Page 27 of One Night of Surrender
“Perhaps, but only because I care about you.Barkley will be gone in a few days, and you can come and stay with me for as long as you need.”
She blew out a breath in disgust.“If you truly cared about me, you’d see how scandalous that would be.Everyone would assume I was your mistress, and I can’t very well become a headmistress after that.”
Headmistress?“Are you going to be a headmistress?”
She uncrossed her arms and threw them in the air in frustration.“Someday, I hope.The point is, you’ll narrow my options if you try to provide for me in any way.”
“And I would argue that working as a barmaid in a notorious tavern will also narrow your options.”
“My future employer, whoever it may be, needn’t ever know.”
“Your future employer could be sitting in the main salon right now.Or his brother.Or his neighbor.Your employment would not be secret.”Neither would her staying with him.She was right—it was a foolish and scandalous idea.There had to be another way.A way she would accept.
The fire in her eyes had diminished a bit, but the taut set of her mouth and the tension of her shoulders told him she was still annoyed.He didn’t want her to be annoyed with him.“I’m sorry,” he said, inhaling to calm his racing pulse.“I was just surprised to see you here.”
“I should have told you.”
“Let us find a solution.”He tried to sound helpful.“You must agree you can’t work here.”
She recrossed her arms in front of her.“I could work in the kitchen.”
“I have a better idea, and I hope you won’t be too stubborn to accept it.”
“I am not stubborn.”The picture she presented—arms crossed, brow creased, mouth pulled into a severe line, body stiff, chin jutting—was the very definition of stubborn.
Val fought a smile.In addition to how she looked, saying you weren’t stubborn in the midst of an argument where you refused to yield was akin to saying you weren’t hungry when your belly rumbled.“So you don’t stay up all night deciphering riddles anymore?”
She blinked as if he’d thrown her off-kilter for a moment.“I haven’t found one that I couldn’t solve in quite some time.”
“But if you did, you wouldn’t stop until you finished it.You wouldn’t surrender.”
She lifted her chin, which gave her a haughty air.“Surrender leads to disappointment.”
Surrender had led them to each other.Attraction.Temptation.Surrender.
Finally, a plan came to him, and it was brilliant.Or nearly so.“I promise you my idea will not disappoint you.Move in with my grandmother and Viola as Viola’s chaperone.”
One of her eyes narrowed.“Doesn’t your grandmother fulfill that role?”
“Yes, but she isn’t as spry as she once was.There are things Viola wants to do that Grandmama can’t, so Viola needs a chaperone.”She didn’t either.Viola did as she pleased and didn’t give a fig what anyone thought.
Isabelle pursed her lips as she regarded him in silence for a moment.Despite the tension between them, she looked eminently kissable, and it was hard not to recall her mouth on his.Had that been only last night?
One of the cooks ducked into the storage closet to grab something, breaking the spell that had begun to weave itself over him.“Beg your pardon,” she murmured before dashing back out.
Isabelle lowered her arms to her sides.“Why do I think being Viola’s chaperone is an unnecessary job?”
“Itisnecessary.You’ll be doing us a favor.You like Viola, don’t you?”
“I do.Your grandmother may not like me, however.”
“Bah, her bark is worse than her bite.She likes you fine.”He took a step toward her.“Come, this is an excellent solution.Surely you can see that.”
“You are as arrogant and managing as ever.”She was not going to give up easily.Maybe she wasn’t going to give up at all.
“And you are more stubborn than I ever realized.You need help.This is a way I can provide it without causing you harm.”
She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling.“Do they know about me?About us?”Her voice was low, and the timbre of it set his blood afire.
