Page 18 of Guilty Pleasures

Her left hand tightened around the tiles in her palm, but only for a moment. What he wanted did not matter to her any longer. “No.”

Hoping the matter was now resolved, Daphne bent down for a closer comparison of two tiles. “A bit too green, I think,” she murmured as she straightened and set the discarded cube aside. She reached toward the box, but before she could select a new tile, Anthony’s fingers curled over her wrist, stopping her.

“You cannot refuse to at least give me the opportunity to change your mind,” he said.

“It would be a waste of time. I am leaving.”

“What has prompted this sudden desire to go?” His thumb caressed her wrist, and Daphne felt her pulse quicken in response. Angry with herself, she pulled her wrist free of his grasp.

“My reasons are not your concern.”

“Viola told me about your grandfather. If you wish him to acknowledge you, I can be of assistance in that regard. If you stay long enough to finish my excavation, I would use my influence to bring him to heel.”

She would die before she would accept help from him. “I do not need any such assistance from you, your grace. I should like my grandfather to acknowledge me because it is the right thing for him to do, not because he was intimidated into it by a man of higher rank. Besides, I do not want to stay here. I have been working on excavation sites all my life, and I want a change of scene. I want to make new acquaintances.”

“And find a husband as well, I hear.”

Daphne stiffened at those words. She could not detect any hint of ridicule in his voice, but he must be laughing at the very idea that someone might want to marry her. “I see nothing wrong with that.”

“If marriage is your goal, Miss Wade, pray let me dissuade you from it. It is far better in life to remain unencumbered if possible.”

“Thank you for your cynical view on the subject, your grace, but it is not a view I share. I would like to believe that marriage is a partnership of mutual love, respect, and companionship, not an encumbrance. And as I have said, there are several reasons why I am resigning my post.”

“Then I won’t waste words trying to convince you to abandon any of them. All I wish is to convince you to delay them until my excavation is finished, or at least until the museum is opened.”

When she did not reply but continued sorting tiles as if he had not spoken, he moved closer to her, close enough that every time she moved her arm, her elbow brushed against him. “I thought you enjoyed your work, Miss Wade,” he murmured. “I thought you were happy here.”

Daphne went still, seized by a sudden doubt. She had been happy, she had enjoyed her work, work that was comfortable and familiar, work in which she took great pride. She was about to leave all that and enter a very different world. With his words, she couldn’t help wondering if she was doing the right thing.

But all that had changed yesterday, her happiness had been spoiled, and she did not want to work for a man who regarded her with so little respect. “There is nothing you could say or do that would convince me to stay here longer than one more month.”

“I will double your wages.”

“No.”

“I will triple them.”

She paused in her task with an exasperated sigh and turned her head to look at him. “Are you simply unable to comprehend the word no?”

“I do have a difficult time with that particular word,” he conceded.

“I’m not surprised,” she answered, resuming her work. “You probably do not hear it very often.”

“Rarely,” he agreed. “I am arrogant, I daresay,” he went on, “and everything else of which you accused me. I admit it freely, Miss Wade. I ask that you overlook my flaws, accept my offer to triple your salary, and stay.”

Daphne was not impressed by his insincere attempts at self-deprecation, and she would not give an inch with him ever again. “When it comes to persistence, your grace, the children selling sham lapis beads in the streets of Cairo could take lessons from you, but my answer is still no.”

“Can you not stay at least through March? I have promised my colleagues that this museum will be open by the fifteenth of that month. I need the best people I can find for this project. You are your father’s daughter, and as you once assured me yourself, you are the best restorer available. I could not possibly find anyone to replace you whose skills are equal to yours.”

She was unmoved by flattery. “That,” she said coolly, “is your problem.”

“True.” He took a step back from her and said nothing more. The silence lengthened, and she hoped he had finally accepted her resignation. But after a moment, he spoke again, and his words made her realize he hadn’t accepted it at all.

“I would like to propose a compromise.”

Chapter 7

The man truly was impossible. Daphne tossed down the tiles in her hand, scattering them across the chipped, cracked surface of the mosaic and turned to face him. “I have no intention of making any compromises with you.”

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