Someone Irresistible (6 page)

Nathan stood abruptly, the chair behind him shoved back loudly on the bare wooden floor, annoyed at his continuing line of thought when he had so much work to do. He pushed his hands through his hair with hard fingers, then walked to the window.

The sky had become fully overcast, the day gray and dreary, which fit his mood. From his second floor room he saw only tall white or red brick buildings on all sides of him, caught a slim view of the busy street, and the small garden with its narrow path just below him, its flowers all but lying dormant for the coming winter.

The boarding house suited his purposes nicely, and it was marvelously convenient, a four block walking distance from Mimi’s stylish townhouse. His room was perfectly functional, his bed warm and soft, especially when he compared it to sleeping on cots or the ground, as he’d been doing off and on for the last two years. The wallpaper was a bit too ornate for his taste, but then that was irrelevant. The thick burgundy drapes that matched the coverlet hung loosely at the window and completely shaded the room from outside light if closed for daytime sleep. He also had a gas lamp and fireplace, which were certainly more comforts than he was used to. Soon, however, he would be ready to look for a home of his own, as long as his hinds didn’t run out. That concern alone made restoring his reputation paramount.

In many ways he’d been glad to return to his father’s country—
his
country—and to the city life and excitement of London. But he regretted leaving the warmth of Southern France where he’d spent the last eighteen months, losing the freedom to move around as he pleased and to answer to nobody, giving up the space and sunshine and good, honest work for an honest day’s wages. He would miss it, but the time

had come to pick up his life as he was meant to live it and press on. It was time to reestablish his good name in the community and reclaim his honor. He only wished he didn’t need Mimi’s help to do it. It would be so much easier not to involve her.

But then she was the center of it all.

Nathan swore softly and crossed his arms over his chest. Leaning the side of his head on the glass, he stared vacantly out to the bustle of traffic on King’s Road.

He’d thought of her frequently during the last two years, and had all but come to the conclusion that it was that one sweet kiss between them that had not only shredded his reason, but had allowed his defenses to fall, driving him toward his ultimate ruin. Yet he accepted full responsibility for it because he’d yielded to her wonderfully perfumed smell and dark, beckoning eyes that led him not only outside that night, but to his downfall. Still, he knew that wasn’t exactly correct. For weeks following the Crystal Palace opening he’d wanted to blame Mimi for setting him up to fail in front of the greatest group of scientists ever to be assembled in one building, though logically he realized that probably had not been her intent at the time. Probably. The jawbone had to have been stolen earlier, not when she’d followed him out to the open air.

That would have been too risky, and the timing wrong. But he couldn’t altogether dismiss the coincidence. He believed wholeheartedly that Sir Harold Marsh was the catalyst behind his demise, therefore he also had to suspect the man’s enticing daughter because she was the one who’d won in the end. It was possible the entire affair was her father’s doing without anyone else’s knowledge, but Mimi was the only one who’d triumphed totally by his failure that night. Technically, he supposed, she was now living off funds that should have been his. In the end, this bothered him more than he could put into words.

Of one thing Nathan was certain: whoever had destroyed him the night of the Palace opening would be made to pay, and his irrational, albeit undeniable, lust for a striking, sensual woman meant nothing to him when his restored reputation was at stake. Women came and went in a man’s life, but honor remained with you beyond the grave, and he would have his returned to him. If Mimi knew what happened that night, or where the jawbone was now, supposing it still existed, he would discover that information, regardless of what he had to do to get it. Triumph would ultimately be his.

Suddenly his eye caught the movement of dark purple skirts on the street below, and he sharpened his attention, his gaze narrowing on the lady’s swift walk and upturned head until she disappeared from view at the front of the building.

Mimi. She’d come to discuss their arrangement with him.

The shock of seeing her here, now, on a Sunday afternoon, quickly turned to amusement, which overshadowed the steady rise in his pulse.

Nathan ignored that reaction as a slow smile crept up one side of his face. He knew enough about her to realize her being here was complete submission to his demand while attempting to regain control of a situation she didn’t like. Very bold of her, but she didn’t stand a chance and he relished the thought of explaining that to her.

Nathan stood where he was for a full minute, making her wait, until he heard the knock on the door.

“Professor Price,” came the sturdy voice of Mrs. Sheffield, the owner’s wife. “There is a lady below who wishes to speak with you.”

“I’ll be down in a moment,” he gruffly replied. When he heard Mrs.

Sheffield retreating with heavy footsteps, he finally straightened, rolled down his sleeves, and buttoned the cuffs before he made his way to the door and descended the stairs.

She’d be waiting in the parlor, he assumed, and just before he entered it, he took a deep breath and combed his fingers through his hair a final time. No point in looking unkempt.

She stood by the arched window gazing out to the tiny garden path between the buildings, her back rigid with purpose. She’d piled her dark blond hair loosely atop her head, but the ends of it were covered by a purple narrow-brimmed beaded hat. She turned when she heard him walk in, and once again he was struck by the vivid darkness of her large, brown eyes as they dauntlessly locked with his. Her eyes were something he had never forgotten.

“Professor Price,” she said evenly, a pleasant smile firmly planted on her face. Then she glanced to his attire, looking him up and down, and delicately frowned.

Nathan couldn’t decide if his general appearance bothered her, since he wore only casual pants and an inexpensive linen shirt, or the fact that he’d not buttoned his shirt to the neck. Frankly, he didn’t care, but her unvoiced disapproval did annoy him.

He strolled into the parlor proper and stopped about three feet away from her, legs spread wide, arms crossed over his chest.

“Why, Mrs. Sinclair,” he drawled. “How delightful of you to visit.”

Her lips thinned and she pulled her body erect, clutching her beaded reticule with both hands in front of her small, corseted waist. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Nathan, stop calling me that.”

The fact that she snapped at him took him a little by surprise since it

was, in fact, her name, but he tried not to let it show. Actually, her appearance surprised him, too, although he supposed a widow of her class would be appropriately dressed in purple. But this gown clung to her bosom exceptionally well, the fabric a fine… silk, he believed, the rich color enhancing her pale skin perfectly. Yes, if Mimi Sinclair knew anything it was how to dress to be noticed, even in half mourning.

“Mimi,” he started again, dropping his voice and forcing a polite grin, “it’s lovely to see you. Would you care to be seated?”

He could have sworn she huffed when she drew her gaze away from his and swept past him to lower her body into a wing chair near the slow burning fireplace. But he noticed more clearly the way she smelled when she passed by him—clean and fresh and… arousing. No perfume today, but he could tell she’d recently had a bath. It had been a long time since Nathan had experienced the scent of pure, clean woman, and it made him irritable that he encountered it now, here. From her.

Instead of following her lead by sitting, he remained standing, though he moved a good distance away from her, positioning himself near the window and holding his hands behind his back.

“So,” he carried on, watching her adjust her skirts for what appeared to be a lengthy stay, “what brings you to King’s Boarding House on a peaceful Sunday afternoon?”

Sitting comfortably, with a gracious tip of her head and a wry smile, she replied, “I think you know why I’m here, Nathan, so let’s just get to the business at hand.”

His brows rose and he glanced briefly to his scuffed, worn shoes.

“Excellent suggestion, I suppose, but I did say at our last meeting that I would call on you.” Clearing his throat purposefully, he tried again, his words a bit more succinct. “What I want to know is why you came here today when you knew I would be returning to your home in another day or so.”

She waited long enough for him to realize that this line of questioning plainly took her aback. Shifting her bottom in the chair, she turned her attention to the wall at her side, her gaze resting on a well-done floral painting.

“I suppose I simply wanted to get these issues out in the open as quickly as possible.” She shrugged lightly. “Why wait until tomorrow when what one needs to have done can be done today?”

That silly answer pushed him to the edge of laughter, but he held back to pleasantly agree, “Why, indeed?”

She looked at him again, her eyes wide and bright, lips turned up in a half-smile of certain conquest. “I’ve considered your… request, Nathan,

and although I find it in many ways troubling, I believe I have no choice but to prove you wrong.”

He leaned his shoulder casually against the window frame and crossed one shoe over the other. “Oh?”

The tight line of her mouth was the only sign that his brief reply wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Of course he didn’t know if she expected a show of anger on his part, or frustration, maybe something else. She should know, however, that he had to have considered everything before he went to her in the first place. He knew exactly how she would respond, and as the skin on her cheeks suddenly began to flush, he enjoyed the fact that she was just this moment putting this together in her mind. Still, he remained silent, letting her brood.

She straightened her shoulders even more, if that was possible, though he couldn’t tell if it was for her own sense of confidence or his visual benefit, since her breasts pushed out against her silk bodice nicely and his concentration on her face faltered for just an instant as he stole a fast glance at them. She couldn’t be that astute at knowing how to distract a man, he didn’t think. Then again, she’d briefly been married.

“The first requirement if I am to help you,” she began in earnest, chin held high, “is that you must tell me how you learned who exactly is sculpting the dinosaur models that now sit in the halls of the Zoological Garden.”

He wasn’t expecting that, but he understood her need to know. It made him smile, actually, his first true smile of pleasure in days. “And your other requirements?”

“We’ll get to them. I want this answer first.”

Very tactful. He nodded as he drew a deep breath, capturing the scent of something roasting in the nearby kitchen. Dinner would be served soon, but for now they were alone in this part of the house. Even Mrs. Sheffield had disappeared, though he knew she was likely nearby, eavesdropping if she could. Mimi obviously suspected this as well or she would have been more direct with her question. How did he know
she
was the dinosaur sculptor? Maybe she was a good deal more clever than he’d first supposed. Amazing, for a woman.

Nathan strode to the small sofa that faced both her and the grate, and sat comfortably, one arm relaxing lengthwise across the short back, one leg crossed over the other, his foot resting on his knee. He realized she likely had a list of specifics she needed answered, and if she were anything like his mother, this could take hours. He groaned inwardly.

“I guessed you were a reptile sculptor, Mimi,” he replied at length.

“I’ve known of your artistic talent for years, and I simply deduced that you’d follow in your father’s footsteps.”

She clearly didn’t take that acknowledgment at face value, and her expression of flat disbelief told him so.

“Really, Nathan. I think you owe me the truth considering that my father’s reputation is at stake.”

Immediately his blood ran cold, and just as quickly she realized she shouldn’t have said that. Her eyes never strayed from his, but her fingers tightened noticeably around her reticule.

“The truth?” he repeated, his tone dropping a degree with measured coolness. “The truth is that I’ve been digging with a team of French archeologists and paleontologists in southern France for the last eighteen months, Mimi, because it was the only work I could get. About a year ago I came upon some wonderful discoveries that were my very own. One was a marvelous fossilized tail of a Stegosaurus, the molding of which now sits in the Zoological Garden.”

He could see the light come on in her eyes as they opened round with growing shock and understanding, and he simply had to grace her with a cunning grin to complete the blow.

Leaning forward, elbows on his crossed leg, palms together, he slowly murmured, “I also discovered a Pteranodon, nearly complete and in perfect fossilized condition. I believe it lies in your studio, the likes of which you’re sculpting now.”

Her lips parted with a sharp inhalation as her upper body tensed, her fingers practically white now as they clutched the twisted strings of the bag in her hand.

Cautiously, she whispered, “I don’t understand.”

“Yes, you do.” He stared intently into her eyes, no longer caring whether Mrs. Sheffield heard anything. “In order for my plan to work, I needed to discover if you sculpted, Mimi. I suspected that you did, but the only way I could possibly prove it, since I was certain you’d deny the fact if I simply asked, was to set you up so that you had something to sculpt. A rather brilliant idea on my part, I think.”

Her brown eyes flashed hotly. “I think it’s rather arrogant.”

He nodded gingerly in agreement. “I’ve been known to be arrogant from time to time.”

“How humble you are as well, Nathan.”