Read Online Almost a Lady by Heidi Betts - Free Book Online Page B

hand over his heart and fell back against the chair, giving her his best wounded look. “You cut me to the quick, madam.” Volley number one had no affect whatsoever on his arousal.
    A feminine brow winged upward at his theatrics. “I guess I can add melodramatic to the list,” she quipped. “You are obnoxious."
    "You said that already."
    "It bears repeating,” she replied dryly. “You are arrogant, self-centered, and self-serving."
    Volley number two had the blood in his loins thinning a fraction and moving out in other directions. “I'm not sure how you can come to such a conclusion after our few short meetings, but I think those can be thrown together into one category,” Brandt offered.
    "I'm a very good judge of character,” she answered primly. “And, no, they cannot be thrown together, because you are each one of those things individually. You are also a bigot."
    That was the one. Volley number three did it. His desire cooled completely, possibly lost forever, given the sudden fall of his . . . er . . . pride.
    The waiter came then with their meal. As soon as he left, Brandt leaned forward and fixed her with what he hoped was a cross look . “How do you figure that?"
    "You don't believe women can be good investigators,” Willow told him as she popped a tender scallop smothered in lemon butter into her mouth.
    "They can't,” he replied honestly. Just because a woman had the ability to incite a man's lust didn't mean she could hold her own against the criminal mind.
    "There!” she cried, her fork clanging against the side of her dish. “You are a bigot."
    "It is not bigoted to believe that women can't do the job of a man. It's the truth."
    Her mouth fell open in indignation; her eyes bulged. “That is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard. I will have you know that I have solved in weeks cases that would take a man months to figure out."
    He scoffed. “Impossible. The only way that you or any other woman could solve a crime before a man is if you used your feminine wiles to wheedle information out of some unsuspecting fool."
    If possible, her mouth fell open even farther than before. Her eyes all but sprang from their sockets. “That is the crudest thing I have ever heard. I definitely have to add crude to my list. And boorish. You are crude, rude, and boorish. I'm surprised you manage to walk upright. Most apes drag around on their knuckles, scratching at themselves. Although in the privacy of your room I'm sure that's something in which you take great pleasure."
    Brandt allowed himself a small smile. The blood was flowing back to his nether regions, heated by the surprising invigoration of battling with Willow Hastings and watching her skin flush, her breasts rise and fall in angry breaths while she argued with him. Who could have known squabbling with a woman could be so sexually stimulating?
    "Touché,” he said. “Are there any other reasons for your dislike of me, or is that it?” He took a bite of Duchess potato , unperturbed because he was beginning to enjoy this. Immensely.
    "Oh, Mr. Donovan,” Willow crooned, “I have not even begun to convey my dislike."
    By the time they finished their meal, Brandt's ears were nearly on fire. He imagined that Willow had a dictionary under the table and was reading off every negative trait from A to Z He didn't offer to refill her wine, but emptied the last of the bottle into his own glass and tossed it down in one giant gulp.
    When she fell silent, he stared at her with wide, somewhat cloudy, disbelieving eyes. “You're through?” he asked, astonished. “Are you sure you wouldn't like to add one more obnoxious just for good measure?"
    She tossed him a sugary-sweet smile. “I don't suppose it would hurt,” she said. “You are also obnoxious."
    "Thank you. I was almost beginning to feel above a garden slug."
    Willow sighed. “It's a shame you had to say that."
    "Why? Wasn't it obnoxious enough for you?"
    "Oh, it was plenty obnoxious,” she