He liked that she asked after his dog. It spoke well of a woman who liked a man’s dog.
Looking at her now, tucking into her haggis, he couldn’t help observing how she looked in this room—in his house.
So natural.
Soright.
Servants began clearing plates, replacing them with two glasses and a bottle of whisky. Rory nodded and said, “That will be all for the night.”
Alone in the room with Juliet, he poured them each a dram. “Have you tasted Scotch whisky?”
Her nose looked as if it wanted to wrinkle. “I have.”
“Try this one. We have a small still on the estate.”
She took a testing sip. “It’s…earthy.”
“Prefer wine, do you?”
“I think I do,” she confessed. “The ale is nice, too.”
As they sat across from each other, her usually direct gaze avoided his as she fidgeted with the whisky tumbler. He realized he needed to say something to her. It should’ve been the first sentence out of his mouth the moment she’d entered the room. “I must offer my apology for—”
Eyes clear with certainty lifted. “The kiss.”
“Aye.”
She canted her head. “Why should you apologize?”
He blinked.
“We both know I enjoyed it.” A shy smile curled about her mouth, yet the words spoken were so…bold. “And we both know you enjoyed it, too.”
His cockstand. She was referring to the cockstand she’d stroked through his trousers.
Thankfully, she didn’t know about the one presently lifting its head.
If ever a woman could give him a cockstand with her words, she would be Miss Juliet Windermere.
Still, she needed to be set straight. “Our mutual enjoyment of the kiss is beside the point. We shouldn’t have kissed in the first place.”
“Why shouldn’t we?”
The woman was stubborn on a point, he would give her that. In case he ever doubted she was a true Windermere.
She spread her hands wide. “You and I are full-fledged adults. We are free to make our own decisions.”
“It was ungentlemanly.” He could hold to a point, too.
“My kiss was freely given. Are you apologizing because I actually was terrible at it and you wouldn’t want to do it again?”
This woman might be the death of him.
“No…no, of course not. In fact, it was the best—” He clamped his mouth shut.
“The best what?”
“The best kiss of my life.”