“I know the general particulars,” she said, nodding again. “Let’s have it over with.”
His mouth opened and closed several times, as if he simply couldn’t find anything useful to say. She frowned thoughtfully, then stroked her chin for good measure.
“Should we have asked Jamie for suggestions?”
He gaped at her. She supposed she shouldn’t have teased him so terribly, but she had to admit she was beginning to understand why his lads did it so often. ‘Twas especially satisfying when she saw in his eyes the moment he realized what she was doing. He looked at her shrewdly.
“I’m not sure if I should be relieved or embarrassed by what I’m about to say,” he ventured, “but I have done this before so it might not be as awful as it could be.”
She gasped. “You libertine!” Then she paused and looked at him with a frown. “I’ve said that before to you, haven’t I?”
“At least once.”
She took a pair of steps forward and put her hands on his chest, then smiled up at him. “I’m teasing you.”
“I know.”
She smiled at him. “I’m trying to put you at ease.”
“I wasn’t nervous,” he said defensively.
“Oliver, you were speaking of another supper.”
“I’m a lad,” he said with a shrug. “We’re simple creatures.”
She laughed a little, because he was so much more than that and she loved him desperately. “But you’re very charming creatures, so why don’t you attend to your work?”
“Will you spend the evening blushing?” he asked.
“Willyou?”
“Very likely.”
She waited.
He looked at her and made no move.
She supposed the present moment was not the one to begin to worry in truth, but she was damned close to it. Oliver was a magnificent, braw, deliciously fashioned man, but he looked as if he might be contemplating a trip to the gallows. She lifted one eyebrow and looked at him pointedly, but that only resulted in his clearing his throat and taking a deep breath.
“We could begin by holding hands,” he said carefully, as if he expected her to run screaming into the night at the first wrong word.
She blinked. “Hold hands?”
He nodded. “Very proper and polite. The Duke of Birmingham would have approved, I’m certain.”
She felt herself begin to frown and couldn’t stop. “Is that all?”
“I could give you a fairly interested look or two.”
She glared at him and didn’t bother to stopthat.
“We could also kiss,” he said thoughtfully. “One or two, perhaps, and very chaste.”
“Would it ruin the evening if I reached for my knife and stabbed you?”
He looked at her solemnly. “It might.”
She started to give him the proper tongue-lashing he deserved when she realized his eyes were twinkling.
