‘You’re annoying me, rather than exciting me. And I do wish you’d stop trying to get underneath my skin.’
‘Don’t you like people getting underneath your skin, Jane?’
‘No,’ she said honestly. ‘I don’t.’
‘Why not?’
She met the blaze of his ebony eyes and suppressed a shiver. ‘Does everything have to have a reason?’
‘In my experience, yes.’ There was a pause. ‘Has a man hurt you in the past?’
This was her chance to tell him yes—even though the very idea that someone had got that close to her was laughable.
Zayed had already guessed she might be a virgin, but that didn’t even come close to her shameful lack of experience.
Trying to ignore the way his groin was brushing against her as he edged her closer, she glanced up at him, her cheeks burning. ‘I refuse to answer that on the grounds that I might incriminate myself. Tell me instead, do you always insist on interrogating women when you’re dancing with them?’
‘No. I don’t,’ he said simply. ‘But then I’ve never had a bride before and I’ve never danced with a woman who was so determined not to give anything of herself away.’
‘And that’s the only reason you want to know,’ she said quietly. ‘Because you like a challenge.’
‘All men like a challenge, Jane.’ His black eyes gleamed. ‘Haven’t you learned that by now?’
She didn’t answer—because how was she qualified to answer any questions about what men did or didn’t like?