Free Compromising Kessen by Rachel van Dyken Page A

Because if you don’t, the embarrassment would not only destroy both our families, but the stocks for your father’s company would plummet.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean,” he said, grabbing a few papers from under his arm, “everyone loves us.”
    Her mouth dropped open. He lifted a hand to shut it, letting his fingertips linger on her chin. The shivers went all the way down to her toes this time. She closed her eyes to regain control. “Let me see,” she snapped, pulling the papers out of his grasp.
    It was worse than she thought.
    It was true.
    She was done for.
    Her head jerked up to his gaze. He didn’t seem as smug as she would have liked; instead he looked just as irritated as she felt.
    “How did this happen?” she yelled.
    “Calm down,” he ordered, pushing her into a nearby chair. “I guess I’ll have to be the one to do this, then.” He took a deep breath and started, “Sometimes when a boy and girl meet, they find each other—how shall I put it? Oh, yes—attractive. And sometimes, when the boy and girl get close things happen and—”
    Her chest was rising and falling in ragged succession. “Not that. I know how that happened, thank you very much.” She unfurled the paper. “This. How did this happen?”
    His face twisted bitterly. “Take a guess.”
    Kessen thought through the previous night’s events—her grandmother’s expression, the handshake between the two.
    “No.” She groaned.
    “Yes.”
    “No!”
    “Yes!” he said loudly. “Come on, my father has been pestering me for months; your father is apparently worried sick about you, since you won’t bring yourself out of isolation unless you’re with Nick and Sammy.” His mouth shut suddenly.
    She opened her mouth wide to yell, but he forcefully put his hand over it. “We spoke earlier. Actually, I just got off the telephone. Apparently he’s been planning this for months with your grandmother. Even your silly cousin is in on it. Of course, I wasn’t part of the plan, but getting you married off was the reason. He wanted you to marry someone from England, and now he has his wish. And since I’m the head of the offices over here, and I’m the next in line for the dukedom, I’d say his plan worked to perfection.”
    She felt hot all over. A feeling of dread swept over her.
    “Breathe, America. Deep breaths,” he soothed, his hand still covering her mouth.
    So, she did the only thing she could think of doing.
    She bit his hand. Tenderly, of course.
    His hand shot off of her face faster than she would have imagined. But instead of being upset, his eyes lit with fire. He leaned in close. Kessen’s stomach lurched. Was he going to kiss her again? Expectantly, she leaned in to meet him just as her chair fell.
    “What the—” She looked down. “You did that on purpose.”
    “Don’t bite,” he scolded, turning around to shield his face. He was nonplussed by her behavior, because the next thing he said was he would give her an hour to get ready. They had press to face and a day of “dating” to endure. He left her at that, while she grumbled on the floor about his lack of chivalry.
    What was with him and his rude attitude? One minute he looked like he wanted to eat her, the next he was so annoyingly upset that she couldn’t do anything right.
    She stood and ran to her closet. Time to dress the part.

Chapter Nine
     
    Kessen’s clothes were extraordinary. When she had arrived, her clothes screamed tourist, but now he felt like he was staring at an entirely different human being. Not that she hadn’t been gorgeous before, but when he looked at her, he felt like he was under a spell—a spell that was broken only when she opened her mouth to speak.
    She was wearing black linen shorts, red stiletto heels, a flimsy, airy-looking top and a tailored jacket that went just below her waist, drawing his eyes to her deliciously long legs.
    He couldn’t tell if she wore makeup, mainly because she was so utterly