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“Your coach needs new springs,” she said in that know-it-all voice he hated

“Can’t afford ’eainst the stiff cloth of her bodice, and the soft swell of her breast He had never felt anything quite so tantalizing, being this close and yet knowing that he was unable, incapable, of taking advantage of it

Take advantage? Max blinked and tried to clear his entleman Wasn’t he? Yes, he was, despite his new scandalous status

“Oh So you can’t afford new springs for your coach, and yet you can afford a visit to Aphrodite’s? I don’t call that sound economics”

He turned his head so that he could look up and see her face properly, and wasn’t so distracted by other things “Is this any of your business, Miss Greentree?”

She fixed hi to request at Aphrodite’s? Before you saw me, of course”

“Of course”

She sounded sht to be He had offered to pay for an entire night of her company What in God’s name had possessed him? Some form of madness, that was certain Well, he was cured of it now, Max told hiainst her She smelled of roses and woman, and despite her stays, she was incredibly soft…

He opened one eye and looked up at her She appeared to be waiting for soht up in the perfect shape of her face and her pert little nose and those long, curling dark lashes fra her blue eyes

“Which girl, Max? Have there been so many that you can’t reers were tugging at his hair rather than caressing

Max cleared his throat “Why…?”

“Was it Maeve?” Marietta asked suddenly, but she was hoping it wasn’t ThisMaeve had seemed like a possible friend, but that didn’t mean she wanted Maeve and Max to have been lovers It made her uncomfortable

Max fixed her with another one of his slightly unfocused looks, as if he’d misplaced her naentles”

He said it so poers itched to yank out the hair she was s you to tell secrets, my lord I’m interested in…in whether you have a favorite type of woman I have heard it said that men have preferences For instance: dark or fair hair or auburn, blue eyes or brown, tall or short, plump or slender Tell me, do you have a preference, my lord?”

“No, I don’t,” he said stubbornly And then, the frown leaving his face, “You called me ‘my lord’ What happened to Max?”