“But what if it goes wrong?”he burst out desperately.
“If it isn’t any good, then we’ll know,” Constance returned with a shrug.
She hadn’t understood him.She thought he was afraid he wouldn’t like it.
That was not remotely what Neil was afraid of.
Belatedly, his mind caught up with the rest of her words.“Wait.Knowwhat?”
“Whether it’s worth doing it again, silly.”
Again.
The word made Neil dizzy.
Constance set her fingers against the flat surface of Neil’s chest.With the slightest pressure, she propelled him backward until his spine bumped against the wall.
She stood close enough that the swell of her breasts under her blouse brushed against Neil’s torso.The movement of her breath was an exquisite form of torture.His self-control fractured dangerously in response.
Her hand rose to the top of his shirt, where her fingers traced his collarbone, drawing trails of fire over his skin.
“We’re trapped in a hole in the ground,” he pointed out tightly.
“Obviously,” Constance retorted.
“Shouldn’t we be doing something more…”
He trailed off, at a loss for what word he had meant to say.
“We’re just passing the time, Stuffy,” Constance retorted.“Think of it like charades.”
Nice, harmless charades.
This did not feel like charades.
Neil knew what he ought to do.He should remove her hand from his skin and gently set her back a step.It would only take a few words to straighten things out between them and return their relationship to its nice, safe status quo.Doing that would demonstrate respect for Constance’s family, who had taken him into their home and their lives with a warm and easy welcome.It would honor her relationship with Neil’s sister, whom he loved dearly and never wanted to hurt.
Constance would be disappointed.She would probably make his life miserable for a while in revenge for thwarting her whim, but it was clearly the sensible thing to do.
Neil had always preferred things to be sensible.
“Just a kiss,” he blurted out.
Which was not the right answer at all.
Constance’s mouth curved with wicked triumph.“I’m sure that will be sufficient.”
He could do this, Neil thought distantly.It wasn’t really that momentous.It was just a kiss.Constance’s experiment would be concluded, and they could go back to the way things had always been.
And for at least one brilliant moment in his life, Neil Fairfax would have known what it was like to touch her.
Almost like a real fiancé.
Not her lips, Neil thought in a last desperate attempt to retain his sanity.Not yet.
Constance’s head came to the height of his chin.She had tilted it back to look at him, eyes sparkling with victory and anticipation.
Neil lowered his mouth to her cheek and brushed his lips over the silken curve of it.
