He groaned theatrically. “My vanity will never recover.”
“Look, I know you’re doing me a favor.” Serena glared at him and remembered why she’d spent much of her girlhood wanting to shove Giles Farraday into the nearest puddle. “I’m grateful. Of course I am. But I expected…more.”
Her fumbling explanation didn’t meet with his approval, she could see. He returned to studying her as if she belonged to some unidentified species. “What kind of more?”
She hissed with frustration. Frustration with him, and with the dissatisfaction curdling her stomach. “I don’t know. You’re the blasted libertine. You tell me.”
“Perhaps the fault lies with you—I’m unaccustomed to kissing ladies who do their best to imitate a block of wood,” he said lightly.
Stabbing hurt prompted an incoherent protest. “That’s not fair. I told you I’d never done this before.”
With unconcealed displeasure, he folded his arms and surveyed her down that long, crooked nose. “I hoped some natural instincts might kick in.”
“Perhaps my natural instincts only work when my affections are engaged,” she retorted.
Those fearsome brows lowered over glittering dark eyes. If she hadn’t been so het up, she might have been afraid. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
She put her hands on her hips and drew herself up to her full height, frantic to claim every inch she could against him. “If Paul kissed me, I’m sure I’d get into the spirit of things.”
Chagrin flashed in his face, and if he’d been a different, less self-sufficient man, she might wonder if she’d hurt his feelings as he’d hurt hers. “If that’s so, by all means go and kiss Paul. But remind him to bring a muffler and some thick socks so he doesn’t get frostbite.”
She faltered back with a cry. “That’s cruel.”
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “It was. I’m behaving like a brute.” The anger drained from his face. “I’m sorry, Serena. For your first kiss, that was a creditable effort.”
She frowned, her own anger receding. Grudgingly she admitted that she’d been ungracious first. “No, it wasn’t.”
“Still, I had no right to be unkind.”
Her arms flopped down by her sides in a gesture of defeat. “Perhaps I’m just no good at kissing.” She started to turn away, misery tugging at her. “I’m sorry for bothering you—and for being so rude. I’m sure with a more promising candidate, your kisses are perfectly lovely.”
“Hold on.” He caught her arm and despite everything, heat zapped along every nerve. “Don’t give up so fast.”
Puzzled, she faced him. “Why on earth would you want to try again?”
“I hate to leave a job half-finished.”
His earnestness summoned a bleak laugh. “Very commendable.”
“I’m game if you are.”
She straightened and narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m always game.”
Serena waited for him to deride her bravado, but he gave her another of those uncommonly sweet smiles. “I
know you are. I’ve always admired your courage.”
In all their years of acquaintance, he’d never given her a compliment. Before she could muster a response to that astonishing statement, he set her back beneath the kissing bough.
She twined her hands at her waist and stared at him, troubled. “Perhaps it would help if you don’t rely on my instincts, and you tell me what to do.”
“You hate people telling you what to do.”
That was, unfortunately, true, although she’d never imagined Giles had paid her enough attention to notice. What a day of surprises this was. “Today I bow to your prowess.”
“Thank you,” he said with a hint of familiar irony. He caught her restless hands. “First, let’s put these somewhere useful.”
When he placed one hand on his shoulder, she started to draw away. After the kiss, touching his shoulder shouldn’t matter, but there was something fiercely unsettling about having her hands on him. “Is it necessary to touch you?”