Page 23 of The Lady Needs a Rogue
“That would stand to reason.”
“And if we were to give the impression that there is... something between us?”
“Macie, I don’t like the sound of this,” Jon protested.
“Is that supposed to matter to me?” Macie’s gaze flared with defiance.
“Let her speak,” Finn said. “It is her plan we’re talking about, after all.”
Jon scowled and folded his arms. “Go on, Macie.”
“The way I see it, the best way to discourage an heiress hunter is to lead him to believe I am no longer on the market.”
Jon began to pace. “You cannot be serious.”
“Unfortunately, that strategy won’t work,” she said matter-of-factly. “If Father got word of anything that sounded like a betrothal without his approval—and you know he would—he might well suffer an apoplexy.”
“Gads, ye would not want the man to think ye’d settle for the likes of me now, would ye?” Finn said with a deliberately bland tone.
“It’s not like that,” she said quickly, sounding a trifle sheepish, though Jon did not voice any disagreement with Finn’s assessment.
He studied her face, seeing the touch of regret in her expression. Did she feel she’d wounded him? Somehow, that look of caring in her eyes seemed much more like that kind girl she’d once been than the enterprising woman who sought to use this situation for her benefit.
Not that she had hurt him. He possessed, above all else, a firm perspective on the realities of life in this city, with the nose-in-the-air old money types and the new-money industrialists who desperately wanted to be part of a club that did not want any part of them, other than their tin.
“What in thunder are ye planning?” he asked directly.
“As I said, I am thinking about creating an illusion. I’d like the fortune hunters to think of me as not-quite spoken for.” She smiled. “After all, a man like you will stand as quite a boulder in their paths.”
“Boulder, is it? So now ye’re comparing me to a rock?” No wonder she suspected her father would keel over at the thought of his daughter becoming Finn’s bride. He bit back the first words that sprang to mind. Definitely not suitable for a lady’s ear. But then again, Macie was not the typical lady.
She gave a little shrug. “I thought it was a rather appropriate image.”
“Ye still have not told me what ye intend for me to do.”
“It’s simple, really. You’ll be there with me at the balls and soirees and gatherings I’m expected to attend. I can hear the chatter now.The heiress and her rake.That should be all it will take to buy a reprieve from their oh-so-dull efforts at courtship. At least until Jon returns.”
“Rake? I think I preferredboulder.”
“I’ll try to remember that,” she said lightly, glancing toward her brother. Jon’s expression was a cross between a scowl and utter defeat. “Don’t look so glum, Jon. I’m intending to have a bit of fun, that’s all.”
Jon slowly shook his head. “I know how yourfunusually turns out.”
“The way I look at it, the options are clear. I will be seen about town with a protective, somewhat besotted bodyguard whose presence will spur the noble nobs of London to settheir sights on someone—anyone—other than me. And you, Mr. Caldwell, will get what Jon had promised you—not that I truly care to know the details of your bargain. Or I will devise a scandal that will make even rogues blush. In which case, I can only assume that you will walk away empty-handed from whatever deal you’ve hatched with my brother. So, which is it?” A smile played on her lips as she turned back to Finn. “Do we have an agreement?”
Chapter Eight
Scarcely forty-eight hoursafter he’d struck his deal with the devil in skirts, Finn lingered at the edge of some high-and-mighty aristocrat’s marble ballroom, battling the urge to tug at his blasted-too-tight collar. Decked out in a jacket and trousers that had been expertly tailored to fit his frame but did not suit his soul in the least, he bided his time. Damned if he didn’t feel like a fish flopping about on the bank of a river. Why in blazes had he allowed himself to become tangled in Jon’s—and Macie’s—schemes?
Soon after her return to London, Macie had received a coveted invitation to Lady Evansdale’s moonlight gala. The former dollar princess’s parties were the talk of London, and for once, Macie was eager to attend. With Finn in tow, no less. Macie saw the gathering as a crucial first test. What better opportunity to make their debut as heiress and bodyguard?
Macie’s scheme was simple enough. While they were out and about at Lady Shoes-Too-Pinched’s and Lady Nose-in-the-Air’s parties, Finn would keep would-be suitors at arm’s length. He’d offer the gossipy elites of London reason to speculate that her unofficial bodyguard was actually something more. Were they—or weren’t they—enamored with one another? She wanted to keep the society types guessing. Macie would emerge both free of matrimony and with her good name intact if she could convince London’s ballroom Lotharios that capturing her heart—and her fortune—was a lost cause.
Deuced shame Finn possessed no dramatic talent. The best he could do was follow her about and glare at the men who tried to impress her. If that wasn’t good enough, then he’d happily escort her to the theater district to find an actual actor to fill the role of decoy.
At the moment, he was enjoying a reprieve from the act, of sorts. Macie had joined a few of the women in the ballroom for a spirited discussion. Looking on from a casual distance, he found himself reluctant to tear his attention from her. Blasted shame she had not worn another atrocity like the shroud she’d worn to Lady Drayton’s affair. Tonight, she’d draped herself in pale, unadorned green silk, a flowing gown that displayed her gorgeous curves to perfection. Her natural beauty captured his gaze with a magnetic pull. Bloody hell, he didn’t want to look away. At this rate, he’d convince the guests he was a lovestruck fool without even trying.
Discouraging the fortune hunters would be the easy part. He wouldn’t even need to hide his contempt for the fops sniffing after Macie’s money. But keeping Macie safe from her own escapades was another story.
