Oh, so she had seen through him entirely, Kristoffer realised with a hot burst of shame and resentment. That he could have asked her much earlier, if he had only tried; as if he were lazy and slow and too indecisive to take an opportunity when he wanted it.
Kristoffer bit down on his tongue in annoyance. When he wanted something, he didn’t just let it go... so maybe keeping his distance tonight had been the wrong strategy. But he didn’t particularly want to be just anyone to her, either, to fade into the evening like the rest of her guests. He didn’t want to share her, perhaps that was it. Better not to have her at all than have to live like that.
But before he could stare her down and scrub all thought of her from his brains in retaliation, she had... just changed the subject, oddly. Her cousin fetching shoes. An open dance, after all. A balcony beyond the ballroom. The resentment had dissolved from his face before he knew it; he let out a breath in utter surprise. Miss Dashwood had caught him off guard with that, and he was sure she knew it.
He ought to dismiss her suggestion out of hand – not for propriety’s sake, but to show her that she meant little to him, that he was ambivalent to the idea of dancing with her, that he wasn’t at her mercy in the slightest. But now that she had extended the olive branch, Kristoffer didn’t want to let it go. “Well, how can I say no to the best acoustics in the building?” he drawled – to agree to the proposal as carelessly as he could – but the smirk he shot her was far less smug and far more sincere than any look he’d given anyone tonight. Instead, there was real pleasure in it, a touch of co-conspiracy; a dangerous surge in the pace of his heartbeat. He would have taken her hand now, but they had to get to the balcony first, and he didn’t want to draw any attention to Poppy Dashwood leaving the ballroom at her own debut – so, for once in his life, he resisted the urge, and just said quietly, “Lead the way.”
Because he couldn’t resist lapsing into a little teasing as they went, though, he added, in a low tone: “And you can take off these shoes, if you like.” (If they were troubling her, and – he grinned –) “All the better for me when you step on my feet.”
Kristoffer bit down on his tongue in annoyance. When he wanted something, he didn’t just let it go... so maybe keeping his distance tonight had been the wrong strategy. But he didn’t particularly want to be just anyone to her, either, to fade into the evening like the rest of her guests. He didn’t want to share her, perhaps that was it. Better not to have her at all than have to live like that.
But before he could stare her down and scrub all thought of her from his brains in retaliation, she had... just changed the subject, oddly. Her cousin fetching shoes. An open dance, after all. A balcony beyond the ballroom. The resentment had dissolved from his face before he knew it; he let out a breath in utter surprise. Miss Dashwood had caught him off guard with that, and he was sure she knew it.
He ought to dismiss her suggestion out of hand – not for propriety’s sake, but to show her that she meant little to him, that he was ambivalent to the idea of dancing with her, that he wasn’t at her mercy in the slightest. But now that she had extended the olive branch, Kristoffer didn’t want to let it go. “Well, how can I say no to the best acoustics in the building?” he drawled – to agree to the proposal as carelessly as he could – but the smirk he shot her was far less smug and far more sincere than any look he’d given anyone tonight. Instead, there was real pleasure in it, a touch of co-conspiracy; a dangerous surge in the pace of his heartbeat. He would have taken her hand now, but they had to get to the balcony first, and he didn’t want to draw any attention to Poppy Dashwood leaving the ballroom at her own debut – so, for once in his life, he resisted the urge, and just said quietly, “Lead the way.”
Because he couldn’t resist lapsing into a little teasing as they went, though, he added, in a low tone: “And you can take off these shoes, if you like.” (If they were troubling her, and – he grinned –) “All the better for me when you step on my feet.”
