Page 21 of In the Prince's Bed

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Of course, I’m taking a risk, too.” Like the possibility that Lovelace would crack under the pressure and offer for her before Alec could secure her. “I might fall madly foryou,and then you’d run off with Lovelace and breakmyheart.”

She sniffed. “Right. Directly after you give all your goods to the poor and become a lowly rector in the country.”

His eyes narrowed. “Since you’ve got my ‘sort’ so neatly figured out, you shouldn’t have any trouble resisting me. Knowledge is the best defense.”

As they moved through the steps of the waltz, she frowned. Thank God he excelled at anything that required good balance, coordination, and sense of timing. Otherwise, he would have trod on her skirts a dozen times by now while trying to read her thoughts.

“There would have to be rules,” she said at last.

He suppressed a triumphant smile. “Of course.”

“You can’t kiss me, for one thing.”

Blast it. “What enjoyment can I find in that? I said I wanted to chase you, not trail behind you like your pet pony.” He swept her close. “Besides, if you’re wise to my ‘sort,’ what can a few kisses hurt?”

“No kissing,” she repeated stubbornly. “Or no deal.”

He considered refusing, but then she’d simply rebuff his attempts at courtship. Besides, she might protest his kisses in a well-lit, noisy ballroom, but when he had her alone in the dark…

He smothered a grin. He could work around her rules. And there were more ways to entice a woman than by kissing her. She had set the bar a little higher, but he could handle the jumps. “All right.” When she smiled, he added, “But I have rules of my own.”

Her smile faltered. “You don’t get to have rules.”

“I’m doing you a favor, remember? And I just agreed to take half the fun out of it by not kissing you.”

She grimaced. “So what are your rules, my lord?”

Her formality made him stiffen. “The first is that you not call me ‘my lord’ when we’re alone.”

“You don’t take any of the proprieties seriously, do you?”

“Not if I can help it.” To prove it, he slipped his hand up beneath the gold sash around her waist and caressed the smooth silk beneath, delighting when she blushed prettily. He loved women who blushed. There seemed so few of them left. “I’d rather you called me Alec in private.”

“All right…Alec.”

Hearing her use his Christian name made him want to drag her out into the bushes and behave exactly like the “sort” of man she thought him to be.

Too bad he was a gentleman. “The second rule is that you inform me of all your plans. If you accept an invitation to a ball, then I should know about it, so I can show up to pursue you.” He dragged his thumb over her silk-sheathed ribs.

“Th-that sounds fair,” she said in a breathy little whisper that turned his blood to molten heat.

He pressed his advantage. “I expect complete honesty from you—no seeing Lovelace behind my back.” When she scowled, he added, “You mustn’t fall into old habits. If I’m not around, you might revert to the role of patient friend, and he’ll return to his former complacency. Then you’ll be back where you started.”

“I begin to think I shouldn’t haveleftwhere I started,” she grumbled.

“Standing on a gallery unkissed and unbetrothed?”

She glared at him.

“And one more thing—when you’re with me, you can’t discuss Lovelace beyond planning our next encounter with him. I want no dreamy accounts of your first meeting and no whining about how he doesn’t appreciate your undying love.” He added dryly, “We both know there will be no gushing about your first kiss.”

Color suffused her cheeks. “First of all, I do not whine or gush. Secondly, why do you care if I talk about Sydney?”

“Because I’m supposed to get some enjoyment from this game, remember? And I won’t get it from listening to a woman prattle on about another man.”

She looked insulted. “I don’t prattle, either.”