Merry Christmas, My Love

Friends it would have to be. Although he’d felt a pull toward Lady Elise from the time he’d first laid his eyes on her, he also was not interested in marriage. If not the wedded state, one did not have any other type of relationship with a gently reared woman, except friendship. “Yes. Agreed. You see I have been dodging the marriage-minded mamas of the ton for a few years myself. I now know how to hold their darling daughters at arm’s length. I could give you some tips and be your cohort in crime, as it were.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I love a challenge,” he gave her a wink, “and keeping away the hordes of men who will descend upon you is a true test of my abilities.”