The Problem with Seduction - By Emma Locke Page 0,136
and she spun around. “Get out.”
It was too easy for Roman to take up every inch of space in a large room. In this tiny study, he commanded it. “Tsk, tsk, Miss Lancester. I came all the way here, and let me inform you, it is not an easy journey. There were god-awful hacks and cramped rooms and all manner of tolls to pay. The least you could do is offer me a pretty smile.”
She drank him in, even as she wished him to Hades. He was well over six feet, the tallest man she knew. His bright yellow curls bobbed in loose ringlets. Half the ton wore blond wigs now in a ridiculous attempt to imitate a man who simply couldn’t be replicated.
Long ago, as a schoolroom miss, she’d memorized his crystalline eyes and long, patrician nose. He stood at a rakish angle in her doorway, one leg slightly in front of other, one hand on the knob, and flashed her a smile meant to make her insides quiver. “Miss me?”
Zeus, he was conceited. “Not in the least. If that is all—”
He took two steps into the room. His dark blue greatcoat swished and the door slammed closed behind him. “It’s not all, Miss Lancester. I’d say we’ve barely started. Wouldn’t you?”
She gritted her teeth. He was the beginning of her story, not the end. “This is my property. Please remove yourself from it before I’m forced to employ drastic measures.”
His blue eyes widened. He grinned wolfishly. “Anything that brings you closer to me. Please, continue with your threat of bodily harm. I look forward to it.”
He was impossible! “I’m not afraid of you.”
He took another step closer. “Then why did you just move behind your desk?” One fine blond brow rose. “Are you going to stick me with that letter opener?”
She looked down and uncurled her fist. She let the dull silver blade drop onto her desk. Had she picked it up? Did she really require a weapon to defend herself from that belly-quivering smile?
He closed the remaining distance and pulled out a brass-studded chair. He seated himself before her desk, then suddenly came to his feet again. “Please, have a seat, Miss Lancester. I wouldn’t want to be rude.”
“Insufferable,” she muttered.
“Pardon me?” He arched that blond brow again. A smirk played on his lips.
“I said you’re insufferable.”
“Oh, now that’s not very fair, is it?” He took a step to his right and she skittered back toward the window. Her gaze fixed on a watch dangling from a leather fob attached to his ivory waistcoat. He was still smirking, doing too many dangerous things to her insides. “You didn’t seem to mind me much before.”
She looked up at that. “What do you want?”
Both brows rose at the same time, as if he couldn’t possibly guess what she meant. “Me? Can’t an old family friend pay a call on his best friend’s sister, without her reaching for her smelling salts?”
She drew up hotly. “I’m not—”
He flashed his teeth at her. “Aren’t you?” When she didn’t reply, he took another step toward her. “It is good to see me again, is it not? You must have been wondering where I’ve been. Where does a man disappear to after having his heart crushed under the hard heel of a woman’s shoe? Crushed,” he took a step around the back of the desk, “stomped on,” another step, “ground right into the carpet.” The last step brought him within arm’s reach of her. Her heart thudded so hard, surely he could hear it.
He didn’t need to hear it. Her lips were pursed, slightly parted for a kiss, and her eyes had widened with want. Zeus, next she’d be disrobing for him, and he hadn’t even tried to kiss her yet!
She scrambled around the desk and moved to the door. She turned and stood tall—now she could dart to safety if he tried anything more. “Don’t be ridiculous. I didn’t hurt you any more than you hurt me.”
“Now that,” he said, pausing to draw the yellow curtain back and peep out of her window, “I do believe. Can you imagine how it’s pained me to know that while I was watching you from afar, nearly undone by the poetry babbling in my heart, you weren’t even aware of me? My poor pride, you know. I’ve spent the last five months in abject misery.”
Yes, well, that had been the plan. She crossed her arms under her breasts and tried not to look too pleased with