that you looked very lovely this evening?”

She blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“I rather thought that I had neglected to pay you any compliments. My apologies.”

“Do not concern yourself, Mr. St. Ives.” She folded her hands on her desk and gave him a blinding smile. “We are business associates, not intimate friends.”

“There is something else I neglected to do.” He walked behind the desk and reached down to close his hands around Charlotte’s bare shoulders. Her skin was warm and impossibly soft.

“What was that?”

“I did not ask you to dance with me.” He hauled her lightly to her feet. “Do you think that if we had danced the waltz together earlier this evening, you would now be able to call me by my first name?”

Her eyes were very green in the lamplight. She smiled as she put her arms slowly around his neck. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask me and we shall see?”

“Dance with me, Charlotte.”

“I would be very pleased to dance with you, Baxter.”

This was what he had been waiting for all evening, he thought. This was what he needed.

He bent his head and took her mouth.

Eight

Baxter was conducting some sort of experiment. Charlotte knew it with absolute certainty as soon as his lips touched hers. This kiss was different from the one they had shared in the carriage the other night. Even as he pulled her close against him and tightened his arms around her, she could feel him holding back something of himself.

It was as though he thought to observe and control the results of the embrace. She wondered if he believed that he could regulate his own desire the way he did the flames he used to heat volatile chemicals.

With understanding came a shock of anger. She was not some curious mixture to be tested and examined in a laboratory. Charlotte tightened her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him. She was suddenly determined to show Baxter that he could not remain an aloof observer of his own passion.

If this was an experiment, she decided, he was as much a part of it as she.

“Charlotte.” Baxter’s mouth moved on hers, tasting, probing, exploring. His hands moved up to cradle her head. He shoved his fingers into her hair, loosening the pins. “Say my name again.”

“Baxter.” Excitement flowed through her, so bright and hot that she could not believe that he did not feel it also.

“Again.” He slid his thumbs along the line of her jaw.

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