Belatedly realizing that Boris was studying him with a smug expression, Edmond gave a lift of his brows.
“May I inquire why you are regarding me with that vaguely annoying smile?” he demanded.
That annoying smile only widened. “I was considering whether to offer you my congratulations or my sympathies.”
“And why is that?”
“Miss Quinn is, without a doubt, a beautiful female.”
“Without a doubt.”
“And extraordinarily spirited.”
“Oh, yes, she is indeed spirited. Do you have a point?”
“The point is that she is hardly your usual sort.”
“I did not realize that I had a usual sort.”
Boris folded his arms over the considerable width of his chest. “You know very well that you have always preferred those sophisticated, some might even claim jaded, ladies who no longer believe in romance. Women who understand your rules of seduction.” He deliberately considered his words. “You have never encouraged a dewy-eyed innocent who is foolish enough to presume a few kisses are nothing less than a declaration of love.”
“Brianna is not a dewy-eyed innocent.”
“Perhaps no longer,” Boris muttered.
“Take care, Boris,” Edmond warned. “No one is allowed to speak of Brianna, not even you.”
“I am speaking of you, Summerville. Innocent or not, Miss Quinn is a well-bred young lady who has not yet learned to protect her heart.”
Edmond gave a startled laugh. “Are you attempting to lecture me on seducing a beautiful young lady?”
Boris shrugged. “It is one thing to seduce a chit, and another to make her fall in love with you.”
A strange, wholly unexpected heat flared through Edmond at the thought of Miss Brianna Quinn gazing at him with a besotted smile, her arms opened wide to welcome him into his bed or merely seated opposite him at the dining room table, listening to him with rapt adoration.
It was the sort of image that should have made him break out in a horrified sweat, not smile with pleasure.
What the hell could be worse than having some female trailing after him, fluttering her lashes and constantly underfoot as she sought to attract his attention?
Of course, if the woman doing the trailing and fluttering were Brianna, it might be worth the annoyance.
More than worth the annoyance, a soft voice whispered in the back of his mind.
“What if she does believe herself in love with me?” he murmured, an unwitting smile tugging at his lips. “For the moment, we are forced into one another’s company. It is far more pleasant to have her as my lover than as my enemy.”
“You are willing to break her heart?”
Edmond shrugged. “All young women must endure one broken heart, do they not?”
Boris shook his head, his expression tight with annoyed bafflement. “You detest women who attempt to cling to you.”
“Do I?”
“Very well.” Boris threw up his hands in disgust. “If you want to play with fire then so be it. It’s none of my concern.”
Smoothing the cuff of his pale blue coat, Edmond sent his friend a wry glance.
“I would say that you are enjoying your own share of dallying with the flames, Boris. Or do you expect me to believe that you hauled the pretty young maid off to her chambers last eve and left her without so much as a kiss?”