Free The Romany Heiress by Nikki Poppen

conducted the entire conversation
roused her temper and left her feeling querulous. “Well,
I should think so. Being dropped unceremoniously on
one’s backside is hardly what one expects when one is
being so thoroughly seduced by a peer of the realm.”
She was tempted to add that she hadn’t been entirely
surprised since he was really a peer, but she heeded the
warning in the set of his jaw and held the retort. She had
tweaked him far enough.
    “Seduced!” Giles fired a sidelong glance of disbelief
at her. “You started it.”
    “I most certainly did not!” She snapped, feeling
color flood her cheeks. Had she? Come to think of it,
she couldn’t remember how it had started, only that it
had felt wonderful until the viscount had barged in and
taken them by surprise. Her bottom and ankle were
both still slightly tender from the fall.
    Giles was insistent. “Regardless, we must have a pact
that such a thing cannot happen again.”
    “Didn’t you like it? I thought you did.” Cate pouted
innocently and stared out across the landscape, deliberately avoiding his gaze. The traffic was picking up now
and the pennants flying from the top of canopies in the
distance signaled they were nearing Staines. The bittersweet novelty of riding with Giles and looking the part of a fashionable lady, all the while sparring with the
man beside her, was coming to a close.

    Giles must have sensed the end was near as well.
Desperation tinged the edges of his voice. “Look, we
have a deuced awkward situation between us. It seems
that for both our sakes we must attempt to be allies until the situation can be resolved. To speak plainly, I cannot leave you to your own devices, so we must be seen
socially and appear to be on good terms, as one would
expect of relatives.”
    Cate looked about her at the nearby carriages on the
road and noticed other women had their parasols up. Casually, she reached for her parasol and flicked it up. With
a wideeyed stare that would have done the most vacuous
of debutantes proud, Cate said, “I’m sorry, I thought you
said something about `for both of our sakes.’ I’ve yet to
hear what I get out of this. It sounds like my good behavior is important only as far your benefits”
    “As long as you behave, you get to stay” Giles bit out
as he steered the curricle under the shade of a tree near
the fairgrounds. Others from the house party were
parking their conveyances nearby and dismounting.
    “Hah! That’s as toothless as threats come, Giles Moncrief. You wouldn’t dare to throw me out” Cate laughed.
    “Try me.”
    Cate laughed again, knowing she hadn’t dared to go
any farther. She was smart enough to know when the
game was over, at least for now. “Alright, truce. We’ll
behave as you suggest. I agree, it is the clearest way to
seeing our needs met”

    “Thank you” Giles tossed his reins to the waiting
tiger and leapt down. “Wait there, I’ll help you out”
He came around to her side, and Cate furled her parasol. She smiled down at him with what she hoped was
cousinly affection, although she privately thrilled to the
feel of his strong hands about her waist as he lifted her
down. He settled her on the ground and she was aware
he kept his hands on her waist a bit longer than necessary, under the guise of allowing her a chance to adjust
her skirts.
    She smiled at him, sensing that a certain level of levity had returned to their banter. Her lips lifted in a teasing lilt, but the laughing words she’d thought to toss
back at him died on her lips. Over Giles’s shoulder
Lady FoxHaughton was approaching, and Cate knew
enough about women of any station to know she wasn’t
pleased at finding her man in the arms of another.

I f the situation with his newly minted `cousin Cate’
was deuced awkward, the ensuing scene with Lady
FoxHaughton promised to be something else entirely.
In this case, deuced awkward didn’t even begin to
cover it.