“Men will flirt with any woman, even in this situation.”
Lucas looked down at her. Dorothy was still on the settee, arms folded as she scolded. Unwittingly, his eyes drifted to her bodice. Her dress had become somewhat skewed in the fall and was not adjusted properly to her body. One of her breasts was almost completely exposed, inches away from showing herself to him. It appeared that, in his distress, Dorothy hadn’t noticed.
He felt a stirring in his groin, and Lucas turned away and closed his eyes, slowly counting to ten. Now was not the time to start thinking about anything erotic when it came to her. Certainly not when he was on a ladder; Lucas had never climbed down a ladder with an erection before.
“Lord Dashwood? Is something wrong?”
“Hmm?”
“You’ve stopped. Are you alright?”
“Oh. Right.” Lucas cleared his throat. “Coming down now.”
Concentrating on climbing down with a heavy book in his arms was enough to quash the thoughts that had started bubbling up at the sight of Dorothy in disarray. Lucas was still recovering from Dorothy lying on him, even if it had knocked the breath out of him. He could still clearly feel her soft body against his, how warm she was in his arms.
“Here you go. One book, as requested.” Lucas paused as he approached Dorothy, noticing that she still hadn’t adjusted her clothing. “Erm, Lady Dorothy?”
“What?”
“You … well …” Lucas gestured at his chest. “You might want to …”
“What … oh!”
Her face going bright red, Dorothy stood up hurriedly and turned away to adjust herself. What should have been to get temptation away just made it worse when he saw her body jiggle during her ministrations. He could see her backside wiggling under the flowing skirts, which brought his arousal back to life with a vengeance.
God, being in the room alone with her was not a good idea, but Lucas couldn’t bring himself to leave the room and let her have some time alone.
“Forgive me; I didn’t realise.” Dorothy turned back to him, not properly put together and still looking rather flushed. “I was just … well, I was a little …”
“A little shocked from having fallen suddenly from a great height?” Lucas’ mouth twitched as he tried to force back the arousal growing low in his belly. “Well, I think that would be enough for another to forget themselves for a moment.”
Dorothy didn’t respond. She just looked at the floor. Lucas held out the book, trying to focus on her face and not lower down.
“Here you are. Why do you want to read such a big book? It’s not exactly something discreet you can carry around with you.”
“Who said I wanted to be discreet?” Dorothy almost snatched the book away, clutching it to her chest. “I love reading, and Lady Derbyshire said I could take whatever book I wanted from her collection.”
“So you decided to choose the one at the top out of reach?” Lucas couldn’t help laughing. “Why does that not surprise me?”
“Do you think the worst of me already?”
“No, of course not. But doing something like this … I believe you would do it without thinking about your safety.” Lucas held up his hands as Dorothy’s eyes narrowed. “It’s merely an observation. It wasn’t meant to be insulting.”
“Well, it wasn’t exactly a compliment, either,” Dorothy muttered. She sat down on the settee heavily, only to close her eyes and let out a sigh. “Forgive me, I … thank you. I appreciate your help.”
“You’re welcome.” Lucas flexed his fingers. They were still hurting. “Although I’m going to have some nice bruises later.”
“You and me both. I will probably have a bruise across my chest from that ladder.”
Both of them practically froze at her words, and Lucas couldn’t stop himself from staring at her chest. Sure enough, it was looking a little red just above the neckline, right across her chest. Dorothy cleared her throat and lifted the book to cover herself, biting her lip as she looked away.
“I … well …”
“You’re going to have to find something that can accommodate your bruising,” Lucas commented, putting his hands behind his back. He hadn’t realised he was trembling. What was wrong with him? “I’m sure that’s going to be an interesting conversation to people who ask about it.”
“I can tell them the truth.”
“And explain how you landed on a gentleman when you were alone? Rumours have been started with far less, Dorothy, and seeing as we were once engaged …”