'What the hell are you doing in here?' Theo sat bolt upright, appalled. Inappropriate thoughts about a young lady were one thing, finding her in his bedchamber, quite another.

'Shh! I knew you were awake, I saw the marquesa leaving.' She perched on the end of the bed on the rumpled patch of cover where Ana had coiled her long body and regarded him critically. Are you sure that it is a good thing, becoming intimate with her again?' She blushed. 'I mean, of course...trusting her?'

'I—' Theo snapped his mouth shut. He'd been within an inch of explaining that he had rebuffed Ana's advances, being defensive as though there was something between Nell and himself, something beyond friendship. 'What the devil were you about, watching my door? Is there a queue out there?'