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She smacked him on the shoulder. It was probably no less than he deserved, James thought, but he was damned if he was leaving the library without getting
a good look at her little red book.
“You can insult me all you want,” she said in a lofty voice, “but it will have no effect. I am not moving.”
“Elizabeth, you resemble nothing so much as a hen trying to hatch a book.”
“If you were any kind of a gentleman—”
“Ah, but there’s a time and place for gentlemanly behavior, and this isn’t one of them.” He jammed his fingers farther under her, getting a few more inches of the book under his hand. One more shove, and he ought to be able to hook his thumb around the edge of the book, and then it would be his!
Her jaw clenched. “Get your hand out from under me,” she ground out.
He did the opposite, lurching his fingers forward yet another half inch. “A remarkable feat, really, saying all that between your teeth.”
“James!”
He held up his free hand. “Just one moment, if you will. I’m concentrating.”
As she glared at him, he hooked his thumb around the top edge of the book. His mouth spread into a lethal smile. “You’re sunk now, Miss Hotchkiss.”
“What do you—Aaaaaaaaccccccck!”
With one big heave, he yanked the book out from under her, sending her sprawling.
“Nooooooooooo!” she yelled, sounding as if the very fate of the world rested in her ability to retrieve her book.
James raced across the room, triumphantly holding the book high in the air. Elizabeth was a full foot shorter than he was; she’d never be able to reach.
“James, please,” she begged.
He shook his head, wishing he didn’t feel like quite so much of a cad; the expression on her face was rather heartwrenching. But he’d been wondering about her book for days, and he’d come this far, so he twisted his head up, turned over the book, and read the title.
HOW TO MARRY A MARQUIS
He blinked. Surely she didn’t know…no, she couldn’t possibly know his true identity.
“Why did you do that?” she said in a choked voice. “Why did you have to do that?”
He tilted his head toward her. “What’s this?”
“What does it look like?” she snapped.
“I…ah…I don’t know.” Still holding the book aloft, he opened it up and flipped through a few pages. “It looks rather like a guidebook, actually.”
“Then that’s what it is,” she shot back. “Now please give it back. I have to return this to Lady Danbury.”
“This belongs to my—to Lady Danbury?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yes! Now give it back.”
James shook his head, looking back up at the book, then returning his gaze to Elizabeth. “But why would she need a book like this?”
“I don’t know,” she nearly wailed. “It’s old. Maybe she purchased it before she married Lord Danbury. But please, let me just put it back on the shelf before she comes back from breakfast.”
“In a moment.” He turned another page and read:
YOU MUST NEVER SEPARATE YOUR LIPS WHEN YOU SMILE. A CLOSE-LIPPED SMILE IS INFINITELY MORE MYSTERIOUS, AND YOUR JOB IS TO FASCINATE YOUR MARQUIS.
