Ingrid tried not to swoon face-first into her soup when Alexei responded to her bold move with an equally bold move of his own. She had only meant to get his attention and was about to drop her skirt back down demurely when she felt his large, rough hand close over knee and begin the most delirious circles. Strange twinges between her legs kept jolting her with feelings that were both awkward and thrilling. She imagined his hand wandering up higher on her thigh, but she didn't dare move to encourage him because otherwise, she really would faint dead away from the combination of shock and pleasure.<br/><br/>She hadn't liked the way Alexei looked at Angelique DeWarrenne. Not at all. Not one bit. In fact, she would have been glad to donate her dowry to buy a boat to ship her anywhere she wanted. Ingrid had been surprised at her violently jealous reaction, and somewhat ashamed of it, too, but Alexei's look had been altogether too appreciative. Really, she had only meant to get his attention by flashing her leg at him, but now it seemed she had set off something that was perhaps a bit more than she had bargained for.<br/><br/>"Shall we have good weather tomorrow, do you think?" she asked Alexei as calmly as she could, even though the hand that held the soup spoon trembled so much that she lost most of the soup before she could bring it to her lips. "I've heard that spring in St. Petersberg can be so<em>changeable</em>!" she squeaked the last word in innocent surprise at what Alexei's hand had just done.