by Louise Bay
Ryder grimaced. “Technically. But, that’s not what—”
“How would Aurora address him?” Ryder’s childhood friend wasn’t a member of the family but knew them well. Perhaps I could follow her lead.
“She would probably just call him sir,” he replied.
“Okay, well I’ll try to avoid saying anything but I’ll call him sir if the occasion arises. How does that sound?”
He held my gaze for a second and then nodded. “You have totally got this.”
His confidence in me felt good and my anxiety levels dropped from boiling over to a simmer.
“I’ll have to decide what to wear. Will you wear a suit?” I imagined Ryder was hardly going to eat in jeans. I’d never seen him out of a suit.
“My tux,” he said.
Of course, because why wouldn’t you wear your tux for a casual dinner with family. “Your tux? You’re kidding?”
He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. Don’t worry about it.”
Easy for him to say.
I had brought cocktail dresses. One of them would have to do. One of the good things about flying private was that it allowed for more luggage.
“Are you okay with sharing a room?” he asked. “I do think it looks better. My family knows I’m not a saint.”
I took a deep breath. Everything had happened so quickly since we’d struck our deal that only now was I realizing it was so much more complicated than I’d ever thought. I hadn’t considered sharing beds, bathrooms. Holding hands in front of strangers. Violet had said it was an adventure, but I hadn’t prepared myself properly. I felt as if I were standing at the edge of quicksand and only just realized I’d promised to jump right in.
“I suppose since we’re about to married, and moving in together anyway …” I replied, the reality of the words feeling heavier now than they had when they were discussed in the abstract over the last few weeks.
I had been so reluctant to become single again after my first marriage, but now I was about to be married again, singledom didn’t seem quite so bad after all.
Thirteen
Scarlett
“You look beautiful,” Ryder said as I came out of the dressing room. His room was really a suite of rooms that had two bathrooms, two dressing rooms, a bedroom and a sitting room. There was even a study. I’d not seen him since I’d told him I was going to get ready.
“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.” I reached up and tugged at his bowtie and then released it, reminding myself we weren’t a real couple.
“That blue looks fantastic with your hair,” he said, his gaze skirting over my body.
I nudged him. “Save your compliments for when we’re in public.”
“I meant it, but okay. Are you ready?”
I guess charm like his was difficult to turn off. “Sure. As ready as I’ll ever be.”
He took my hand as we walked along the corridor toward the staircase. “How far away is the dining room?” I whispered. “These shoes aren’t meant for walking.”
Ryder chuckled. “Piggyback?” he asked.
I grinned. “Be careful, I might say yes.”
Ryder patiently held my hand as I descended the stairs in my overly high strappy heels. When we were just a few steps from the bottom, the door opened and a petite girl in rain boots came through the door. “It’s vile out there,” she said to Lane, who took her coat.
“Darce,” Ryder called.
His sister looked up and almost leapt toward us, hopping out of her boots and bounding toward us in a cocktail dress and stocking feet. “It’s so good to see you.” She took her brother’s face in her hands and rubbed as if she was petting a dog.
“Get off,” he said, knocking Darcy’s hands out of the way. “Let me introduce you to Scarlett,” Ryder said, not letting go of my hand. “Scarlett, this is my pain-in-my-backside sister.”
It was a little awkward as we were on the stairs but she kissed me on one cheek and then the other, all the while beaming at me.
“It’s beyond brilliant to have you here, Scarlett. Ryder’s told me so much about you. Can you believe Frederick and Victoria insisted on coming over this evening? Apologies in advance for the grilling you’re going to get.” She waved her hand in the air as she padded down the stairs. “Well, we’ll make sure you’re okay. Just don’t get left alone with Victoria. She might stab you with a fork or something.” She laughed and continued to chatter as we got to the bottom of the stairs and headed right in the same direction Ryder’s grandfather had taken earlier, down a dim corridor lined with oil paintings that I barely got a look at as we strode through.
“Darcy, where are your shoes?” Ryder’s grandfather asked as we entered an oak-paneled dining room with a stone fireplace at one end and a long table in the center. The lighting was low and what glow there was seemed to be sucked into the dark floors and walls.
“I went to check on the horses and lost them. So you’ll have to deal with my stockinged feet.” She went up on tiptoes as if to emphasize her lack of footwear.
I turned at the sound of someone clearing their throat and found a couple standing close together on the other side of the door.
“Scarlett,” Ryder said. “Let me introduce you to my cousin Frederick, and his wife, Victoria.”
“How do you do?” I asked, using the formal greeting Ryder had suggested.
“How do you do?” Frederick shook my hand, then Victoria coldly kissed the air by my cheek with a tight smile. There was none of the easy familiarity that Darcy had displayed.
But then, I was probably the last person either Victoria or her husband wanted to see.
A bell tinkled and everyone started moving toward the table.
“Sit next to me, Scarlett,” Darcy said, patting the chair beside her. I glanced up at Ryder, who nodded.
The table was covered in a starched, white tablecloth and there was enough silverware surrounding my plate I was pretty sure if I stuffed it all in my suitcase, I could pay off Cecily Fragrance’s loans and be done with this charade.
Ryder sat the other side of me, and to the right of his grandfather, who sat at the top of the table. Frederick and Victoria sat opposite us. There was an additional, empty place setting, but before I could wonder who it was for, the dining room door opened.
“So sorry I’m late.”
This must be Aurora—Ryder’s other option for a wife.
I smiled in her direction as she took a seat but her eyes were firmly on Ryder.
“So, Scarlett, tell me how you and Ryder met,” Victoria said. “It sounds like it’s been a whirlwind romance.”
Ryder draped his arm around the back of my chair and leaned into me. “Not for me. Scarlett doesn’t remember, but we met at a party a couple of years ago. Her laugh caught my attention from across the room. And then I saw her.” He gazed at me in a performance worthy of an Oscar. “Of course I asked her out then, but alas she turned me down flat.”
Darcy giggled, though I wasn’t sure if it was as a result of our lie or the thought of her brother being turned down by a woman that amused her.
“It appears you won her over eventually,” Frederick said.
“We met at work,” I blurted, wanting to add something to the conversation so I didn’t appear mute, but apparently my brain and my mouth weren’t communicating well.
“You work for Ryder?” she asked, scowling as a bowl of soup was put in front of her by Lane, who was serving along with a younger girl I’d not seen before.
“I wish,” Ryder said. “Scarlett is a talented entrepreneur—I wanted to buy her business.”
“Oh?” Frederick said. “What business is that?”
“It’s a fragrance company based in New York. I set it up with a friend of mine,” I said.
“A fragrance company? That doesn’t sound like the type of investment you normally make, dear cousin,” Frederick said to Ryder, glancing down at his soup.
“I like to invest in businesses that make money. Cecily Fr
agrance has great margins and a strong future ahead of it.” I glanced sideways at him and smiled, hoping that wasn’t part of the lie we were spinning. The Westbury Group had been very successful and the fact that the company made a real effort to buy us out was flattering.
“Are you investing?” Darcy asked.
“Well, I’m not buying them out but the Westbury Group might provide them with some financing. Scarlett turned me down again.”
His grandfather chuckled. “Good decision, my dear.”
“I wish I were joking, Grandfather, but Scarlett didn’t like my offer at all.”
“Well, it seems you found an offer she liked well enough,” Victoria said under her breath, her attention returning to her soup.
“I managed to convince her to join me for a drink,” Ryder said.
“I’m surprised your ego let you ask her out again,” Darcy said.
“He’s not used to women saying no to him,” Aurora said. “You were a challenge, I suppose.”
I wasn’t sure if she meant it as a compliment, but it sure didn’t sound like one. The way Ryder had described their relationship was that she and her family had been keen for Aurora and Ryder to marry but there hadn’t been any affection between them. That might be true for Ryder, but it was clear from the adoration in Aurora’s eyes that what she felt was real.
After the soup was the pheasant, which was a just like chicken. I wasn’t sure what to expect so was grateful for it to taste so familiar. Each course was served on beautiful china, beautifully presented, and tasted delicious. It was just like a restaurant meal. Did they ever just order Chinese food?
“You okay?” Ryder asked quietly as the rest of the table talked. He shifted his seat slightly toward me and put his hand on my leg. “You’re fitting right in. You had nothing to be concerned about. You see?”
“A little,” I said, patting his hand. He laced our fingers together.
“You do look really beautiful tonight, Scarlett.”
“We didn’t get a chance to see your ring,” Victoria said, interrupting Ryder’s easy charm.
I pulled my hand from Ryder and held it up, flat against my chest, not wanting to hold my hand out.
“Oh, it’s new, is it?” she asked, reaching for her wine glass and flashing her own antique wedding ring. “I thought Ryder may have given you his grandmother’s. She left it to him, you know.”
“Victoria,” Ryder growled.
“What? It’s a simple observation.”
Victoria was clearly trying to make a point, but she didn’t realize that far from causing trouble for Ryder and me, our arrangement made comments like that simply amusing.
“I’m sure such a young, pretty thing like Scarlett doesn’t want an old-fashioned ring like the duchesses’ canary diamond ring. Fashions change, isn’t that right, young lady?” the duke asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.
I didn’t know how to react. Would I be insulting his dead wife’s taste if I agreed with him?
“I didn’t want her to feel obligated to accept an heirloom simply because she loves me,” Ryder said as he stretched out his arm along the top of the chair behind me.
Victoria rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything.
“Are you planning to move back and live here?” Aurora asked, clearly trying to change the subject. “You know, after the wedding.”
“We’ll spend time here, but our lives are in Manhattan,” Ryder replied. I took another gulp of wine and almost instantly Lane refilled my glass.
“But you won’t come back to run the estate?” Victoria asked as if the mere idea was ludicrous.
Ryder fisted his hands. “Things remain as they are—grandfather runs the estate and Darcy assists him.”
Victoria was speaking as if the duke was already dead. It was my turn to reach across to Ryder’s lap. He brought his hand down to meet mine and we linked fingers, acting like the newly engaged couple we were pretending to be. Except, I wasn’t acting. I genuinely wanted to soothe him. Whether or not she knew it, Victoria was being insensitive.
“Are you going to Scotland for your honeymoon?” Frederick asked, as if his wife hadn’t just speculated about the consequences of the duke’s death.
Honeymoon? We hadn’t even discussed it.
I took the opportunity to speak so Ryder didn’t snap at Victoria. “We’re spending a week here and then flying back to Manhattan. There will be plenty of trips during the course of our marriage, but being here with the duke after his fall is what we both want to do now.”
I’d thought we’d prepared well but I couldn’t wait to escape back to our bedroom, for it just to be the two of us again. At least there I could relax and just be me for a few hours.
“Are we shooting tomorrow?” Frederick asked Ryder.
Shooting? Was I being left on my own tomorrow?
“Let’s see what the weather does—Merriman may need us,” Ryder replied.
“He won’t let us take the deer anymore, which is a shame,” Frederick said as he placed his napkin alongside his empty plate and sat back in his chair.
“That’s because you’re a terrible shot,” Ryder replied.
“Now, now, boys,” the duke said. “There’s always plenty of pheasant. What will the girls do if the boys are shooting?”
“Maybe we’ll go shooting, too,” Darcy replied.
The duke chuckled. “Oh yes, well, you are just as good a shot as anyone, Darcy. But Scarlett might not want to join in.”
“I don’t mind,” I said. As much as I didn’t want to be murdering deer or anything else, I wanted to be away from Ryder even less. “I’ll probably have horrible jet lag anyway. I can catch up on my sleep.”
“Did you bring your dress?” Darcy asked.
I nodded. “Yes, I need to make sure it survived the journey.” I’d bought the dress with Harper two days before I’d left New York. It was off the rack, which had felt appropriate for our business arrangement, but fit as if it had been made for me.
“I can’t wait to see,” she said. “Maybe you can show me and then we can go get pampered. Do pre-wedding body prep. There’s a hotel with a great spa about ten miles from here.”
“I love it there,” Aurora said.
“We should all go. We can get to know you better,” Victoria said.
“Let’s just see, shall we?” Ryder said. “Scarlett and I both have jobs to check in on.”
Thank God. Today had been overwhelming enough without the thought that I’d have to spend tomorrow with Victoria without him.
We were a team and I didn’t want us split up. I hadn’t known him long, but so far he’d kept his word on absolutely everything he’d promised. And his sister and grandfather clearly adored him.
When it came to husbands, I’d chosen worse.
I came out of the bathroom to find Ryder lying on the bed, his jacket off, his bowtie undone and his shoes kicked off to the floor, but otherwise still fully clothed.
An uncomfortable dinner, jet lag and the stress of being on display all evening had taken their toll. I was exhausted.
“You did really well tonight,” he said, propping his head up on his hand as I walked to the other side of the bed.
I shook my head. “It was a lot to take in. Thank God for you,” I said, climbing up onto the mattress that came up to my hip. “I think Victoria was out for blood.” I lay back on the pillows and sank into the bed.
“Yeah, she’s clearly not happy.”
I chuckled. “I can’t believe she said that thing about who was going to run the estate. It was so disrespectful.”
“That’s what she’s like. Her eye has always been on the prize—Woolton—then you waltz in ready to take that away from her, and looking like you do.”
What was he saying?
“You’re very beautiful, Scarlett,” he said, his finger trickling down the side of my arm.
It was nice to feel as if I had someone on my side. I’d missed the feeling of having a teammate, someone in m
y corner, since my divorce. “I’m glad I passed their inspection. So far, at least.”
His hand settled at my waist and goosebumps pulsed out from under his hand and across my body. It was as if we were a normal couple, discussing the day, casually intimate with each other. It reminded me of life with Marcus—a time when I thought I’d found the love of my life. I ignored the sting in my chest and turned to face Ryder so I was mirroring him.
“I don’t have to go shooting tomorrow. God knows, I could do without a day with Frederick. I don’t see why you should be subjected to Victoria.”
“It’s fine.” It wasn’t, but I could handle Victoria. Despite a lukewarm response from Ryder and me, Darcy had seemed excited about the spa and so I’d agreed to go. Which meant Ryder had no excuse not to go shooting with Frederick.
He circled his thumb over the silk of my nightgown. “This is nice. Being here, with you,” he said, as if he hadn’t been expecting to enjoy my company.
I smoothed my hand up his arm. It seemed like a natural thing to do, though I knew it wasn’t. This man wasn’t my husband-to-be. I might be marrying him. But it wasn’t meant to be a physical relationship.
He pulled me closer. “I know we said no sex …”
I ran my palm up his chest. “We really shouldn’t.” This needed to be about business. I wanted Cecily Fragrance. He wanted a wife. That was all we were doing here.
“It’s just you’re so beautiful.”
I sighed, my nipples tightening against the silk of my nightdress. I’d gotten used to not having sex since Marcus and I split. Ryder had awoken something in me, and I missed how easy it was to fuck and be fucked when I was married.
“And it was so good,” he said, as if the admission were being squeezed out of him. “Wasn’t it?” he asked, shifting his hips closer. “So, so good.”
If I could stop the voices chattering in my head for just a second, I could sink into the warmth of him, into being part of a couple again, into the hardness of his body.
I missed all that. I missed having someone who was mine.
I reached for his jaw and he bent to kiss me, his lips soft but, like all of him, in control. He led everything—me out of the car, the conversation at dinner, plans for tomorrow … my body.
