Page 79 of Bad Luck Bride

“Employment agency, eh? Is your position here only temporary, then?”

“No, no, it’s permanent. But the hotel is still short-staffed, and she’s gone to interview more applicants. But as to what she wants you to do, Lord Calderon has asked her to take something on, and she doesn’t have time, so she’d like you to handle it for her. To that end, she’s asked me to assist you.”

Delia, Devlin appreciated, was a very clever woman. “I see.”

“That’s why I was worried you might object. I feared you might find working with me a bit… awkward. Under the… ahem…

circumstances. You see,” she rushed on, looking decidedly nervous, “I need this job.”

“Kay,” he said gently, “you don’t need to explain. I understand, and I don’t feel the least bit awkward about working with you. And even if I did, that would be my lookout, not yours. I’ve no intention of queering your pitch, I promise.”

She visibly relaxed, underscoring just how precarious her financial situation was. “Well, that’s good.”

“I confess, you’ve made me quite curious. Just what is this project we’re taking on?”

“I can give you all the details,” she said. “Just let me finish putting these files away.”

He glanced around as she resumed her task, noting that thepacking crates were gone and the room was much tidier than it had been on his previous visit. “You seem to have put a great many things away already,” he commented.

“You have no idea. The past few days, I’ve felt as if I’m Hercules cleaning out the Augean stables. But I’m ever so grateful for the job. Especially since the Mayfair is providing a suite for me, my mother, and sister as part of my compensation. We couldn’t have afforded to stay on at the Savoy.”

So that was why Delia had suggested he move to the West End. More opportunities to see Kay and make his case. His hopes rose another notch, but he didn’t show it. “I see.”

“She said it’s often done.”

He wouldn’t have said often, and practically never for a secretary, but he wasn’t about to point that out. “Oh, yes, quite often.” He paused, then added diffidently, “In fact, I’ll be moving into the Mayfair as well. I’m bringing my things over in the morning.”

He was watching her as he spoke, and though her back was to him and he couldn’t see her face, he did notice that she froze for just a second before dropping another file into the drawer.

“After all,” he went on, “the only reason I was at the Savoy to begin with was that Pam was there. Now she’s gone, so it makes much more sense for me to stay here. So, I suppose it’s my turn to ask the question you asked me. You don’t object? If you do, then of course—”

“Not at all,” she cut in, shoving a file into place without turning around, the brisk, perfunctory tone of her voice telling him nothing. “As you say, it makes more sense for you to stay here. Why pay for your accommodations if you don’t have to?”

“It’s not the expense,” he rushed to reply, lest she think himcheeseparing. “It’s just that London traffic is beastly, and if I’m to help Delia, I’d prefer to be on the spot rather than all the way across town.”

“I understand, believe me. I’ve only been working here three days, but I’ve already come to appreciate how convenient it is to live where you work.”

Kay dropped the last file into the cabinet and shut the drawer, then moved behind the oak desk beside Delia’s door. She sat down, and when she gestured for him to take the chair opposite her across the desk, he couldn’t resist teasing her a bit.

“This is certainly a day of surprises,” he murmured, accepting the offered chair. “I never thought you’d even speak to me again, much less invite me to sit down, given the ruthless way you’ve treated me these past two weeks.”

“Ruthless?” She made a scoffing sound. “Oh, please.”

“Last time I saw you, you heartlessly refused to dance with me. The time before that, you slammed a door in my face. And then, when you didn’t send my flowers back straightaway, I was sure you intended to deprive them of water and let them wither to a depressing condition before returning them.”

She did smile at that, just a little. “I considered it, I admit. Not the withering part,” she added at once. “But I knew I ought to send them back. In light of the fact that I had refused you, returning them would have been the correct thing to do.”

He couldn’t resist pointing out the obvious. “And yet, you didn’t.”

“No. I—” She broke off and looked away. “It… it seemed a shame. I mean, you’d already spent the money, and it’s not as if the Savoy would take them back.”

“All very sensible reasons to keep them,” he said gravely.

She gave a sudden laugh. “You should have seen them. They filled up the entire suite. When Wilson saw them, he asked if someone had died.”

Devlin frowned at that. “Rycroft saw them?”

She nodded, her smile widening, as if she sensed his displeasure and was savoring it, the little devil. “He called on me,” she said, “when he and Lady Pamela came back from Scotland, or wherever they’d spent their honeymoon after eloping. The footmen had just delivered the flowers a few minutes before.”

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