"Not nearly as awful? I'd hope I'm not awful at all," He continued to grin, despite feeling a bit miffed that she's still inadvertently called him awful. If he hadn't been so wound up about the offending article, he may have been able to just brush the mild offense off. Still, he was overly sensitive. She needn't know that she'd upset him. No, keep up the sense of humor. He'd made her laugh. She had a rather lovely laugh. And smile. He liked her smile.

Could he get her to do it again? "Although 'not nearly as awful' is a start in the right direction. I'd wager if we keep this up, Witch Weekly will have to publish a statement redacting their slander and informing all that I'm really not such a terrible gentleman after all. Tell me Miss Lockhart, are you willing to go on record that I'm 'not nearly as awful'?"