Her Sudden Groom (10 page)

“
There’s nothing to thank me for.” She gave Caroline’s hand a quick squeeze. “Let’s go play chess.”

Caroline stood up and walked with the baroness to the door. “I hope he’s not too good.”

“
You’ll just have to see for yourself.” She lightly tugged on Caroline’s sleeve. “Let’s go this way. It’s closer to where we want to be.”

Caroline nodded and followed the baroness down the hall to where a servant was waiting to open the side door for them. Stepping outside, Caroline was pleased to find she wasn’t blinded by sunshine like she’d expected. Right above the door they’d exited was a private balcony with several hanging flower baskets acting as an excellent sun screen. Close to the door was the lounge chair Alex’s mother had requested. About fifteen feet away was a little stone table with thirty two smaller stones lined up in four neat rows on top with a chair on either side of the table.

Caroline blinked at the little table and a giggle escaped her lips.

“
Did I miss something?” Alex asked, walking up beside her.

“
No,” she said quickly, staring at the chess table in disbelief.

The baroness, smart lady that she was, stepped up. “It’s not what you expected, is it?”

Alex looked at them, confusion marring his handsome face. “What do you mean?”

“
Caroline was expecting lawn chess,” Lady Watson explained.

He gestured to the table. “This is lawn chess.”

“
No, this is lawn chess,” his mother argued. “She was expecting
lawn chess
.”

“
And what, pray tell, is
lawn chess
?”

“
This is fine,” Caroline put in quickly. “Let’s play.”

“
No.” Alex shook his head. “I want to know what
lawn chess
is.”

His mother sighed. “Do you remember when you were fifteen and we took you to the Tollison house party?”

He nodded.

“
Remember that giant, wooden platform they had in their backyard that was painted black and white and all you boys moved around those giant chunks of carved wood that were so big it took two of you to move them?”

Alex’s jaw dropped. “You were talking about
that
?”

Caroline bit her lip and nodded sheepishly. “Yes.”

He turned back to his mother. “And you knew she was expecting that?”

His mother repeated Caroline’s gesture. “I had a slight inclination. Years ago, your father and I used to go play
lawn chess
over at Lord Sinclair’s. They had a set and we’d all play together.”

Caroline swallowed. They
had
a set was right. After her mother died, Uncle Joseph got rid of it before her father could voice any claim to it.

“
Caroline, let me tell you a secret I’ve learned from being married to Alex’s father for more than thirty years. Like Edward, Alex will give you anything you ask for. But you need to be specific. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want. He’ll give it to you or get it for you.”

Caroline nodded as she absorbed what Lady Watson told her. She smiled. From what she could tell, the baroness’ observation seemed undeniably accurate.

“
Not to fear though. This can still be salvaged,” Lady Watson chirped.

“
We’ll just play regular chess.” Caroline moved closer to the chess table.

“
Nonsense. You were expecting to play an outdoor game that is more physical than sitting in a chair, and you shall have it. I asked a footman to set something else up.”

Alex groaned.

A twinkle shone in Lady Watson’s eye. “On the other side of the house I directed a pall mall course be set up.”

“
What’s that?” Caroline asked, intrigued.

Alex groaned again. “Nothing.”

“
I think you’ll like it, Caroline,” Lady Watson assured her.

“
Judging by how displeased your son seems to be, I think you’re right.” Caroline grinned at Alex.

“
Now, Alex, Caroline is your guest, you need to be a gracious host and play whatever she wishes,” his mother said, her shoulders shaking with mirth.

“
Yes, she is,” he acknowledged with a single, slow nod. His face was nearly expressionless. “If you wish to play pall mall, so be it. But you may not like it. It’s difficult, so playing it the first time may not be much fun.”

She looked curiously at him. He really didn’t want to play this game. “You never know, I might be a natural,” she ventured.

He snorted.

That strengthened her waning resolve. “I think I’d like to play,” she told him primly.

“
Very well.”

He offered her his arm, and they had almost walked around to the other side of the house when suddenly his mother’s airy voice floated through the air. “Oh, Alex, remember your manners and let Caroline choose her color first. And if she wants the pink one, be a gentleman and let her borrow it.”

Chapter 7

Alex hated pall mall. As far as he was concerned it was the worst game ever invented. Tapping a wooden ball through a series of iron hoops in the least amount of strokes was nothing short of misery for someone who liked logic.

In an effort to stem such vile thoughts, he glanced over to Caroline. She was beautiful with her mahogany hair, light skin, and dainty features perched there on his arm. She’d make the perfect wife for him. He only needed to charm her into thinking the same. Earlier, when Andrew had been over to see his horses, Alex had asked with all the subtlety of an elephant how he’d gained a wife in such a short time. Andrew’s response had been as helpful as a horseshoe for a dog. He’d said, “Take her to the orangery and let instinct take over.”

Alex scoffed.
That
was immensely helpful. Perhaps for a natural born rake it would have been excellent advice. But a natural born rake wouldn’t need to ask for advice. Nor would a natural born rake find himself only weeks away from being forced to marry a dragon. And if had, he’d have found a suitable bride an hour after being told the consequences of making it to his thirtieth year unwed. He scowled and pushed the thought from his mind. There was no need to even think of such things, he was going to marry Caroline.

“
Here we are,” Alex said to Caroline as they came upon a wooden rack next to the house.

On the rack there were six mallets, all different colors. Below the mallets, in a trough-like tray, sat six balls, each the color of its corresponding mallet.

“
What was it your mother said about the pink one?” she asked, reaching out and wrapping her fingers around the handle of the pink mallet.

Instinctively, his hand flew to hers and covered it. The feel of her warm hand under his sent a jolt of desire from his fingers and palm straight to his groin. With a silent curse, he forced himself to let go of her hand. “Go ahead,” he said irritably. Nearly everyone else he knew had heard the story. Why not her, too?

She snatched the pink mallet from the rack and turned it over in her hands. She blinked up at him, her lips twitching. “Why is your name carved into the handle?” The way she was staring at him made his insides uneasy.

He ran his hand through his hair. “It’s a long story.”

She fingered the four letters permanently engraved into the handle of the pink mallet. “I’ve got all day.”

Sighing, he met her gaze straight on. “As you can guess by my mother’s laughter and my earlier groans, this is not a game I enjoy. To say I loathe this game would not be an untrue statement. The reason I do not enjoy this game is partially due to the lack of thinking that goes into playing it. The other reason is, uh, to be honest, I don’t stand a chance at winning.”

“
You mean you only like to play games you’re sure you can win?” she interrupted. Her lips stretched into the biggest smile he’d ever seen.

“
Doesn’t everyone?” he countered, returning her grin.

“
I suppose so,” she agreed. “But that does not tell me how your name found a permanent home on the handle of the pink mallet.”

His face grew warm—hot even. “The rules of the game say you have to hit the ball with the mallet and send it through all the hoops in the least amount of strokes. While the rest of my family can pass through all ten of the iron hoops with scores between forty and fifty strokes each, I usually average about a hundred.” Heedless to his face burning in a way that might suggest it was being licked by flames, he stared at Caroline. She clapped a petite hand over her mouth, failing miserably to keep her laughter silent. He shrugged. In for a penny, in for a pound. “As it is, due to my lack of talent at the game, one of my brothers—I’ve still not determined which—decided because I play like a member of the fairer sex, I should have to play with a mallet painted a color suited for a lady. Since Weenie had a fondness for the red one, that only left the pink one available for them to carve my name into.”

Caroline was no longer able to stifle her laughter with her hand and peals of that happy noise filled the air.

He shook his head. “And yes, everyone has insisted I play with it every time Mother drags us out here to play. And yes, I’ve been asked by many guests who’ve come to house parties as to how my name ended up etched into that mallet.”

“
Oh, Alex,” she gasped between bursts of laughter. “I’m sorry to laugh at you. It’s just hard to picture all that. Well, not really since you’re such a nice man. I’d already realized you’d do anything for those you loved. Even play with a pink mallet if they insisted on it. It’s just a humorous story, that’s all.”

And just then, in the span of one second, all the embarrassment surrounding that ridiculous pink mallet and all the emasculating innuendo that went along with it dissolved. She was right. He’d only played with that ridiculous thing to humor his family. They would have never carved his name into it just to be cruel. But only his family knew that. Everyone else who’d seen the mallet had openly questioned his masculinity, but not Caroline. No, she’d seen what the others couldn’t. And for some reason, knowing she could see that unsettled him.

“
All right,” he said raggedly. “Are we going to play or admire the game pieces?”

“
Let’s play.” She put the pink mallet back on the rack. “I know you said you always play with the pink one, but if you could pick a color, which would it be.”

“
Green,” he said without delay, reaching out to snatch the green mallet from the rack.

“
How shocking,” she muttered as he picked up the green ball. “I’ll take blue.”

He handed her the blue mallet. Then with the end of his green mallet, he rolled the blue ball off the rack for her. “All right, now as I said, the object is to hit your ball through all the iron hoops with the least amount of strokes.”

“
That’s it?”

He scoffed. “It’s not as easy as it sounds.”

“
All right. Who goes first?”

“
You can.” He looked around to locate the first hoop. When he found it, he pointed to patch of grass near a giant tree. “Let’s go over there. That’s where we’ll start.”

“
Brilliant. Perhaps while we play we can discuss your experiment. I don’t think this game takes as much thinking as chess does,” she said.

He groaned. “Caroline, let’s not.”

“
Why not?” She abruptly stopped her steps.

“
I thought we would just have a good time together,” he said hastily.

“
And not speak of science at all?” Her eyes were huge.