“But the endearment can and will be used when a man is flirtin’. What are you goin’ do when a man calls you sweetheart?” I challenge.
Rainey’s body freezes, and her eyes flit to the names. After a few seconds, she replies. “I would permit it.”
My blood ices over at the thought of another man calling her sweetheart. It’s not jealousy, but it comes close to it and I don’t care for it. I give her a crooked grin. “Then you should perfect the art of flirtin’, Red Rainey.” I move closer when I know I shouldn’t. “You’re red because you’re embarrassed.”
She looks at me from beneath her lashes. If she was an accomplished flirt she’d realize that action right there was a coquettish act, and enough to get any red-blooded man’s interest piqued. “Oh, please do enlighten me on how to seduce my future husband,” she says, her words dripping with sarcasm.
My tongue and my brain don’t seem to be working, and my eyes have a mind of their own and can’t seem to stop staring at Rainey’s lips. Has her bottom lip always been so plump and soft? And is she wearing rouge? Women don’t have lips such a natural color.
Abruptly, I lean back in my chair, and clear my throat. My thoughts are going down the wrong path. “I’m afraid you’ll have to task out another man for the job,” I grin at her. “I’m already preoccupied.”
Grinding her teeth, Rainey fixes her eyes on the paper. “Oh no, whatever will I do?” she replies dryly.
The idea of Rainey seeking someone else to teach her how to properly seduce a man doesn’t sit well with me and leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. “Which one of these lucky fellas will you see next?” I ask, anxious to change the subject.
“If you must know—”
“Since I’m in charge of your dowry, I must,” I cut in.
Rainey gives me an irritated glance. “The next bachelor I will see is Duncan.”
“And what is it you’ll be doin’ with Duncan?”
Rainey avoids eye contact by repeatedly straightening the papers in her hands. “I’m unsure.”
“Shouldn’t you know?”
“I think the better question is should you know?”
I snort. “I don’t want to know. I’m merely askin’ in case I should leave my car runnin’ where you’re located should my ward need a getaway if Duncan is less than savory.”
Crashing her hands on the table, Rainey faces me, eyes ablaze. “Stop callin’ me your ward.”
Lifting my hands in supplication, I take a step back and lean against the wall. “My apologies. I was simply givin’ you an option out of seein’ this bachelor.”
I was merely jesting when I said I’d be a getaway for Rainey. It’s just fascinating to watch that porcelain skin turn all rosy when she’s uptight. All the same, it might not be the worst idea I’ve had. Seeing so many men isn’t safe. One of them is bound to try to take advantage of her, and even though she has Étienne and Serene with her, I know how the two of them can become swept up in their own world and not notice anything around them.
“Your opinion is not needed. I’ve spoken to Duncan before, and he’s been nothin’ but a gentleman.”
I push away from the wall and stand tall. Her answer doesn’t sit well with me. A lot of her answers as of late haven’t been sitting well with me. “When?”
“Two days ago. I was shoppin’ with Serene and just happened to see him.”
“I bet you did,” I mutter beneath my breath. “Since Duncan sounds like prince charmin’ are you plannin’ your life with him? Is your first son going to be named after him, or perhaps you’ll go with Milton in memory of your beloved fish?”
On cue, the corners of her lips curl upward. She fights it. She always does. But she loses and then she laughs. It’s a sound that always strikes me in the gut. A sound I can hear no matter where I’m at. A sound to pull me out of any darkness. If that isn’t the very definition of pure laughter, my God, I don’t know what is.
“I can guarantee you none of my children will have the name Milton. No one can compare to Milton, and the name Milton for a child?” She scrunches her pert nose. “It’s a very stiff name. Fit for someone who’s a butler for a large English estate.”
The corner of my mouth curls upward. “I believe you’re right.”
Rainey smiles back, and whether she realizes it or not, she leans in. There’s no question in my mind, Conrad could burst into the room and she wouldn’t be able to call him by his first name for all the money in the world.
Her plump lips part.
Say you’ve changed your mind. Say you will not see Duncan.
She doesn’t say anything, though. Instead, she folds up the list into quarters and tucks it into her dress. The action allows me a small glimpse of her cleavage. Rainey’s skin is smooth and glows in the room. My blood heats at the small action; so many times I’ve seen her as Pleas’s little sister, and then she does that, and it shows how much she’s grown. Rainey slowly bats her eyes at me, and a half-smirk appears that speaks to every red-blooded male.
“How can I thank you, Livingston, for everythin’ you’re doin’ for me?”
“Dieu aide moi,” I mutter, once I catch my breath.
She taps me on the nose as though I’m a little boy. “And that is how you properly flirt.”
With my heart racing much too fast, I watch the gentle sway of Rainey’s hips as she walks out of the room. Perhaps Serene should consider changing the name of the bachelor ball to The Hunting Season because these men will not make it out with their hearts intact.
Not a one of them.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Livingston
She’s been with him for almost an hour.
Sixty whole minutes.
Approximately thirty-six hundred seconds.
And during that time the infuriating woman cannot go fifteen minutes without inserting her opinion. The fact she’s lasted this long is proof miracles can and do happen on a regular basis.
What are they talking about? I’ve spoken with Duncan. He’s not terribly fascinating. Not a thrill-seeker like Rainey. Or bold like Rainey. He doesn’t have strong opinions like Rainey.
But he does have one thing that Rainey requested: he comes from money.
The common denominator all the men have is money. I don’t believe that’s a coincidence. And I cannot fault Rainey. When she said her family was in financial peril, she was being generous.
There were four weeks left until Pleas’s deadline, and unless a rich mysterious relative of Rainey’s swooped in to save her and her Momma, they were facing the risk of losing everything, including the house that had been in her family’s possession the minute fortune fell into their lap nearly one hundred and fifty years ago.
Even I couldn’t deny the appeal of Rainey’s dowry. It would be the obvious, and painless way. I don’t have the best morals like Étienne, but watching Rainey marry a man she doesn’t love and who’s intentions are less than honorable doesn’t sit well with me.
“Livingston, we’ve been here for quite some time. Can we leave?” my date asks.