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in his presence.
    How was she going to get out of this with some of her dignity intact?
    His dark, honey-colored eyes narrowed just enough to show his disapproval as his gaze swept up and down her body. A chilling expression eased over his face and Olivia knew she was in real trouble for the first time in her life.
    Taking a deep breath, she knew she must remain strong and not cower or all was lost.
    His posture was proud and erect as he walked closer to her and asked, “You were looking for what ?” Olivia wasn’t sure she liked the way his gaze took in every detail of her face as he quickly closed the short distance between them. He was too close. The intensity of his expression did confounding things to the throbbing of her heartbeat.
    She had no choice but to follow through now that she had unexpectedly divulged the truth. She just had to keep her aunt’s name out of her confession.
    “I was looking for Lord Pinkwater’s ghost.” His voice was as chilling as his expression when in a husky whisper he asked, “In my bedchamber?”
    “It is the place most ghosts reside, isn’t it?” she challenged him and wondered why she did so when she was in a perilously difficult position.
    She was a sensible woman. Why didn’t she just ask his pardon and make a hasty retreat all the way back to Kent?
    And pray she never saw the handsome earl again?
    “I wouldn’t have an idea about where ghosts dwell. I’ve never looked for one.”
    Olivia wanted to fend off his deliberate stare with one of her own but his physical presence in the room prevented her from doing so. His tall body used up the space, filling the softly lit area, and making her knees uncommonly weak.
    A shivery awareness stole over her. Her body and her mind were completely responsive to Andrew Terwillger, the Earl of Dugdale.
    She clasped her hands together in front of her, hoping to remain strong and conceal her true emotions. She couldn’t allow him to frustrate or intimidate her, but most of all she wouldn’t permit him to stir up her womanly senses any more than he already had.
    It was unlike her to be so attracted to a man that all her senses went on alert.

    “I know it sounds preposterous, but most ghosts seem to visit people in bedchambers,” she managed to say in an even tone, but knew she must have sounded like a deranged idiot.
    “You’re right, it does.” He picked up the soap. “Did you expect to find Lord Pinkwater’s ghost in this?” A flush blazed up her neck. She felt her cheeks flame red for the second time. He was intentionally mocking her.
    She wouldn’t let his behavior affect her.
    “Of course not.”
    She straightened her shoulders and huffed, and then got even more perturbed when she saw the faint trace of a smile curve the corners of his lips.
    He thought this humorous? Knowing he was amused made her more determined than ever to stay in control and find an acceptable way out of this predicament.
    “Are you sure you weren’t after the coins on my dressing table?”
    She pierced him with what she considered her most firm and resolute expression. “I held your soap in my hands, not your money. I am not destitute. I have no need of your possessions, my lord.”
    Shadowed lamplight made his face seem sinister as he regarded her with half-closed eyes, all signs of a smile gone from his lips. Still, he studied her.
    “I’m afraid your answer as to why you are in my private rooms has not been adequately answered. You’re not explaining yourself very well, Miss—”
    “Banning,”she said, lifting her chin and doing her best to remain composed. “Miss Olivia Banning, and how can I possibly explain myself well at all, sir, when you barge in here without knocking, scare me out of my wits, and then have the audacity to accuse me of being a thief. It’s shameful.”

    He cocked his head and asked, “Scare you? Audacity?
    Shameful? This is my room. I often barge into it, and always without knocking.”
    “Perhaps from now on