Someone Irresistible (19 page)

“He’s attracted. And interested.”

Her gaze shot back to Justin’s. That quiet statement sent such an intense jolt of satisfaction through her she almost squealed. Then the warmth of its meaning spread down her spine. “Did he tell you that?”

she prodded impishly, grinning.

He grunted, eyeing her candidly. “More or less, yes.”

She restrained herself from giggling, which would be entirely too unladylike under the circumstances. Instead, she cleared her throat and murmured, “I see.”

His watchful expression grew intense. “But I don’t know if he feels it’s in your best interest to romance you, Mimi.”

Her heart fell and so did her jaw, which he noticed. ”
My
best interest?”

Lips thinned grimly, he raised his elbow and rested his forearm on the back of the bench. “Mimi, Nathan realizes where he comes from—”

“Yes, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne,” she interjected matter-of-factly. “I’ve been there twice. An industrial town—”

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Justin said irritably, cutting her off.

She stared at him straight-faced. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does.”

She wanted to hit him. Damnable men and their silly resignation to class and birth. Justin must have seen the anger in her eyes, for his features softened a little and he relaxed into the bench.

“I know you think a love affair with Nathan would be what’s best for you now, but you’ve only been widowed a short time—”

“Don’t you dare treat me like an imbecile, Justin, or a child,” she voiced heatedly, her eyes locked with his in pure determination. “Yes, I’m a young widow, but I know exactly what’s best for me. I’ve been half in love with Nathan for years, but the man was destroyed the night I gave him fair warning that I would welcome his intentions and that my father would accept an offer from him. It’s what I’d wanted for months and my father knew it. But due to unfortunate circumstances, Carter Sinclair became my husband instead—a decent man, but not the one I’d yearned for with all my heart.” She huffed disgustedly, and sat up rigidly, clutching the edges of her hood at her throat. “I was told what was best for me before and it will not happen again—”

“Mimi—”

“I want Nathan, Justin,” she enunciated for his benefit, leaning toward him. “I want to marry Nathan, not embrace him in a casual love affair because I am lonely for the comforts of a man. I know he desires me but is reluctant to move forward. I need your help to convince him to act.”

For a moment, Justin just sat there, stunned. She could see it in his vibrant eyes, the way his features went slack. But to his credit he didn’t

come back with a hand-patting, condescending rebuttal, probably because he knew how infuriated it would make her if he did.

At last he turned his gaze from hers and glanced out over the artfully carved shrubs and barren trees.

“Mimi, I don’t even know if Nathan wants to marry at all. You’re supposing he’d be interested in something more than a short romance, but I can’t say certainly that he would. The two of us have never discussed it.”

“I’ll worry about that,” she said, though the thought had occurred to her on more than one occasion. She just refused to contemplate it.

“I suppose I now understand why you couldn’t go to Mary,” he remarked after a long, silent moment.

She sighed as she realized with rugged pleasure that he wasn’t going to counter her brash statement, or send her home to discuss this with her father of all people. It was a very gratifying moment. “Mary, as you know, is extremely class conscious. I could never discuss this with her, or any other relation. It’s a delicate topic, Justin. It’s also true that you know Nathan better than anybody.”

He inhaled a long, slow breath, focusing his attention on a dormant tree to his side, pulling off a brown leaf to rub to a pulp between his gloved fingers. “I’m not sure what you would have me do.”

She blushed but managed a triumphant grin. “I would like you to arrange a… meeting place for Nathan and me, without his knowledge.”

His astute eyes darted back to lock with hers. “What?”

She raised her chin fractionally and forged onward, heart pounding.

“I want to seduce him, Justin, and I’m not sure how else to do it.”

He gaped at her, incredulous. “You want me to arrange a romantic rendezvous for the two of you?”

She licked her lips then casually replied, “I can’t very well seduce him in my home or his boarding house. Too many people would suspect something, and I would be disgraced.”

What followed was the most indelicate moment of her life, and the most intensely frightening. If he said no and repeated her outrageous request to anyone…

Slowly, he shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re asking this of me.”

She raised her brows, trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks and the nervous thumping in her chest. “Why? Who else would I ask?”

She couldn’t be absolutely certain, but Mimi thought Justin might actually be embarrassed. His face flushed and he blinked rapidly with the thoughts running through his mind. Through even her own

consideration of probable humiliation, she found it all rather charming.

“Are you not even fractionally afraid I will go to your father?” he fairly blurted.

She almost hugged him with that, because suddenly she knew she had him in her clutches.

“Not after I tell you I not only know of an absolute way to save Nathan from further dishonor, but that I have in my power a way to restore his stolen reputation fully. You care for Nathan too much. If you want what’s best for him, you’ll keep this between us.”

Justin shook his head again, then raised a hand to rub his temples with leather-covered fingertips. “God, Mimi, what you’re asking—”

She reached out and gently touched his arm. “Nobody will ever know I went to you, or that you helped me with this. Who would believe me?”

Very slightly, he lifted his lips in a smile. Then he chuckled. “You know who took the jawbone, don’t you?”

That came out of nowhere, and it should have surprised her, but it didn’t.

“I do,” she murmured, sitting back a little, knowing that with such an acknowledgment, the final act toward her future with Nathan had been set in motion, whatever the outcome.

He turned to stare at her again, scrutinizing her gravely. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me who it was or how it was accomplished.”

She grinned smugly. “Absolutely not.”

He sighed audibly. “Where is it?”

“Why, Justin,” she exasperated with wide, innocent eyes, “it’s hiding in my attic.”

“You’re joking.”

“Of course I’m joking. Do you think I would keep it under my nose to incriminate me? Besides, I know the value of such a find.”

He was quiet for a long, tense moment, contemplating such sudden, remarkable knowledge, and Mimi got the first indication of indecision and calculation on his part. But, like everybody else, he would never be able to put the pieces together.

Finally, profoundly, he whispered, “I hope to God you were not involved.”

She had to expect that, she supposed, but she bristled with irritation nonetheless. “I would never purposely hurt Nathan, Justin, nor will he be hurt by my actions now. I swear it.”

A bird squawked nearby; a child laughed in the distance. But he never moved his gaze from her. Seconds later, after scrutinizing every feature of her face, he slumped a little and exhaled fully. “I believe you,”

he whispered. “What would you like me to do?”

She straightened, feeling enormously relieved, not to mention thrilled at the coming event.

Cautiously she expounded, “I would like you to set up a lovely, secure, private meeting place for Nathan and me, without his knowledge. I need to be alone with him for an intimate… discussion.

There is simply no place for us to be alone to talk.”

His lids narrowed in sly amusement. “Ah. I see.”

She squirmed a little, realizing that was a ridiculous thing for her to say and that Justin knew it. Discussion indeed. She felt the blood rush to her face again and she glanced to her lap where she brushed her palms along her gown to avoid his knowing stare. “After you’ve made the arrangements, please send word regarding when and where, but do so discreetly, if you would. You’ll also have to meet the cost for now, but please spare no expense—”

“I’ll take care of it, Mimi. When would you like this… discussion between you to take place?”

She rubbed the back of her hand along her hot cheek, absorbed in the large silver buttons on her mantle. “As soon as possible.”

For an uncomfortable moment, he didn’t speak. At last she raised her lashes and boldly looked at him again. His eyes were cautious, but also troubled. What she asked of him didn’t shock him so much as it worried him. Realizing that subdued her a little.

“Do not get yourself with child to force him into marriage, Mimi,” he warned very softly, but with a marked hidden strength. “If you do, I will come forward and tell him everything we have discussed here today.”

His underlying meaning quickly pierced her, first with shock, then with burning anger. She never expected such a measured statement from him, but she understood it. Frankly, she hadn’t considered such a thing, mostly, she supposed, because she’d never managed to get pregnant with Carter’s baby. Still, she and her late husband hadn’t been together intimately for very long. Barrenness wasn’t something she could determine about herself yet. She would take Justin’s counsel to heart, without telling him that, of course.

Leaning very close to him, she narrowed her eyes with fortitude. “I would never be so shameless, Justin, as to do that on purpose. It would humiliate Nathan, and I would never put him through that again.”

“You care about him very much, don’t you?” he asked, sounding a bit amazed by such a revelation.

She set her jaw firmly. “More than you could possibly know.”

Justin studied her for a few seconds longer, then raised one side of his mouth wryly. “I do believe Professor Price has met his match in you, Mrs. Sinclair. I wish you both the best.”

The tension winding through her body disintegrated in a rush, and Mimi laughed quietly in relief. “You’re a good friend, Justin.”

His smile faded only enough for her to know he remained skeptical.

“Be careful. This is a serious manipulation on your part.”

“And yours,” she said abruptly, challenging him.

He exhaled loudly through his nostrils. “Let me be very clear, Mimi. I would never agree to such a scheme if I didn’t think so highly of both of you, or that you could ultimately help him.”

Mimi melted within. “Thank you, Justin, for everything.” She reached out her hand and he grasped it gently.

“Tell me where the jawbone is, Mimi.”

Her mouth turned up coyly. “I can’t possibly do that, but you will see it again, I promise.”

“Will Nathan?” he asked dryly.

She grinned, eyes gleaming to admit in whisper, “Nathan will be the most surprised.”

His lids narrowed; the rain came down harder still and he never noticed. Then understanding lit his face and he sat upright, back from her, shaking his head in disbelief. “God help you, Mimi.”

She took that with fortitude, chin high. “I’m counting on it, as I’m counting on the fact that as a gentleman and a friend, you won’t tell a soul what we’ve discussed here today.”

Before he could comment, she squeezed his hand once, then stood, turned, and with confident bearing, walked away from him toward the entrance to the park.

« ^ »

N
athan was restless. Restless and bored, if it was possible to be both at once. He’d spent the better part of the day in his room at the boarding house, reading material he’d already read, looking through written proposals for funding to be used when his name was at last restored, pacing his floor and staring at the ceiling. He hadn’t been used to so much inactivity in years, and it was getting the better of him. He needed to return to work,
real
work, because sitting within grabbing distance of Mimi every single blessed day was proving to be a very real strain.

He needed them to be finished with their project so that he could get back to his former life of research and lectures and prestige. So that he would have something to do besides sit next to her every day and restrain himself from leaning in to smell her neck, or brushing his lips against her soft skin, wanting to make love to her.

Yes, it was obvious to both of them that they needed each other physically, and wanted each other mutually. But of course she would never know how much he craved her touch. It was something he didn’t understand himself. He’d always been attracted to her, he supposed, especially since the night of the Palace opening, but she’d been, in more ways than one, out of his reach. Now she approached him. subtly, and used everything in her power to seduce him each time they were together. As he regarded it thoughtfully, Nathan had to wonder about that. Why did she want him? Why now? She had nothing to gain from a relationship with him, and everything to lose. A love affair would be nothing less than scandalous, regardless of whether his reputation were restored, and blacken her name overnight should those of her station discover it. He could never live with that.

But could he afford a torrid affair? Was that what she wanted? He didn’t know. It wasn’t beyond the scope of rational thought, though Nathan simply didn’t see it in her. Mimi didn’t seem the type of lady to offer her body in return for a few weeks of lustful pleasure. He also didn’t know if he’d really want that with her. He liked her, and beneath her polished front, and that center spring of attraction between them, he found her witty, smart, engaging, and playful. Those were not, he decided, traits he admired in a good mistress, although sometimes a personal enjoyment of the woman one bedded made the experience that much more satisfying, he admitted rationally. Still, as much as his mind and body ached to be intimate with Mimi Sinclair, he found every reason to avoid it. In the end, Nathan came to the conclusion that a dalliance with her simply wasn’t wise.

He was tired. Tired of the wait, tired of feeling useless, tired of being