Free Someone Irresistible by Adele Ashworth Page B

she answered nonchalantly, brows furrowed, fingers squeezing her knuckles as she glanced over her studio. “So you can watch to make sure I draw dimensions properly. I suppose the settee will be adequate.”
    “Indeed,” he said, only hinting at a sudden underlying amusement.
    “It appears to be all we have, anyway.”
    Then why did you ask ? she wanted to blurt, but didn’t out of courtesy. Instead, she turned away from him, grinning to herself, pleased he’d decided not to argue but not wanting him to know that.
    From the edge of the counter top she grabbed her large sketching pad and a charcoal pencil, then settled into the cushioned seat of the settee.
    He followed and sat after she did, beside her, his leather case on his lap.
    Mimi adjusted her body so that she wasn’t touching him knee to shoulder, although her skirts blanketed his right leg, which he didn’t seem to mind. She hoped he appreciated how difficult it was for her to keep her distance like that, as well, since the settee was especially small with him in it.
    She peeked up at him sideways. He sat perfectly straight, facing forward, and didn’t interject the fact that they’d both likely be more comfortable if they had separate chairs. That filled her with a guilt-laden rush of satisfaction.
    He unfastened the gold snaps on his case, reached inside, and removed four or five papers. Then he lowered the case to the floor while studying the pages in front of him in earnest as he organized them. She clutched the pencil in her lap and tried to remain focused on the work ahead.
    “The Megalosaurus was an enormous beast,” he began, “larger even than the Iguanodon. There’s some debate as to whether he stood upright or bent over, especially when he walked, but how he walked has
    yet to be proven, and it’s doubtful that it ever will be. We’re fairly certain he was a meat eater, and I believe he was, given the shape and size of his teeth—” he turned his paper over, studying it— “each one sort of like a wild cat’s, curved with cutting notches on the edges, and about four and a half inches long.”
    He handed her the page, and she took it. Definitely a rough drawing, but she supposed it looked remotely like teeth.
    “This looks as if his teeth were imbedded in the jaw,” she offered. “Is this how you want it portrayed in the model?”
    “Yes, actually,” he said, eyes opening wide, a bit taken aback by her keen observance. “The jawbone stolen from me showed this to be obviously so, and that’s exactly how I want the model. Megalosaurus means ‘great lizard,’ but in point of fact its teeth were imbedded like a crocodile’s, unlike those of the Iguanodon that were more precisely like the teeth of a common lizard. Ultimately, as more Megalosaur fossils are discovered, scientists will continue to be confounded by this, I believe. I find it merely fascinating.”
    “Scientists do tend, as a whole, to be stuck in their beliefs, don’t they?”
    He nodded, frowning. “Foolish, I think, but then my forward thinking approach hasn’t always won me honors and accolades.”
    Mimi smiled, charmed by his bluntness, his eagerness, and especially his desire to discuss this with her as if she were not a simple female but an interested individual with an understanding of scientific notions.
    Then again, maybe he was just concerned that she get his drawings and model correct. She would probably never know for sure.
    “I don’t think anyone will ever be able to prove how fast the Megalosaurus itself could move,” he continued looking back at his notes, “even under the best conditions. Most paleontologists think he was a very, very slow mover, given that he was extremely large and, as most believe, reptilian in nature.”
    “It would be a monumental achievement if you could prove them wrong, Nathan,” she maintained, a mischievous tinge of excitement in her words. “That would certainly return you to the forefront of the scientific world,