“I’d have thought it was obvious. I want to stand outside in the pouring rain and get soaked to the skin, to see if it’s as fun as I remember from my childhood.”
“I doubt it,” he said prosaically. “And you’ll probably catch pneumonia.”
“How would you improve it, then, my lord?”
He tapped the pen against his lips.Such nice lips.Heloise gave herself a mental smack on the head. She had no business noticing his lips. He didn’t need to keep drawing attention to them, either. That was a cheap flirt’s trick.
“I’d keep the rain,” he mused. “But you should wish to bekissedin it. Then I’d be intrigued.”
She rolled her eyes. “This may come as a shock to you, Ravenwood, but I don’t spend my spare time dreaming up ways to intrigue you.”
“You disappoint me,” he said. “In fact, now that I think about it, you should wish to be kissed so thoroughly that you cease to even notice that it’s raining. If you’re striving for decadent abandon, you’ve a long way to go.”
“I’mnotstriving for decadent abandon.”
“See, that’s where you’re going wrong. What’s next? Ah. Item two: ‘Swim in the ocean.’ Again, not very exciting.”
“Not in England,” she clarified. “It’s too cold. I meant somewhere warm and exotic. I want hot sand between my toes and warm water lapping at my feet.”
She frowned as Raven made an amendment.
“There.” He gave a satisfied smile. “Now it says ‘swim naked.’ ”He wrote again. “ ‘At midnight.’That’s far more exciting.”
She opened her mouth to protest but he forestalled her by raising his hand. “And while we’re on the subject of water, might I suggest another addition?”
“Why not?” she said sarcastically.
“I’m going to include ‘Take a bath with someone.’ ”
Heat curled under her skin and she closed her eyes against an onslaught of incendiary mental images. When she reopened them Raven was squinting at the page.
“Hello. This one’s crossed out. Does that mean you’ve actually achieved it?”
“Maybe,” Heloise hedged. “What did it say?”
“I think, ‘Acquire a feminine skill.’ ” He sent her a secret, intimate smile that had her blushing to the roots of her hair. “The mind boggles. Just give me a minute to envisage all the delightful—”
“Notthosekind of feminine skills,” she blurted out. “I meant learn to knit or sew or crochet.” She almost laughed at his horrified expression.
“God, whatever for? Now, learning skills in the bedroom I can understand—”
“Or maybe make something wearable,” she continued valiantly.
“And did you?”
Actually, she’d deleted that one in a fit of frustration after a few complete disasters. “No. I tried to knit a scarf once for Nic, but he said it would be better as a noose.”
“All right. We’ll leave that one for now. What’s next?” His eyebrows rose. “Smoke a cigar, eh? Now, that I can help you with.” He pulled open the drawer of his desk, extracted a slim wooden box, and drew out a thin cheroot. He lit it and took a few draws that made the end glow red. On the exhale a cloud of blue smoke curled around his head like a wreath. He held the cigar out to her, his gaze challenging.
Her stomach lurched. Just the smell was making her queasy but she couldn’t refuse the challenge. She’d have to brazen it out.
She placed it between her lips and inhaled. Her lungs tingled unpleasantly. The smoke made her eyes water and she exhaled in a cough, waving her hand in front of her face to disband the smoke. “Ugh!”
Raven, the beast, just laughed. He recaptured the cheroot, leaned back in his chair, and took another slow drag. “It’s an acquired taste,” he said mildly. “I’ll cross it off your list.” He scraped the pen across the page while Heloise put her hand around her ribs to hold them in place. She was definitely coughing up her own lungs. She was never going to touch a cigar again.
“Now, what else is on here? Ah! I can help you with this next one, too. It says ‘Play cards for money.’ ”
Heloise shook her head. “Not right now, thank you. I want to be in complete possession of my faculties before I engage you in card play.”