To Tempt a Scotsman by Victoria Dahl Page B

strength of his shoulders. And his hair was so short, just cut, like a sweet young boy dressed for a portrait. How could he look so intimidating and so touchable at the same time?
    His eyes pierced her, nearly black in that fierce face, and so full of questions that she almost abandoned her plan of coyness. But she was better than that.
    Alex made her mouth smile, made her hands relax and uncurl, and took a step toward him. "Lord Westmore. What an unexpected pleasure." And the hunt was on.

Chapter 8
    Here she was. This little slip of a thing who'd made him so miserable. Here she was. Now what the hell to do with her?
    She drew closer, a vision of black hair and cream skin, close enough that Collin could just make out those freckles on her nose. Two more steps and she would be so close he could lean down and kiss them. She stopped at one.
    "Lord Westmore," Jeannie Kirkland said from her side. "I see you've already met my friend."
    Collin shot her a quick glare, this girl he'd known his whole life. "Your friend."
    She flushed a little, pointed chin inching up. "My new friend. She's very nice."
    "Yes. She is." He let his eyes swing back to Alexandra, their natural resting place when she was near. "Lady Alexandra, whatever are you doing here?" Her rosy lips parted, and he thought of them pressing into his skin.
    "Why, I am here to buy horses, of course."
    "Of course."
    She licked those lips, her tongue a pink surprise, then drew a breath that tested the modesty of her gown. "It is wonderful to see you."
    Collin stared at her, took her in, her beauty, her spark. . . stared until Jeannie cleared her throat.
    "Collin, I will speak with you later." She narrowed her eyes meaningfully, then smiled at Alex. "Lady Alexandra, it was a pleasure to meet you."
    She must have left, because the next time he glanced away from Alex's face he found they were standing alone, the party flowing around them like a babbling stream.
    "Would you walk with me outside, my lady?"
    She watched him, seemed to measure him through the sooty veil of her lashes as a smile spread slowly over her face, a smile that lit her up and heated his blood.
    She didn't speak, only slid her arm through his and let him lead her to the wall of doors, then out into the moon-bright garden below. A cool wind swept over them, green and light. She shivered at his side as he pulled her into the deep shade of a tree.
    Reaching to unbutton his coat, Collin began to shrug it off, but she made a low sound of distress that stayed his hands. "What is it?"
    "Don't. Don't take off your coat. You look so . . ." Her hand caressed the air in front of him. "Magnificent."
    "Magnificent?" His body stuttered to a halt. When he could move again, he found his fingers reaching to rebut-ton the coat. Her husky laugh sent blood racing to his face as well as to the lower reaches of his body. She seemed to have some torturous gift for arousing and embarrassing him simultaneously, a siren with a wicked wit.
    How could this woman, this vision, be attracted to him? It confused him, put him on the defensive and touched him somewhere deep inside. And she was still attracted, he wasn't blind. She devoured him with her eyes, touching each part of him, lingering on his mouth. When she slipped off a glove and reached a small hand up to stroke the hair behind his ear, Collin pulled her against him and kissed her with all the need he'd been tamping down for months. He pressed her lips open with his own and slipped into her wet warmth.
    Her hand tightened, tried to grab his hair, slid downward to clutch at his neck. Not in outrage, no. She fell into the kiss, plunged into it, raised onto her toes and pushed herself at him. More than willing to oblige, he pulled her up off her feet to line their bodies up. She smelled of flowers and tasted like wine, and oh God, how he wished she were wearing her boy's clothes now, wished he could feel the softness of her breasts and the hard press of her pelvic bone against his