How to Seduce a Scot by Christy English Page A

on a public street, in an open carriage, in the full light of day.”
    Alexander seemed to blush under his tan, and she laughed in delight. Finally, someone besides herself was blushing! What a lovely change that made.
    Emboldened by the heightened color on his handsome face, she leaned close to him again, sliding her hand up his muscled arm. His tight coat did not do him justice, it seemed. The muscles leaped beneath her gloved hand, radiating warmth and coziness and a tiny bit of danger. But his hands were occupied with the horses… What could one tiny bit of danger matter?
    She took both of her gloves off and tossed them on the floor of the carriage beside her hat. Her hands free to roam unencumbered, she leaned close to Alex and slid one hand up his arm, past his elbow, to the bulge of his bicep.
    She sighed. “It occurs to me, Alex, that a lady might indeed take off a few more constricting clothes, if she were driven in a closed carriage, in the dark of night. Perhaps that is why I am never allowed to go anywhere, save with Mama, once night has fallen.”
    Alex choked, and she looked up into his face with concern. It seemed he was not having an apoplexy like the one that had killed her father. Perhaps he was only trying very hard not to laugh.
    â€œYou may laugh, Alex. I will not be offended. I know that I know almost nothing about the world. I suppose I am a disappointment to a worldly man like you.”
    She felt a little of the happiness go out of the day, as he stopped the carriage by the curb. This time, Jim did not come out to hold his horses. Indeed, no one from her household greeted them at all.
    He turned to her, not moving to hand her down from the rig. His dark eyes were serious, and seemed to be lit with an inner fire that she thought she should heed.
    â€œYou are far from a disappointment, Catherine. You are the most beautiful girl I have ever known, and the sweetest. You are wholly unspoiled and could never disappoint a true gentleman or a man of sense, this day or ever.”
    â€œEven with my bonnet off?” she asked, eyeing him warily.
    â€œEven then.”
    She smiled at him, the day coming back to rights. She heard the distant sound of thunder and bent down to pick up her bonnet and gloves. Her reticule was indeed tucked under her derriere, and she held on to Alex’s arm as she reached beneath herself to draw it out into the light.
    â€œThere that blasted thing is. What do I owe you for our ices, Alex? A Middlebrook always pays her debts.”
    He did laugh then, and raised his arms to help her down from the carriage. “You owe me nothing. A lady does not pay for her own ices.”
    He swung her down from the high seat and she clung to him like a limpet. Suddenly the ground seemed very far away, and seemed to sway a little as her feet touched the earth.
    â€œAlex, I fear that bit of beatha …whatever it was, might have made me a little…odd.”
    He smiled and let her lean all of her weight on him. “Only a little. I must admit, Miss Middlebrook, I like you odd.”
    â€œThen you will like me forever, Alexander Waters, for odd I always am.”
    He helped her up the stairs to the front door, so she managed them without tripping once. For some reason, that simple fact made her inordinately proud.
    Jim did not answer her knock, so she simply pushed the door open. The entrance hall was dark, for rain clouds were gathering and the candles had not been lit in the vestibule. Mrs. Beam had her work cut out for her, it seemed. But Catherine did not even care. She was too happy and warm and well to care about households and candles. Who could care for such trifles when a man like Alex Waters stood in the room?
    â€œI must tell you a secret, Alex. And you must not tell a soul.”
    â€œWhat is that, Miss Middlebrook?”
    â€œCall me Catherine.” She leaned close to him, drawing him into the darkened hallway. She felt a tiny bit dangerous, a