Floating within an inline element

I have an html button composed of two elements (like the one from: http://www.jankoatwarpspeed.com/post/2008/04/30/make-fancy-buttons-using-css-sliding-doors-technique.aspx) floated left one against another. This works fine if the button is on its own line, But I'd like to be able to do something like this: "some text [button]", without having to float the text as well. How can I isolate the button's floating so that the button's composing elements are floated, but the whole button element itself behaves like a regular inline element?