Page 35 of To Catch A Rogue

"Proficient? If I kissed you, I hope you'd have more to say about it than that I wasproficient."

Her eyes narrowed. "Extremelyproficient. Expert even, though I have little enough experience to compare it to. And it's nice to be appreciated by a man, to be wanted, to be seen as female."

Charlie's gaze dipped to her bodice, and he perused her with slow, smoky intent. Lark's breath came a little quicker, a shiver of sensation working between her thighs. She wasn't completely innocent. She knew what that sensation meant.

"I've always known you were female."

"No," she protested. "You saw me as a little girl. The difference is, Valentin treated me as if I was a woman."

His gaze slid to her lips.

Don't you dare,she thought.

Please, said another little voice.

Thankfully, it didn't come out. She couldn't bring herself to beg, not when he'd been the one to twist her into knots all those years ago without a care in the world.

"Do you want me to treat you as if you're a woman?"

Panic flared.

"It meant nothing," she admitted quietly. "It was just a meaningless stolen kiss, a chance to lure him where I needed him."

"Didn't look like that," Charlie murmured, splaying one hand on the door beside her head.

Lark's breasts lifted with her swift intake of breath as he leaned in. Nervousness lit through her, she who was never nervous. But then the stakes had never been this high before, and once she took this step....

"Were you jealous?" she whispered, needing to know.

Charlie turned his head just slightly, his breath caressing her jaw. "Were you trying to make me jealous?"

Yes.Heaven help me, yes.

"That doesn't answer the question," she replied boldly.

"Nor mine."

Curse him for not giving her the answer she needed. Why could he not make this easy for her?

Fingertips brushed against her hip, and Lark looked up sharply.

An inch separated their mouths. Only her hand against his chest held him at bay, but it was weakening and he knew it.

"You were right in some respects," he admitted. "I haven't been treating you as a woman. The last time we were friends, youwerea girl. And I was just a boy. And I suppose if you want me to see you as a woman, then you need to accept I'm a man now too."

That had been apparent the moment those broad shoulders strode back into her life.

"You can't have it both ways. You can't flirt with me one second, then hold me at arm's length the next," he continued. "And you have been."

"It's not deliberate." She could scarcely breathe with him so close to her. "I'm not trying to... to encourage you and then push you away."

"No?"

"No.I'm just trying to find my feet with you now that everything's changed." She tipped her chin up. "And I'm not the only one flirting."

"Just not exclusively with me," he growled.

Lark ducked under his arm, needing some space. "For God's sake, Charlie, it was just a kiss. You've had dozens of them. You can at least allow me one."