she said, taking another step.
Afterward, she was never sure exactly how it happened. Undoubtedly, the chain of events was triggered by the chunks of dirt from the flower bed that had been trailed inside by Alex’s sons. Lizzie’s heel came down on a pebble, causing her shoe to slide across the floor unexpectedly. Normally, it wouldn’t have been difficult to regain her balance, but because her attention was still focused on Alex, she was slow to react. By the time she did, Alex had already caught hold of her arms to steady her.
Her hands flattened against his chest. “Oh!” she gasped. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s my fault. I should have warned you about the dirt on the floor.”
She shook her head. This was just like what he’d done when she’d spilled her wine at dinner. They both knew that it was her own clumsiness that was responsible for her stumble. He was still trying to be a…prince. Her lips twitched.
His clasp on her arms loosened, but he didn’t let her go. “Are you all right?”
She nodded, splaying her fingers over the front of his shirt, feeling a jolt of pleasure from the warmth that rose from his body. And she had a sudden greedy urge to discover what his skin would feel like under her palms…and to see how his chest would look all naked and sweaty…
“It’s been a long day. You must be exhausted.”
Oh, did he have to use that love-potion voice? How was she supposed to get a grip on her imagination when he merely had to open his mouth to make her start fantasizing again? She lifted her gaze to his lips. And speaking of mouths, she doubted whether the dollar-a-mouthful wine she’d been enjoying at dinner would be able to compare to a taste of Alex—
“Lizzie?”
And his kiss would probably be a lot more potent than Bobby’s cordial. Then again, she suspected that just about anything of Alex’s would be more potent than something of Bobby’s. “Mmm?”
“I may have to delay our tour of the city tomorrow until I arrange a replacement for Mrs. Gray. And then there are a few things I need to take care of at the office before I pick you up.”
“I don’t mind waiting,” she said. “And if you can’t find a baby-sitter, you could always bring the boys with you. It wouldn’t be so bad, as long as you check their pockets for worms, and keep them away from the car keys, and don’t let them near any purple paint.”
“What?”
She glanced up at him and smiled. “I couldn’t help noticing what they did to your housekeeper’s cat. I hope you took a picture.”
It began at the corners of his eyes, as the lines that had been etched with tension started to crinkle with amusement. It spread to the narrow dimples that appeared in his lean cheeks, then finally to his lips as they stretched into an answering smile that wasn’t perfect or controlled or charming. Instead, it was real.
And just as Lizzie was trying to absorb the impact of the first genuine smile she’d seen Alex give, he did something that stole her breath altogether. He laughed.
It was brief, and it seemed to surprise him as much as it surprised her, yet it surrounded her with the sudden warmth of sunshine breaking through a cloud. It made her think of hazy August afternoons and skinny-dipping in the pond, of dust motes in the hayloft and sweet kisses trailing down her neck….
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