Page 111 of Frankly, My Dear

“Why? Do you have another mustache?”

Selene felt her face flame crimson as everyone turned to see if she did indeed have a mustache. They didn’t understand what he meant by the suggestive question, except Pierce, of course, who winked at her. Argh!

When they got to the hall, James reached for her with a devilish grin, but she ducked under his arm. “Stop it! Stop it right now, James!”

“What, chérie? What do you want me to stop?” He managed to pull her into his embrace with a deft hook of an arm. Bracing his shoulders against the wall with both arms looped around her waist, he nuzzled her neck. “This? Do you want me to stop this?”

Selene bit her bottom lip to stifle a moan. His hot breath teased her skin as his lips pressed against the pulse beat in her throat. “Yes…no…I mean, stop this ridiculous behavior of yours. O-o-oh!”

He raised his head and peered at her with the blatant artlessness of an experienced lech. “You don’t like my kisses?” he asked with wounded pride, grazing his knuckles over the edge of her jaw.

Delicious shivers of electricity ran over every inch of her skin, from scalp to toes. She would like nothing better than to lean into his caress, to surrender to the overpowering pull on her senses. But she could not. Guests awaited them in the dining room…guests with whom Selene would soon be leaving Bayou Noir.

Confused, Selene tried to understand James’s behavior. He was sending her away and yet, at the same time, seemed to be doing everything in his power to prevent her departure.

She slapped his rascally hand away from her neckline and shoved hard against his chest. Hands on hips, she demanded, “Why are you doing this, James?”

“Why are you crying, chérie?” he said, genuinely contrite. “I didn’t mean to make you weep. Truly I didn’t.”

Selene wiped at the tears and sniffed. “James, you’ve got to stop these wild antics. Andrew and Ellen will never take me with them if you continue to make me look so bad in their eyes. Is that what you want?”

His long lashes fluttered in confusion before he pressed the fingertips of both hands to his eyes. When he looked up at her again, his eyes were forlorn. “I don’t know what I want anymore.” Regret—sharp and painful—turned his voice raw. “I do know what’s best for you, though, and for me. Go back into the dining room, Selene. I’ll join you shortly.”

She hesitated, then moved away from him. Just before she entered the dining room, she asked, “Are you going to behave now?”

He grinned mirthlessly. “I doubt it.”

A subdued James rejoined them during the dessert course. He didn’t comment on the fact that the epergne and the bourbon had been removed from the table. Instead, he listened attentively to Pierce recounting one of his experiences in a wild Western cow town where the women were loose and the men lawless.

Although James no longer seemed on the verge of drunkenness, a dangerous light glittered in his clear blue eyes. Like a tightly wound spring, he grew tenser and tenser.

Selene felt like a time bomb herself. Any minute now, the Collinses would announce that it was time to leave, and everything Selene had come to love and cherish at Bayou Noir, especially James, would be lost to her. She struggled to keep tears from welling in her eyes.

So at first she didn’t hear James ask Pierce, “Have you ever met Dr. Ruth in your travels?”

“Who?”

“Dr. Ruth,” James repeated.

Selene started to choke.

Pierce clapped a hand on her back with gentlemanly consideration, then asked James, “Does she live out West?”

“She might.” James raised questioning eyes to Selene.

Selene shrugged as she reached for a glass of water. How the hell did she know where Dr. Ruth Westheimer lived? The only place she’d ever seen her was on a TV talk show.

“Dr. Ruth is an expert who writes books,” James informed Pierce in a deceptively conversational manner, “among other things.”

“Like Mr. Poe?” Pierce asked.

“Not quite,” James replied dryly. “Did you know that, according to an article I just read, the majority of women enjoy…” He paused dramatically.

Uh oh! Selene shot a warning glare at James, which he blithely ignored. She took another gulp of water.

“—oralsex,” he slurred out.

Selene sprayed everyone within three feet of her with water when she coughed.