He liked when she was on the counter; standing between her skirts like this was starting to feel natural. With one thumb, Noble rubbed affectionate circles against her hip. He lost the rhythm with her question. "No," he answered, without thinking hard about it. He was not sure they had all always been so self-centered, but they certainly were now — and Noble was the least important component of the Greengrass household.

"No one cares what I do," he added. That was sort of a bleak thought — there would have been a time that it was reassuring to him, but now it made him feel largely hollow. To distract himself, he continued his line of kisses down her neck and into the narrow window of skin visible above her bodice.