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Victoria told the duke.
    Her brothers-in-law burst into laughter. Alexander gently grasped the back of her neck and forced her to turn toward him.
    “You are incorrigible.” He planted another kiss on her lips.
    When her sisters and brothers-in-law left the drawing room to say goodnight to their children, Alexander turned to Victoria and asked, “Would you care to learn to play billiards?”
    Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “Yes.”
    While a footman lit extra lanterns in the game room, Alexander readied the rectangular billiards table. He set the colored balls, positioned the cue ball, and then smoothed the tip of the cue with chalk.
    “Will there be anything else, my lord?” the footman asked before leaving.
    “No, thank you.” Alexander poured himself a brandy. “Would you care for a brandy, my dear?”
    Victoria laughed and shook her head.
    “Taste it,” he coaxed.
    Victoria wanted to tell him that she didn’t like spirits. After all, she had learned a hard lesson from her father’s dependency on alcohol in order to blot the pain from his heart. She knew if she said that, he would blame himself again for what his father had done.
    Taking a tiny sip, Victoria coughed and grimaced at the taste. A burning sensation traveled from her mouth to the pit of her stomach. “That tastes horrible.”
    Alexander grinned at her pained expression, set the glass on the table, and reached for the cue. “Watch what I do,” he said, and then paused. “Are you right—or left-handed?”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Which hand do you use the most?”
    Victoria held up her left hand. “I use my fork hand the most.”
    “I’ve never heard it described that way.” Alexander held the stick up. “This is a billiard cue. The player hits the cue ball with the cue, hoping the cue ball will hit his colored ball and send it into one of the pockets. He continues play as long as the ball goes into the pocket. Do you understand?”
    Victoria gave him a blank look. She couldn’t remember a word he had said. Too many verbal directions confused her. She needed to see the game in play.
    “Could you explain as we go along?” Victoria asked. “Hit a few balls to demonstrate how it’s done.”
    Alexander lifted the cue, leaned down close to the billiard table, and studied the balls. “I’m trying to hit the red ball into the pocket.”
    Laying his cue on the table as a directional, Alexander leaned down and held the shaft in his right hand. After positioning the butt through his left hand to steady it, he hit the cue ball, which, in turn, hit the red ball into the pocket.
    Victoria clapped for him. “Do it again.”
    Alexander moved around the table. Victoria studied him instead of the billiards. She started with his light blond hair, his chiseled features in profile, and saw, in her mind’s eyes, his expressive hazel eyes. Sliding her gaze down to his shoulders, Victoria admired the way his broad shoulders and chest tapered into his waist and lean hips. Her gaze drifted lower to his groin, and she recalled feeling his hardness pressed against her when they kissed at the stream.
    As he readied the shot, Victoria glanced at his hands with their long fingers. She wondered what it would feel like to have his hands caressing her body, his strength pressing her down, his powerful legs spreading her thighs. His hardness filling her softness.
    Victoria trembled, a shudder of desire shooting through her. An involuntary whimper escaped her lips.
    “Is anything wrong?” Alexander asked, giving her a puzzled look.
    Victoria shook her head, a blush coloring her alabaster complexion.
    “What kind of man do you want to marry?” Alexander asked, glancing sidelong at her while chalking the tip of the cue. “Titled, wealthy, and handsome?”
    “The man I marry must be smart, patient, and understanding,” Victoria told him.
    “Admirable qualities, to be sure,” Alexander remarked. “Why do you prefer those qualities?”
    “I admire