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His words were cut short when the stick in Richard’s hand came too close to his nose.

James threw his hands up in the air and smiled.

Where James was fire, Richard was ice. And right now, he envied his friend for possessing that particular attribute.

Something was boiling inside him since that damned night. Since the moment he sawher, so petite and sweet and innocent. Her sharp, unforgiving tongue had challenged him. There was none of the fluttering of lashes or fake sighs. She never saw him as anything other than a friend of her brother-in-law—and a rake, at that.

That is a lie, a voice in his head hastened to correct him.

She did see more. When he pushed her against that table, her cheeks reddened, and her breathing quickened. Oh, what he wouldn’t give to throw her on the table and silence her smart mouth.

“James! Your turn. You know what? This is hopeless.” Richard tossed his stick on the table. “Brandy?”

Yes, lots of it.

James swallowed, his throat suddenly dry.

This can’t be happening.

Where did that thought come from? The image stirred him so deeply that he had to sit uncomfortably across from his friend. For all the practice he had in feigning nonchalance, he was almost losing it.

The moment the brandy was served, he emptied his glass.

Richard studied him. He knew that something was off.Hewas off.

“James, you will call on Diana.”

“I said, I will!” James snapped.

Richard was shocked but said nothing.

James clenched his jaw. Yet, seeing his friend avoid his gaze for fear that he might explode again was not a sentiment he liked.

“Come on, Seymour,” he joked with that practiced ease. “A little anticipation stirs the blood.”

Richard chuckled. Then, he kept laughing.

James felt irritated. This was not lighthearted. His friend was laughingathim.

“Crawford, go visit Diana and do your duty. Your silly, little games won’t work on her.”

“She is a woman, is she not? Allow me to disagree, then.”

Richard shook his head. “That would be one great wager, but I would never bet on my sister-in-law falling into your trap.”

“Your rules spoil all the fun.”

“And your fun disrupts my rules.”

James poured more brandy into the small, curved glass, and for some reason, his mind brought forth her full curves, the way she felt against him when he pushed the boundaries just as much. She had gasped. He remembered that sound well.

What would it take to make her breathless?

His eyes widened when debauched images rushed to his mind. Images of Diana breathless and flushed, her lips parted. He shifted uneasily on the armchair as if it was on fire.

“You seem to hold her in high regard, that sister-in-law of yours.” He was desperate for a distraction.

“I do. She is a proper lady. Well-bred and with exquisite manners.”