Lady Be Good Part 11

"Pardon?"

"I'm starting to get a funny feeling right behind my knees. It's the same feeling I sometimes get just before I miss a four-footer."

Without warning, he angled the car off the road into a small graveled area that held three picnic tables, one of which was occupied by a family with two young boys. He got out of the car, but she decided to stay where she was.

He opened her door and gave her a look that promised he'd pull her out if she didn't get out on her own. She grabbed her umbrella at the last second to annoy him, then did her best to poke him in the head as she popped it open. "The sun is beastly."

"Not nearly as beastly as my temper." He s.n.a.t.c.hed away the umbrella, pushed it shut, and threw it back in the car. With the family of picnickers watching curiously, he steered her past the last table toward a gnarled tree on the perimeter of the picnic grounds that afforded them a small measure of privacy. Releasing her arm, he drilled her with eyes that reminded her far more of surgical lasers than marsh violets. "Start at the beginning."

"The beginning of what?" she said carefully.

"Cut the c.r.a.p. My instincts have been telling me all along there was something strange about this whole situation, but I made the mistake of not paying attention. Now, I'm going to spell it out for you. I have a suspension hanging over my head, my career's in jeopardy, and that means I can't afford to head blind into someone else's problems. You tell me exactly what's going on."

She'd never thought of herself as fainthearted, but he looked entirely too formidable. "I don't know what you mean."

"Let me remind you that you're standing in the middle of a foreign country with a man who recently got suspended for drug dealing along with smacking a woman."

Before Torie had left, she'd told Emma what had happened with Kenny's business manager. "You weren't suspended for drug dealing, and I don't believe you about the woman."

"Honey, I've got the video."

"Really, Kenny, this isn't any of your business."

"Bull! My career's on the line, and I'm not risking that for anything. What's your relations.h.i.+p with this guy?"

"I told you. The Duke of Beddington owns St. Gert's. He's also the school's princ.i.p.al benefactor."

"And?"

As she studied the grim set of his mouth, she felt a pang of nostalgia for the good-looking fool she'd originally taken Kenny to be. "And, nothing."

He stared at her for a long moment. "I guess I misjudged you. I figured you had some guts, but you don't even have enough courage to be honest."

That stung. "This has nothing to do with you!"

He didn't reply, merely studied her, and she could have sworn she saw disappointment in his expression. It made her feel like a coward. But she hated the idea of revealing the intimate details of her life, especially when those details would make her seem pathetic in his eyes.

"You're being absolutely beastly about this," she said.

He waited.

He was right. She was being cowardly, and everything would be much easier if she simply told him. After that, she'd be able to accomplish what she had to without trying to hide it from him. If only the truth weren't so embarra.s.sing.

The two young boys at the next picnic table began chasing each other. She envied them their freedom. "All right, I'll tell you," she said reluctantly. "But you have to agree to let me stay at your ranch."

"We'll talk about that after I hear your story."

"No. You have to promise me first."

"I'm not promising anything until I hear what you have to say." He crossed his arms and leaned back against the trunk of a hackberry tree.

She mustered her courage by reminding herself that she hadn't done anything wrong, and she certainly didn't need Kenny Traveler's good opinion, but somehow that didn't make her feel any better. "The Duke of Beddington is a very powerful man in England," she began hesitantly. "An old family. He seems to have a genius for investing in new technology, and he's quite rich. Unfortunately, he's also a bit mad. He's ..." She pleated her shorts with her fingers. "Well, he wants to marry me."

He watched her carefully. "Seems to me most women would be flattered at the idea of marrying a duke."

"Believe me, there's nothing personal about his offer. He has two girls from his former marriages, and he needs a male heir. The woman has to be wellborn and have a spotless reputation. G.o.d forbid that the family name should be soiled by a commoner with a normal s.e.x life." She realized the implications of what she'd said and went on hastily, "I know it sounds like something out of the seventeenth century, but he's deadly serious. I refused him, of course, but he paid no attention."

She went on, telling him about her panic when Hugh threatened to sell the school and the plan she'd conceived out of desperation. "I had to agree, Kenny. I can't let him close St. Gert's. But I can't marry him, either."

Warming to her topic, she described her plan to scandalize Beddington just enough so that he would call off the engagement. When she was finally finished, Kenny stared at her for a moment, then walked over to the nearest picnic table and slumped down on the bench. "When you mentioned you haven't had a normal s.e.x life, exactly what did you mean?"

She couldn't believe that was the only thing he'd picked up on. "Is that all you can say after everything I've told you?"

"First things first."

The two young boys who'd been chasing each other darted into the trees. "I never said I hadn't had a normal s.e.x life."

"You implied it. Now, exactly what kind of abnormality are we talking about here?"

"Nothing! We're not talking about anything."

"You're not a secret dominatrix, are you?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"You already said you're not a lesbian, and I'm p.r.o.ne to believe you. Foot fetish?"

"No!"

"A m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t?"

"Don't be absurd."

"s.a.d.i.s.t?"

"This is rubbish."

His eyes narrowed. "You tell me right this second you're not a pedophile."

"Oh, for G.o.d's sake, I'm a virgin virgin!"

Silence.

Her cheeks grew hot. "Go on, then! Laugh! I know you want to."

"Let me get my breath back first." His eyes drifted to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "How does anybody get to be your age and stay a virgin?"

"It just happened, that's all. I didn't intend for it to turn out this way." She shot her chin a bit higher. "I was busy, and I'm not good with men."

"That's because you're too d.a.m.ned bossy."

"I didn't ask for your opinion." A shout from the larger of the two boys distracted her. She watched him wrestle the younger one to the ground, bringing the other child's head perilously close to the sharp corner of the concrete slab that held one of the picnic tables. "Careful, boys! If you want to wrestle, do it over there."

The brothers stopped what they were doing and stared at her. So did their parents. Kenny rolled his eyes. "Would you mind your own business?"

She turned her back on him. "I knew you'd be difficult about this. That's why I didn't want to tell you."

He came around in front of her. "Of course I'm being difficult. You climbed into bed with me two nights ago without once mentioning that particular piece of information."

"It wasn't relevant."

"It sure as h.e.l.l was relevant to me."

"Why? What possible difference could it make?"

"A big difference. You were using me!"

She stared at him, feeling both anger and the beginnings of a perverse sort of amus.e.m.e.nt. "As I remember, it was the other way around. Do you always try to turn the tables like this when you know you're in the wrong?"

He scowled.

"Do you have any idea how pathetic you are?" she said.

"Me?" His eyebrows shot up. "You're the one who's never been laid."

"Life is about a lot more than s.e.x."

"Yeah, well, you don't play golf, either." He stalked off toward the car, looking far more upset than he had any right to be.

She marched after him. "You are the most selfish, self-centered, person I've ever known. I've just told you how my life's falling apart, and all you can think about is how it affects you."

"You're d.a.m.n straight." He turned to confront her. "You listen to me, Emma. The only way I get back on the tour is to keep what's left of my reputation so clean that it squeaks. Now, near as I can gather, that puts the two of us at cross purposes, because you seem h.e.l.l bent on destroying yours."

"I don't have a choice."

"You sure do. The answer to your problem is as clear as the nose on your face." He jabbed his finger toward his car. "Get on that phone right this minute and tell that p.u.s.s.y duke you have no intention of marrying him!"

"Didn't you hear anything I said? If I don't go along with this, he'll sell St. Gert's."

"That's not your problem. You can get another job." He unlocked the door and climbed in.

She raced around to the other side and jimmied the handle until he finally unlocked it. "You don't know what you're saying." She climbed inside. "St. Gert's is special. I've started a new program for scholars.h.i.+p students. If the school closes, they'll be abandoned. And St. Gert's is my home. The only one I've ever had."

"It's just a pile of old bricks."

"Not to me. Oh, why am I even bothering? I knew you wouldn't understand."

"What I don't understand is how you've let this whole thing get so complicated."

"Beddington isn't stupid. If my behavior is too blatant, he'll see right through what I'm trying to do and get rid of St. Gert's just to punish me for defying him. I have to be subtle, make him believe he's misjudged my character at the same time I pretend to go along with him."

He scowled and jabbed his keys into the ignition. "Well, I'm not sleeping with you, if that's what you've got on your mind."

"I don't want to sleep with you!"

For some maddening reason, that seemed to calm him down. His hands went slack on the key, and his eyes made a lazy journey along the b.u.t.tons of her blouse. "You sure did want to the other night, Queen Elizabeth."

She hoped he didn't notice the gooseflesh that broke out on her skin. To compensate, she sat up straighter in the seat. "That was when I thought you were honorable."

"Honorable?" His exasperation returned. "I told you I was a gigolo gigolo."

"At least you were open about it."

"I was lying lying through my teeth." through my teeth."

"Yes, well, I didn't know that at the time." She sniffed. "And if I make up my mind to sleep with someone in the next two weeks, it won't be you."

"You aren't sleeping with anybody in the next two weeks. As long as Francesca's looking over my shoulder, you're going back home in exactly the same pristine condition as the day you arrived. When you lose your virginity, Lady Emma, you're d.a.m.n well going to do it on somebody else's watch."

She began to respond, only to have the words slip away as his eyes locked on her mouth. Slowly his expression changed. She watched his lips part ever so slightly and his eyes darken. She felt light-headed. After all her talk about not wanting to sleep with him, she was the one lying through her teeth because everything about him stimulated her-his extravagant good looks, lanky body, Texas drawl, even his peculiar sense of humor. She hated herself for it, but some part of her wished she hadn't discovered that magazine cover until after they'd made love.

He jerked his eyes away from her. "That's it! You're staying at a hotel!"

"I am not!" She couldn't stay at a hotel. It was exactly what Beddington expected from her. "I didn't want to mention this, but I'm afraid you're forcing me to remind you that I can call Francesca at any time."

"You leave Francesca out of this."

"You keep forgetting that I'm desperate. And I'm certain Francesca will be very upset when she hears how you got me drunk, then dragged me to that horrible tattoo parlor where I was disfigured for life."

"Can't you see that I'm doing this for your own good? Don't you realize that putting the two of us together under one roof is just plain stupid?"

"I know we've argued a lot, but if we both try a bit harder to be polite-"

"I'm not talking about us arguing."

"Then what?"

He gave a deep sigh. "For a smart lady, you sure are dumb."

She regarded him more closely. Could he possibly be attracted to her? She drew herself up sharply. This was no time to indulge in fantasy. Besides, he was a playboy, and she was very nearly a dotty, dear thing.

"All right," he said. "You win this round. You can stay at my ranch, but I'm charging you two hundred dollars a day rent."

That would wipe out her profit. "One hundred dollars."

"Two fifty fifty."

"All right," she said hastily. "Two hundred."