I read between the lines of what he was saying. Nothing I owned from my well-worn plum-pink handbag to my underpants would help me pass as Kerrigan Belmond. “I understand.”
Mr. Belmond stood from his seat and slipped a card from his pocket. I was beginning to wonder what else he had hiding in there. “When you’ve made a decision, please call me. I will remain in the area in the hopes of hearing from you.”
I showed him to the door and said goodbye. As I closed it behind him, I studied the business card. It was printed on heavy, linen cardstock. Tod Belmond was printed in an elegant script. Under his name was his phone number and email address. I turned it over to find a coat of arms emblazoned with Pertinacia, Patria Et Rex on the back. I should look up what it meant. Maybe it would give me some insight into the Belmonds and whether I should say yes or no. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts I didn’t hear Eliza enter the living room, not until she interrupted my thoughts and answered for me. “You’d be crazy to say no. Kate, you can’t seriously be thinking about saying no.”
Chapter Five
I nearly jumped out of my skin, dropping the card in the process as I shrieked, “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry,” she said, sounding not at all apologetic. “Ok, let’s back up a step and deal with the most important decision? Do we drink all the wine? Or something harder? I think we need a drink.”
“It’s nine in the morning,” I told her as I bent to pick up Belmond’s card from the floor.
“I think when you’re propositioned for ten million pounds, alcohol is called for, regardless of the time of day.” She picked up a few bottles off the table until she found one that still had some liquid sloshing around. She screwed off the cap and took a swig before passing it to me.
I took it and dropped onto the couch beside her. “What am I going to do?”
“Tell me everything,” she said. “I only heard the ten million pounds part.”
I filled her in on Kerrigan’s father’s strange proposal. Eliza didn’t say anything as I went over the specifics. When I finally stopped, she frowned. “And?”
“And what?” I asked, feeling as confused as ever.
“That’s all you know?” she said with exasperation. “He just wants you to pretend to be his daughter for a year, date some rich guy who’s going to be a Duke or something, and in the end pay you ten million pounds. What am I missing? Why are you hesitating? There must be something wrong with the guy she’s supposed to marry.”
She’d put into words all the thoughts tumbling around my own scattered brain with a clarity I envied. Right now, I probably couldn’t remember what was up and what was down.
“I was wondering the same thing,” I said grimly, considering her last point. There must have been a reason the real Kerrigan ran away, and it had to come down to the arranged marriage.
“Clearly, it’s time to stalk him,” Eliza said. She bounced up from the sofa and ran into her bedroom, returning with her mobile. Her thumbs were already tapping out his name on the screen. “Let’s see… Byrd with a Y, right? That must be his grandfather. Here he is—oh wow!”
“What? How bad is it?” I asked anxiously, reaching to grab the phone.
“I mean…” She passed it to me and waited for me to take a look. “Do you think I could pass for Kerrigan? Because I have no qualms about being paid ten million pounds to pretend to be engaged to that. In fact, I might pay them to let me.”
It wasn’t hard to see what she was talking about. I’d expected something else entirely. Tod Belmond had been clear that Spencer was about my age, so I knew he wouldn’t be some disgusting, old guy about to kick the bucket, but I hadn’t expected him to be…well, sexy. I scrolled through pictures of him from the search engine, ignoring the captions as I saw glimpses of the man Kerrigan was meant to marry. He had a strong straight jawline that was angular and powerful. In most photos, it sported a slight stubble that seemed to skirt the line between clean-shaven and a closely cropped beard. It was impossible to see the color of his eyes in most photos, particularly due to the dark lashes framing them. He always seemed to be cast in shadow or slightly turned from the camera, but there was no denying that he was handsome. Even in the photographs, he exuded a sort of primal masculinity that suggested he knew exactly how wealthy and privileged he truly was, and that he planned to enjoy everything that privilege afforded him.
I stopped on a photo of him on a beach, coming out of the waves, water rippling down his golden, muscled chest, and my mouth watered. Eliza peeked over to look at the screen and gasped.
“Now you’ve got to say yes,” she said. “You cannot say no to that.”
“It’s not that simple,” I said, tossing her phone back to her. It was too tempting to consider Belmond’s proposal with Spencer’s gorgeous face staring back at me. “I mean, am I really going to just waste a year of my life pretending to be some rich bitch?”
“Do you have better plans?” Eliza asked with a snort. “I mean, by all means, stay in Bexby, drink crap wine from Tesco, and get evicted with me in a few months when we can’t pay rent.”
“That’s another thing,” I cried, latching on to the excuse she’d given me. “I’m your flatmate. I can’t just leave —”
“Yes, you can,” Eliza said in a firm voice that left no room for me to continue down that path. “I know we were joking before, but now I’m being serious. You have to say yes. You can’t walk away from that kind of money.”
“But he expects me to… you know…”
Her eyes widened, glinting with suppressed laughter. “Is that what you are worried about?”
“I’ve never done it before,” I confessed.
“Trust me, you could do worse than giving your virginity to someone like Spencer Byrd.” She sighed. “Much, much worse.”
“But how could I go through with it?” I asked.
“It will be easy, darling.” She looked at his photo on her mobile again. “Just close your eyes and think of England.”
Chapter Six
“Are you sure?” Eliza asked me for what must have been the hundredth time.
I shrugged my small duffel higher onto my shoulder and nodded. “Weren’t you the one who wanted me to do this?”
“I don’t want you to feel forced,” Eliza said as we waited outside our building for the cab that had been arranged to drive me into London. Mr. Belmond had seen to all the arrangements as soon as I called him with my answer. “You’d be crazy to turn down ten million quid, but…”
“I’m crazy for thinking I can pull it off,” I said, voicing the concern I knew was on both our minds. She had a point. I couldn’t exactly say no to the offer, but that didn’t mean I was prepared to fake being an heiress for an entire year. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
“I can’t believe you just said that!” Eliza shook her head, looking terrified at the question. “Let’s see. You could say the wrong thing. You could offend someone. They could find out. You—”