“You were considering undertaking a monumental task and calling me a bigot,” Azmin said pertly, rising from her chair and flinging the egged coat back at him.
“Ah yes, a monumental task that will keep me in Edinburgh and justify not being reduced to pig farmer.” Zane flung the coat over his chair. “A home a certain pig-headed bigot might appreciate if we marry. I believe I was challenging you to take a chance on me.”
Heart pounding, Azmin began unfastening her egg-soaked bodice. “Responsibility limits risk-taking,” she informed him with hauteur. “Marriage means being tied to one man, to his fortunes, his work, and his children. That is a risk so enormous that even I won’t consider it unless assured of suitable recompense. So far, I’ve heard nothing to give me that assurance.” She opened the bodice and untied her skirt, wriggling out of the ugly gray to reveal the delicate silk beneath.
Zane grinned and started on the buttons of his waistcoat. “Actions speak louder than words. Men speak promises all the time. I’m willing to show you my sincerity when I say I love you to the point of utter madness.”
He loved her? That was the first she’d heard of it.
With more confidence, she laughed and dropped her petticoat. “As if last night didn’t prove you are utterly mad without my aid. I am to assume that proves your love?”
Zane cast aside his waistcoat, revealing a half-unbuttoned wrinkled shirt, which he yanked open. Azmin stopped what she was doing to admire the muscled flesh revealed. The bandage on his shoulder was starting to come undone. He hadn’t taken time to tend himself while watching over her. Her middle melted a little more. Lord Alexander Dare was a very focused gentleman.
And that intensity was completely on her. The heat of his gaze sizzled her skin.
“I have loved you since you first egged me years ago,” he declared, catching her waist and dragging her into his arms. “I love your ability to be yourself, to defy society, and go your own way.”
“To challenge you and tell you when you’re being a stiff-necked prig?” she suggested.
“Your defiance is far more interesting than simpering sheep who agree to anything I say, but I can see where your audacity might be a hindrance for you in finding another man in a world that prefers simpering sheep.” He began unlacing her corset. “Admit that you need me to keep you from becoming a bitter spinster who despises men and society and turns her back on those who love her, despite your prickliness.”
“That sounds like fun,” she said, laughing at his cajoling tone. “The bitter spinster and the dull curmudgeon walking into the sunset together.” Azmin attempted the fastenings of Zane’s trousers, but the bulge beneath the fabric made it difficult. “I fear if I tell you that I love you, that I have always loved you, it will swell your head as much as your masculinity, and you will be even more impossible.”
He roared in laughter, and she joined in, simply because she so loved hearing him laugh again.
Apparently, so did all the household. Someone knocked. Voices whispered outside the door. Zane shouted at them to go away.
She rubbed his bulging placket suggestively and kissed his bristled jaw. “And we’re not doing this again until you’ve telegraphed my father with my demands for my dowry.”
She grabbed an egg, crushed it against his bare chest, and yanking on his coat, ran for the door.
Laughing uncontrollably, Dare threw her over his shoulder before she could turn the latch.
Not caring that the entire household watched in amazement, he carried her up the stairs and completely ruined her reputation forever and all time.