Page 11 of Her Cursed Duke
“Do you expect to leave, just like that? With no consequence to your trespassing?”
Holding her hands out in front of her, Prudence began to plead with him, confused and scared at the turn the night’s events had taken. The Duke seemed a lot calmer—nicer, even—when she had spoken to him earlier. Now, he stalked toward her with a cold gaze that held a silent wrath she knew she would not be able to escape from as easily as she wished.
“Please, do not hurt me. I don’t—I did not believe you were cursed. I still do not, Your Grace. But still, I do not want to test out that theory. I beg of you.”
He paused for a moment, then folded his arms. “All right, I will let it slide. Just this once.”
She sighed in relief. “Thank you—”
“But you must do something for me in return.”
She hesitated, hope draining from her beautiful features in a way that stirred something within him. Even though she might be an unexpected choice for a target of his attention, he could not deny that she was very easy on the eyes. He could easily imagine her being swarmed by suitors, all of them willing to crawl over stones to do her bidding.
So why was she here, at his party, fawning over fireworks?
“What is it? If it is within my abilities, I promise to do what I can, Your Grace,” she said softly, curling her fingers into the pale pink fabric of her skirt.
She was being cautious.
Good. It means she is learning.
“I imagine it is something you can handle without too much difficulty. You see, I seem to have attracted some unwanted attention, with the idea that I wish to get married floating around, and truthfully, that is not what I want to do. Rather, it is my godmother who wishes it so, and in an effort to shield her from needless disappointment, I do not want to make any rash decisions. But it occurred to me that I could… pretend to enter a courtship with someone, and that would keep other women fromapproaching me, and my godmother could rest easy—at least for a bit.”
“And… you wish for the other person involved in this plan to be… me?”
“It will not be forever, obviously. Two months, perhaps? Just long enough to convince her that I am actually interested in someone. And after which we can split up and say it was a mutual decision to go our separate ways,” Aiden hastily added, hoping it would convince Lady Prudence that his plan was well thought out.
“Honestly, Your Grace, it seems as though you managed to string yourself a plan and a half. But more than anything, my issues lie with your hasty desire to do this, with no regard for your discomfort. You do not appear to like parties, but you do realize that we would be required to make public appearances to look more convincing as a courting pair?”
She raised a fair point, a good sign that she was smarter than he had initially given her some credit for. But it was about endurance, at this point, and Aiden was very sure he could do just that. After all, most of his life had been a game of endurance.
“I am sure I can handle it. As I said, we would not have to do it for too long—just a handful of weeks, at most.”
Prudence could not deny that he seemed intent on having his way, and if he was sure, then there should be no problems—at least, one would hope not.
Aiden stepped closer to her and held his hand out, asking hopefully, “Well, do we have a deal?”
Chapter Four
Prudence hesitated, only for a moment to properly assess the situation. Logically speaking, his plan had its merits, even with how it had been obviously put together in haste. However, her choice in the matter seemed nonexistent, as he was offering this as a means to absolve her of her offenses to him.
Since they would be required to make public appearances, she would be able to attend more parties and soirées than she could have afforded to in the past, and her stiff, boring routine would finally have some life breathed into it. And if nothing else, she would gain a friend from it, someone else to spend her time with.
“I have a condition of my own,” she informed him, lifting her gaze from his outstretched hand.
Aiden frowned slightly but nodded, regardless. “That is a bold proclamation, considering you will be doing this to atone foryour offense, but I am sure I can be lenient. All right, let’s hear it.”
“If we are to do this, we would only hold up the charade for six weeks.”
“That is a very specific timeframe.”
“It is. In six weeks, I will be leaving this place with my sister to reunite with our youngest sister. Therefore, this arrangement cannot last longer than that,” Prudence explained.
“That is fine by me. As I had mentioned earlier, we would not need to do this forever. In fact, six weeks is the perfect duration for a fake courtship to grow, bloom, and wither, if you ask me. I agree to your terms.”
“All right, then.” Prudence extended a hand, nodding. “I suppose we have a deal.”
Aiden grinned, and she was once more mesmerized by how handsome he looked when he smiled. Her attention shifted from his face to his larger, warm hand enclosing hers.
