Her thoughts stuttered to a halt. Mattie blinked and stared at him. “Venus?”
Edward nodded. “Statuesque.” He reached out and undid the topmost button of her nightgown, high at her throat. “Voluptuous.” The second button. “Beautiful.” The third button. “Exactly how a goddess should look.”
Her face was hot with embarrassment—from the compliments, from the fact that her chest was bared almost to her cleavage. Edward touched his knuckles lightly to the upper slope of one breast, still covered by thick flannel, a fleeting and barely-felt caress. She heard him swallow. “This nightgown definitely needs to come off.”
Mattie found her voice quickly: “You first.”
“Me?” He hesitated for a moment, as if he wished to refuse, and then said, “Very well.”
Edward stood and took a step back. He felt in
