"Kincaid!" she gasped, and he burst into laughter.
Ava slapped him on the arm, her face burning. She had the sudden urge to kiss him again, just to see if her memories of last night's events were quite as overwhelming as they'd seemed, or whether she'd simply been caught up in the moment of her first assisted orgasm.
"Has no one ever flirted with you before?"
Ava snapped the book shut, and set it aside. "Of course they have. I was engaged once. There was flirtation, though... decidedly more mild than your so-called attempt."
"So-called attempt? I see I'm not succeeding very well. Perhaps I should press my endeavors?" He stepped closer, backing her against the desk and trailing his fingers down over the lace that covered her breasts. "I keep thinking about these pretty tits."
Ava's breath caught. "You're so vulgar."
"You're entirely too innocent. And," his voice dropped, "you have no idea."
He'd startled her again. What was it about this man that made her enjoy his flirtation so much? She knew they were all kinds of wrong for each other, but she simply couldn't help herself.
Ava gave him a sidelong glance. "Perhaps, Mr. Kincaid, I could imagine."
Kincaid's smile grew soft and heated as he rested his knuckles on either side of her hips. "That's the spirit. Now tell me... engaged? I didn't know that."
"It was a long time ago. Before Hague kidnapped me. Actually," she amended, "Hague's kidnapping is the reason my engagement ended." Storm clouds brewed in her heart, an old hurt she'd never quite gotten over. "By the time I returned home to see my family, they'd moved on. Paul thought I was dead, and he'd already become engaged to someone else." Only six months missing, and she'd been replaced, as easily as if she didn't matter.
"He's a fool then."
Ava's shoulders relaxed. "Why do you always know the perfect thing to say?"
"Haven't you realized yet?" he drawled. "I'm the perfect man."
"Perfectly ridiculous," she said, pushing at his chest. But she was smiling again, her woes forgotten. "Now stop distracting me. We have a case."
"And now we have a lead. So what's the next step? How do we find this caterpillar mushroom?"
Ava finally unleashed a smile. "I know just the place."
Thirteen
"HERE WE ARE," Kincaid said, pulling to the curb and thrusting one foot out to steady them.
Ava clung to him tightly, squeezing her eyes shut behind the goggles he'd provided her with. He'd insisted they ride his velococycle, a three-wheeled contraption one sat upon, which was going to be the most popular vehicle in London, he'd assured her. She sat sideways on the seat behind him, her breasts crushed to his back, and the throb of the growling steam engine in the velococycle quivering beneath her like some maddened beast.
Ava scrambled off the velococycle, clutching at a lamppost. "My God." Solid ground. She wanted to kiss it.
Kincaid shoved his goggles up on top of his head, scruffing up his black hair. He laughed at her as he tugged his leather riding gloves off, looking younger than she'd ever seen him. "Anyone would think you didn't trust me."
"It's not you I don't trust." She pointed at the velococycle's shiny black painted body. "There's a reason we ride in carriages. Because they are safe, and slow, and nobody is hurtled to a fiery death on the cobbles, which are barely inches beneath your feet, might I point out-"
"Ava." He slid off the velococycle, the flaps of his long leather coat slapping against the backs of his thighs as he captured her upper arms in his hands. "Breathe. I would never put you at risk. I'm an expert driver. I helped build the bloody machine after all, and was on the enclave team that came up with the concept. Surely it was just a little bit enjoyable?"
She stared up at him. Now she had her feet under her again, she felt infinitely better. She'd pinned the enormous mass of her hair back tightly, but loose curls escaped it, and if she were being honest, she couldn't deny there'd been a slight thrill. "Just the littlest bit."
Their eyes met, and then Kincaid's smile grew. "Spread your wings, Ava."
"But," she said, stepping away from him and smoothing her skirts as she set eyes on Winthrop's Emporium, "I still might walk home, thank you very much. Now let's go find my caterpillar mushroom."
Ava pushed open the door to the shop, the bell over it ringing as she entered. Kincaid's body was a warm presence at her back.