out of your uniform as in your having no clothes on. You know I did not mean that.” But heaven help her, now that the thought was in her head, she could not get rid of it. Ronan without clothes? His muscled body on full display?
She felt her cheeks heat and knew she was blushing from her scalp to her toes.
“Queen Pea, try not to be so obvious in what you are thinking.” His eyes were gleaming, and his mouth was turned upward in the hint of a smile.
“What?”
He caught her teacup and steadied it before she spilled tea on her gown. “Oh.”
“Not that I mind your undressing me. Are you enjoying the fantasy?”
She eeped.
“Obviously, being male, this is the thought that crosses my mind every time I set eyes on you. This was my thought from the first moment I met you. Low brain fully in control. Heart in spasms. Lungs squeezed tight. Beautiful girl. The most beautiful I’ve ever beheld. How would she look without her clothes?”
“Ronan!” She ought to have slapped him and walked off. Fortunately, no one was close enough to have overheard their conversation. Since there was no harm done, she did not bother to feign outrage when she wasn’t really offended. If anything, she was intrigued. “Do you mean it?”
“Yes, Queen Pea. You still have this effect on me.”
“Most interesting. Well, lately, my heart has been fluttering whenever I see you. I feel suddenly breathless, too. I shouldn’t be telling you this, I suppose. But since we are being honest with each other, you may as well know. You probably understand what’s happening to me far better than I do.”
“It’s all set out in those chapters we read. The discussion about the five senses. This is the way our brain responds when in the company of someone pleasing to us. Remember the opening paragraph?”
She winced. “No. Remind me.”
“Our brain controls our responses, sending signals to the other parts of our body. When I first saw you, my brain immediately recognized that I liked you. It sent commands to my organs. Heart, start beating faster. Lungs, stop filling with air. Eyes, open wider to take her all in.”
She laughed. “I think I am far better off having you read the book and explaining it to me. I’m learning nothing on my own. I even peeked ahead a few chapters, for all the good it did me. I think my brain is still too numb to decipher what it is reading.”
“Understandable. The other problem you have is that you do not have any romantic experience. Gerald was never a proper beau. That much is obvious.”
“Yes, I agree. Gerald was very bad for me. This knowledge will not be wasted. It is a hard lesson learned and not soon forgotten. Hopefully, never repeated.”
They spoke no longer as a bell rang to summon everyone to the music room for the concert that would soon begin. “Ready, Queen Pea?”
He held out his arm to her once more.
When she took hold of it, she felt a sudden awareness of his strength. Of course, she had always been aware of his size and brawn, but this time was different. She was responding with all the ‘feels’ described in The Book of Love. Heart flutters. Breathless feeling. Blood rushing. But there was another response that she was not quite prepared for.
It was as though her body was preparing itself for Ronan’s intimate touch. Certain parts of her were awakened as they never had been before.
She began to squirm.
He glanced at her with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Let’s find seats. The place is filling up fast. Do you prefer to be up front or tucked away in the back?”
He shrugged. “Wherever you like.”
She chose seats toward the middle, finding two that were at the end of the row. It would be easier for her and Ronan to leave if they needed to make a quick escape. Not that she expected to find the need, but if Gerald behaved oddly again, she wanted to keep her options open.
They had just taken their seats when she felt Ronan tense. “Lady Melinda is here,” he muttered.
“What about her father? Do you see him?”
Ronan nodded. “Time to start gazing at me adoringly, Queen Pea. The game is afoot.”
“I’ll do my best. Let’s hope Gerald doesn’t ruin it.”
He arched an eyebrow. “I hope he does. Fighting over you is not such a bad idea. Everyone would notice and be talking about it for the rest of the week, if