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my bollocks off in here tonight.”
    She stifled a smile at his curse. If he thought to scare her off by language, he’d have to do better than that. Her father had treated her as a son and had thought nothing of letting loose with foul language now and again. “If the house hasn’t been lived in for a while, you’ll be bloody lucky not to have bats and other creatures joining you.”
    It was hard to tell in the shadows, but she thought he may have smiled at her returned curse.
    “What are you doing here? Couldn’t sleep?” His voice softened.
    “No, especially knowing I’d kicked you out of your own bed. This is your home. I’ll sleep down here.”
    He snorted. “You’re no lady, but you are a woman. I won’t force you to sleep on the floor. Compared to some of the places I’ve slept, this is practically a palace.”
    She looked around, pretending she could examine the furnishings in the dark. “Yes, I can see that. You clearly have the superior room. I shall demand my rights and share it with you.” Her words were lighthearted, but she wondered why an earl’s son had slept in hovels. He was no pampered aristocrat.
    “You want to sleep here? On the rug?”
    She sank to her knees and patted the spot beside her. “Nice and cozy. Come on over.” She tried to hide her regret over leaving the blasted blanket upstairs.
    He stared at her for a moment then shook his head with a chuckle. “You’re not what I expected.”
    “No?” She adopted her finest lady-of-the-manor accent. “It has become apparent to me that life does not always give one what he expects.” She thought about her life since her parents had died and she’d been forced into early adulthood forgoing a London Season and a beneficial marriage. Expectations for one’s life were never certain.
    Lucas sat down next to her with bent legs and leaned back on his hands. “You’re absolutely right about that.” He leaned toward her. “How did a young girl get so wise about life?”
    She’d revealed too much. Madame Bella repeatedly warned them. Always keep the illusion. You are a pretty young thing with nothing in your head other than pleasure. According to her, men didn’t want realities of life invading their mistress’s bedroom. They had that at home with their wives.
    Charlotte released her perfected airy giggle and gently slapped at his forearm. “Oh, you. How silly. Me? Wise? Surely you jest?” She launched herself onto his lap and curled into his heat. “Now, tell me how you plan on keeping me warm tonight?”

Chapter Four
     
    Lucas cradled the armful of luscious woman and inwardly groaned. He was an idiot. Every other man would have either remained upstairs in bed with their new mistress or dropped an unwanted one off before allowing her access to his home. Only he was unwise enough to play host to an unwanted woman on a cold, hard floor.
    Worse, he was starting to like her. She was smart. She’d figured out in less than two minutes that he’d given her the only habitable room. The few women of his acquaintance would’ve hopped into bed without a thought for her host. Second, she’d exhibited deeper insight about life than he’d expect from a young lady. There was more to Charlotte than met the eye.
    So now what? Should he take her offer at face value and accept what she offered? If she kept wiggling around on his lap, there’d be no thinking about it, only doing. “If I go upstairs, are you going to follow me?”
    Her smile spread across her face. “There’s only one way to find out.”
    Extracting her from his lap, he stood, picked up the candle and made his way out of the room toward the stairs. Surprisingly, Charlotte stayed put. He turned to look at her then held out a hand. “Come on. Neither of us is stupid enough to sleep in the cold when there’s a warm bed upstairs.” He accepted the cool hand she placed in his and led her silently from the room.
    His legs started to feel heavy and leaden as they trooped back