Quite what she had expected Sin’s mood to be after their disagreement earlier, she didn’t know, but she certainly hadn’t expected his first words to be a compliment on her appearance!
‘Thank you,’ she accepted huskily, having no intention of telling Sin how devastatingly handsome he looked in the black evening suit and snowy white shirt he had changed into. If she didn’t mention it perhaps she could ignore it. Maybe. Although she somehow doubted it. Distance, that was what she needed. If not physically, then at least verbally.
‘Sin, we still haven’t resolved our differences of opinion concerning the future—’
‘Not now, Luccy,’ Sin cut in firmly. ‘Let’s just enjoy the peace and beauty of the evening, instead, hmm?’
Enjoying the peace and beauty of the evening wasn’t a good idea when Luccy was so aware of Sin that just being alone with him like this was making her toes curl!
That air of intimacy, the total physical awareness, was so thick and heavy between them now that Luccy almost felt as if she could reach out and touch it. As she wanted to reach out and touch Sin…
Luccy could barely breathe, let alone make the conversation she knew was necessary to dispel that air of expectation, as if they were both poised on the brink of—
The brink of what?
Luccy stiffened her spine, determined to dispel this air of intimacy between them once and for all. ‘Sin, I’ve decided that it really would be for the best if I went back to England tomorrow.’
Sin had been determined, after their disagreement earlier, to make this a pleasant evening for both of them, with no discord between them, and now Luccy had introduced—deliberately?—the one subject sure to cause a resumption of that contention.
‘I would much rather continue telling you how beautiful you are,’ he said instead.
She gave him a reproving look. ‘To what purpose?’
He frowned. ‘Sorry?’
Luccy sighed. ‘Sin, I’ve fallen for your seduction routine once already—’
‘Don’t you have that rather confused?’ he rasped, suddenly appearing very intimidating in the rapidly darkening evening.
She met his gaze unblinkingly. ‘That’s not the way I remember it.’
Sin narrowed his eyes to steely slits. ‘As I recall you were as out of control that night as I was.’
Her mouth tightened, her cheeks flushed. ‘I think it’s extremely ungentlemanly of you to keep reminding me of that.’
Yes, it was, Sin acknowledged frustratedly. Very much so. His Southern Mama would be appalled. It was just that Luccy’s constant dismissal of their physical response to each other was beginning to annoy the hell out of him.
He drew in a deeply controlling breath as he opted for a less controversial subject. ‘What did you ask Wallace to prepare for our dinner this evening?’
Luccy accepted the subject change and gave a rueful grimace. ‘I didn’t. Wallace seemed to welcome the opportunity of my being here to prepare the full English roast beef and vegetables,’ she explained with a shake of her head. ‘I didn’t like to disappoint him.’
‘It’s a pity you don’t feel the same consideration where I’m concerned,’ Sin drawled derisively.
‘Sin—’
‘Okay, okay, I’m sorry.’ He held up his hands in apology. ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘No, you shouldn’t,’ Luccy agreed. She closed her eyes briefly, then took a deep breath. ‘Sin, I’m really not sure I can do this.’
‘It’s only dinner, Luccy.’
‘I wasn’t talking about dinner, and you know it!’ She glared her exasperation with his deliberate misunderstanding. ‘Our being here together like this, I—Can’t you see how destructive it is? We can’t have a single conversation without it either resulting in an argument or one of us insulting the other.’
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