Free Behind a Lady's Smile by Jane Goodger

sitting next to her.
     
    Money. Think about the money, Mitch thought as he tried to ignore the heat of Genny’s thigh against his. He didn’t want to want her. He didn’t even want to like her. But damn if he could keep his mind from going places it had no business going.
    That ridiculous, chaste kiss was still tormenting him. That kiss that hardly had been a kiss was making him think about how lovely it would be to really kiss her, to feel her respond and moan into his mouth. Mitch swallowed thickly, glad of only one thing: that Genny had no idea what she was doing to him. He had to focus on the prize. He had to stop liking her and stop wanting her and just think of her as a means of getting what he’d been dreaming of ever since the day he’d watched Will Jackson take a picture and then turn it into a thing you could hold in your hand and look at forever.
    Next to him, Genny touched the carved wall, allowing her index finger to follow a swirl in the wood’s grain. He had the uncomfortable feeling that he’d hurt her feelings with his gruffness. Well, good. He didn’t need her looking at him with those big green eyes, cuddling up with him as if he truly were her husband. He’d wait until everyone found their seat and if there was an empty one, he’d sit there.
    There was no way in hell he’d be able to take being crammed up next to her for a week, smelling her sweet scent, hearing her soft sighs as she slept, and feeling her leg pressed up against his. Money, Mitch thought, think about the money.
    “Oh, hello.” It was the lady from the platform, trailed by her silent husband. She greeted Genny as if they were life-long friends before giving him a rather cooler look. “It looks like we shall be neighbors for the next three days after all. I never did get your name, dear.”
    “Genevieve Hayes. Pleased to meet you.”
    “Campbell,” Mitch said, giving Genny a wink before turning to the older woman. “It’s so new, she keeps forgetting.”
    “Our wedding was so exciting, I can’t remember a single detail. Not even the ceremony itself,” Genny said, looking innocently up at Mitch. He stared at her a long moment, and then his body gave a small jerk from a silent laugh as he shook his head.
    “Oh,” Mrs. Walsh said, clapping her hands together. “Newlyweds. Harvey, newlyweds. ”
    Harvey, a thin man with a thick brush of a mustache, leaned over and gave the two a quick smile before settling back against his seat.
    “So this is your wedding trip. How romantic.” Mrs. Walsh took off her bonnet, releasing the loose skin beneath her chin, and placed the hat on the floor in front of them. “All the way to England. My.”
    “My grandparents are the duke and duchess of Glastonbury.”
    Mrs. Walsh looked a bit startled and glanced at Mitch as if to check whether that could be the truth. “How wonderful,” she said, and Mitch could tell by her tone that she’d decided this bit of news was nothing but a tall tale. “Does that make you a princess?” She winked conspiratorially at Mitch.
    “I don’t think so. I do believe it only makes me the granddaughter of a duke.”
    Mitch chuckled. “She is the granddaughter of a duke, whom she’s never met. That’s why we’re making the trip.”
    Mrs. Walsh’s brown eyes widened. “How exciting for you. I’m certain they’re looking forward to meeting you.”
    Genny bit her lip. “They don’t know we’re coming yet.” She turned to Mitch. “I expect we should tell them. It wouldn’t do to simply show up at their front door.”
    “The front door of their castle,” Mrs. Walsh said.
    “Do you think they might truly live in a castle?” Genny breathed, awestruck. “Do dukes live in castles?”
    “I believe they do.” Mrs. Walsh gave Genny a worried look and appeared as though she was about to say something but thought better of it.
    Next to him, Genny became silent, no doubt picturing a castle, complete with moat. “We need to telegraph them when we