Edwina opened her eyes and withdrew her hand sharply. “I thought we’d both said everything that needed to be said.”
He reached for her skirts, toying with them. “Edwina, you said you wanted me.”
She had to get off this bed. Surging to her feet, she moved toward the fireplace and gave it a poke. “To want something is such an emotional response. But is it the smart thing to do?” She turned to him helplessly. “We are on such uneven ground with this.”
A scowl touched his brow. “Why do you think I never bloody even hinted at my feelings while you were working for me? But you’re a venatori now?—"
“I’m not talking about my career status,” she blurted.
She could see he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“You are… very experienced. And I am not.”
Ah. Recognition dawned in his eyes. “Well, yes. I did suspect.” He pushed to the edge of her bed and slung his legs over. “I’m not insisting we take this any further than where you’re comfortable. I want to woo you, Edwina. I want to enjoy flirting with you, and stealing kisses from you, and if this ends up in bed, then it ends up in bed. But that’s certainly not my prime objective.”
Her cheeks were so hot she felt like she could scald an egg on them. Only he could say such a thing with such a devil may care attitude.
“You have stolen everything from me, Edwina. My wits, my focus, a kiss?—"
“A kiss? I seem to recall you being rather enthusiastic in repaying me in kind.”
“I barely got a chance to repay it.” He gave her a wry smile. “You do know what this means, don’t you?”
“What it means?”
His eyelids lowered lazily, though the smile didn’t diminish one inch. “It means… you stole a kiss from me, Miss Sheffield, and now I am rather inclined to give it back to you. And there’s no longer a single bloody barrier to my doing so.”
Edwina’s jaw dropped open. “What?”
“Gentlemanly conduct dictated that I kept my hands off my secretary.” He looked eminently pleased with himself as he pushed to his feet. “But now that she is a private investigator for the Order, it seems we’re on equal footing.” His voice roughened. “And that means all bets are off.”
Edwina couldn’t stop herself from retreating as he advanced. Capturing her hand, he kissed her fingertips.
“But you’re tired,” he said, brushing his thumb down the side of her face. “And you’re unsure. And we both need to concentrate on the case. I’ll leave you alone tonight. But once this is done, then you and I shall have a reckoning. I want you in my bed, Edwina Marie Sheffield. I want to know each and every part of you before we are done. Fair warning, my love, I play dirty too.”
And then he strode toward the door as if he hadn’t just dropped a grenade upon her.
Chapter
Six
The morning brought with it a furious little mouse.
Sterling smuggled a smile as the door to the private dining room opened, revealing Edwina in all her straitlaced glory.
This time she wore brown.
“Good morning,” he said as she strode briskly to the breakfast table. “Did you sleep well?”
A certain look was directed at him. One that said she’d been tossing and turning half the night, and he was the reason for it. “Somewhat.”
“Was it something I said?” he asked mildly, pouring them both a cup of tea.
Fucking tea. If twenty-year-old Sterling could see him now, he’d be wondering what demon had possessed him.
“You know exactly what you said.”
“All you had to do was reply with ‘you’re the very last man I’d ever bed,’ and I would have rescinded my challenge. You didn’t have to unleash that horror upon me again.” He gestured pointedly to her gown.
