Page 24 of How to Seduce a Duke this Autumn
“It’s only proper to escort a lady back to her friends,” his gruff voice came. “Also, let me know if you wish to continue our discussion.” And with that, he turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving her to blink after him. Continue their discussion? What discussion? A personal affront, perhaps. An embarrassing offer.
And the worst part, it was awfully tempting, too.
I can give you lessons to improve your dance.
Oh. That discussion.
I want to be friends.
“Proper. Pah!” Ashley muttered. “He didn’t escort his last dance partner off the floor. He left her in the middle of it and came straight to you!”
Charlene blinked.He had?She hadn’t even considered it.
“Tell me I’m hallucinating,” Maddie said. “You didn’t just waltz with him, did you?”
Charlene groaned, running a hand over her forehead. “I did. And no, you’re not hallucinating.”
Ashley raised a questioning brow. “And how was it to dance with the devil? Was his dancing just as devilish?”
“It was dreadful,” she admitted. One might even say it was a little corner of Dante’sInferno. “I was terrible.”
Ashley waved her comment away. “Don’t worry too much about it. You never excelled at dancing. And he seems to excel at it a bit too much.”
Still… did the blackguard really have to point it out?
Charlene’s cheeks burned as the entire dance flashed through her mind.
Just feel my body.
Those four words…
Why did they make her body feel so hot? And why did they replay in her head like a careless whisper that wouldn’t die down? Hah! It was a careless whisper from him! One laced with wickedness and sin.
She had felt his body, every inch of it. Broad shoulders, strong hands, and eyes that burned with something unfathomable. In fact, now that she thought about it, he moved like a predator on the prowl.
Gah! Charlene! Haven’t you learned your lesson with those Crosses before?
“Why?” Maddie asked, her fan snapping shut. “Why would you dance with him?”
“Do you think I had a choice?” Charlene muttered.
“Well, yes, we do think that,” Ashley said slyly. “You could have said no. Yes. No. Choice.”
“Don’t look at me like that,” Charlene said. “Even I don’t know why I said yes.”
Ashley chuckled. “Is he your rare orchid?”
“Of course not!” Never.
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t look so enchanted.”
Enchanted? “Don’t jest. I look nothing of the sort!” The word grated against her pride. She wasn’t some wide-eyed debutante swooning over a rogue. She knew better. She had been burned before, had vowed she would never be burned again.
But there was something about him she couldn’t ignore.
“All right then,” Ashley concurred. “I was just jesting.”
And then it happened again.
