“Are you hard of hearing, Your Grace?” she asked.
“I am not. But your statement is hard to believe. All young ladies desire to be married.”
She drew in a steadying breath, wondering if she could drag his body out the window and dig a suitably sized hole for him without drawing notice.
“I have not wished it for years, yet here I stand in such a dilemma,” she stated. “A lady must do what is necessary to help her family. We must all do our duty. And you have put me in a horrible position, sir. Because of your machinations, I must marry a fortune.”
He gazed at her, apparently mystified. “This is how I have ruined your life?”
“Yes,” she replied before adding, hoping he was not so arrogant, as many men were, for him to completely disregard her circumstance. “It is no small thing.”
He was silent for a long moment.
Once again, that crackling gaze traversed her physique, lingering upon her breech-clad thighs and the linen shirt skimming her breasts. That gaze heated her far more than the summer air. How did he do that?
By all accounts she should hate him. Yet, she could not. Not entirely. Nor could she ignore the way that simply being so near to him evoked feelings in her she could not understand.
His own eyes lit with some wild emotion, and then he tore his gaze away from her.
“I agree that it is no small thing,” he stated, his rumbling voice deeper and rougher than before. “You certainly seem most upset. And the fact that you are here alone with me is a most troubling thing. Lady Jacqueline, I think you should turn around, climb out the window, and go back the way that you came.”
“I shall do so once we’ve come to an arrangement,” she said firmly.
“And what is that, Jack?” he growled. But then his eyes widened. “Oh God, you don’t plan onmemarrying you, do you?”
There it was again. Her nickname. The name she’d had when she’d felt free.
Jack.
No one had ever called her that. And yet from him…it felt right. It felt like it was perfect. A brisk, single syllable which summed up her determined character quite well. Far better than Jacqueline.
Even so, his words landed, and she laughed. That laughter bubbled up inside her until it poured out of her in hearty waves.
He had the good grace to look contrite.
“The very idea of you marrying me is absurd,” she wheezed. “Do not be so arrogant, Stone.”
He gave her a slow, breathtaking smile. “You’d be surprised,” he confessed. “Many ladies have tried to get me alone.”
“Listen to yourself,” she insisted, even as she tried to breathe under the power of that dratted smile.
“I am listening to myself,” he replied evenly, with surprising amusement. “And I do tell the truth. You should see the antics that I get up to in order to ensure I’m not cornered by marriage-minded—”
“My goodness,” she cut in, teasing him. “How very difficult your life is.”
But unbidden, the question came to her. What would it be like to share bed and board with a man like him?
Impossible. That’s what. Too handsome and self-assured for his own good. No doubt, it would be like being married to a Greek god making his way through mortals.
No, that was not for her. For she knew she walked firmly upon the ground. No hallowed halls or immortal heavens for the likes of herself.
“I am a most fortunate individual,” he said at last. “But it can grow rather complicated ensuring I’m never caught alone with a lady.”
She nodded, though she couldn’t imagine being trailed by a host of male suitors determined to trap her into matrimony. She supposed that would be most difficult.
“You need not worry about such a thing,” she assured him.
He gave her a slight bow. “Your laugh did suggest that.” He sighed. “Since you have gone to such great lengths, I suppose you must explain your position.”