Alfred laughed a little nervously at her offer, and took another swig of his beer. It wasn't as though he could be imagining the way that sounded — it was utterly unambiguous. That resolved his dilemma about whether or not she was actually flirting with him before, or whether he'd just been reading too much into the conversation. No, the hints she'd been dropping before were real, most likely — and maybe coming here with her hair down was, too, or any number of other small things he'd picked up on but been afraid to assign any agency to for fear of misreading the situation and getting himself into trouble.

"You know, when you say things like that, I don't know whether to take you seriously or not," he said, which was true. The connotation behind her words could not be mistaken, but did she mean them literally, or was it just a way of teasing him? If he was a little bolder and had said something suave and equally teasing in response, would she start stripping right here, in the middle of the sitting room? A stirring went through him at the thought, and he shifted his weight — bringing himself, intentionally or not, just the slightest bit closer to her on the sofa.