Page 866 of One More Kiss

“So do tell me, Miss Danvers, have you ever had a co-producer on one of your plays?”

She looked him in the eye, her gaze narrowing. “No. Not until now. Now there is this usurper who endeavors to oversee, nay, scrutinize, my every decision.”

He played along, and spoke of himself in the third person. “Who is this man? Does he not understand you are the queen, nay, the supreme empress of the drama department? How you will not be usurped?”

“He is, I am afraid, a lecherous fool from the hedonistic lands far, far west of here, in a place where money can buy you anything, even friends and lovers. I know little about him, but I fear he will ruin us all with his libertine ways and commanding—” she wrinkled her nose—“I mean, demanding ways.”

She flushed, and he pulled her ever so slightly closer, ceasing the endless swish of her skirts against his legs. Heat burned between them, or at least he burned for her. He longed to reach into her hair and pull out the pins holding her hair like a helmet to her scalp. The silkiness of those golden strands in his fingers… they would be soft, slipping through his hands as he pulled her face to his…and her lips, so red and damnably kissable it hurt his entire body even to glimpse them. His groin tightened, and he pulled back from her once more, not wanting to reveal his desire.

Instead, he continued their verbal play. “My dear lady, I will, when I meet this man, tell him he is in no way to demean you or defame you or otherwise engage you in licentious acts. Does that please you, my lady?”

“Indeed sir. I am afraid, though, he would not have such kind words for me, either. You see, I treated him rather poorly the day we met. Deserved or not, I did not give him a chance and now I am afraid he views me as a pox.”

“No man would ever see a lady as lovely as you as a pox, but shall I tell him of your contrition for your behavior? It might create more favor for you in his eyes.”

“Sir, your assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated. I do hope it is not too late.”

“I think not, but only time will tell, dear lady.”

The music faded out and he released her.

“Ah, my lady, alas, the song has ended and we must return to our reality before we are missed and rumors of our elopement, however false, scandalize all of Asheville.”

The corners of her mouth turned up, but she covered her mouth with her hands before he could see a complete smile. Unlike the one she gave him earlier this evening, this smile was genuine, revealed by the crinkling at the corners of her eyes.

He’d made headway with her, which would ease his transition into the college. The less tension the better, and even better might be to ease his own body’s tension with a stolen kiss, or more, from her late in the night when he took her home. Would she acquiesce? Still to be determined, but he suspected it would be damned fun trying.

And he needed a little harmless fun after the hell he’d been through the previous months.

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