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“Did you know?”

He arched his eyebrows. He sat, but she remained standing. Her whole body seemed to quiver, but he assumed it was a trick of the dark.

“That you had come to me like a thief in the night? No. You convinced my butler to betray the servitude of his job. You are quite impertinent yourself, doing whatever you please.” He threw her words back at her and watched for her reaction, but it didn’t bring him joy. He made to rise. “It’s late, Miss Helen, and I will ask for a coach to take you home. I don’t want to compromise you any further.”

He inwardly cursed himself. Now his thoughts were drawn back to their kiss. Theirmind-bogglingkiss. He tried to stop it, but her scent permeated the air. The whole room was engulfed by her existence, and her soft lips were right there. Full and needing a friend.

“I see you’re angry.”

How insightful.

“But you have to understand…” She tilted up her head and regarded him, and her eyes were aflame. “You haven’t been the most agreeable.”

Confronting a duke impudently? He needed this woman, and no amount of pretense could mask it.

“I am a woman, and I expect gentleness—even from a duke. You are wealthy—you could afford it.”

What was she talking about?

However, this was his second lesson on women in a day. Was he so clueless about the opposite gender?

“If you had tried to at least charm me?—”

“How do you suppose I should have done that?”

“Get to know me! My likes, my dislikes. Do I like milk with my tea? Do I have any flowers I am averse to?”

“Why would I care about your aversion to flowers? I don’t run a florist.”

“No, you don’t.”

Disappointment.

James was right. Women loved to unravel a man. They never believed their eyes but their heart. But the heart was very deceptive. His at the moment was beating—no,poundingin his chest.

“I didn’t mean anything I just said… No, I did.”

Women are such paradoxical creatures. He needed to keep a journal just to understand her.

“You’re a human, not a frigid pole.”

They were so close, and she jabbed her finger into his chest.

“If I charm you, would you come willingly to me?”

“I-I suppose.” Her emotions were fickle. One moment, heat was rising to her cheeks, and the next to her eyes. “Then I would not go to embarrassing lengths to make my person unappealing to you.” She clapped her hands over her mouth. “I didn’t mean that, Your Grace.”

The corners of his lips twitched, and he cocked his eyebrows.

“Did you know?”

He could not hide the amusement in his voice. “Know what?”

“That I was purposely trying to make myself unattractive to you?”

“What do you think?”

“I am sorry. My family had nothing to do with it. I decided entirely on my own.”