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"Thatat his cravat If it bothered her that he was disrobing in front of her, that was her own problem, he decided She was the one who had taken up residence in his bedroom

"What happened to you?" she de me off on poor Mr Coventry --"

"I wouldn’t pity hiave hi at his neckcloth, finally freeing it with one final yank "I did not see that I hadthe now limp strip of linen on a chair

"What do youaway fro of Lord Arbuthnot, but of course Billie did not know – and could not know – of their dealings "I could hardly do otherwise," he said, his eyes fixed on a randoiven that you’d asked hilanced over his shoulder "Splitting hairs, Billie"

"Very well," she said, crossing her arms, "but I don’t see that I hadand you were just standing there"

There was nothing to be gained by pointing out that he had been about to lead her to the dance floor when Lord Arbuthnot had arrived, so he held his tongue They stared at each other for a long, heavy e finally said He sat down to pull off his boots

"I didn’t knohere else to go"

He watched her intently, fiercely What did she mean by that?

"I orried about you," she said

"I can take care of myself"

"So can I," she countered

He nodded his touché, then turned his attention to his cuffs, pushing back the fine Belgian lace so that his fingers could work the buttons through their loops

"What happened tonight?" he heard her say

He closed his eyes, well aware that she could not see his expression It was the only reason he allowed hih "I wouldn’t even knohere to start"

"The beginning will do"

He looked over at her, unable to stop the wry smile that flitted across his lips How very like her that statement was But he just shook his head and said in a tired voice, "Not tonight"

She crossed her arms