Yes, they would. Perhaps not to the outside world, but they would blab all to the Northam Hall staff, many of whom were related to the staff at Shoreham Manor, since they were neighboring properties, not to mention Fiona and Cherish were as close as sisters.
However, Rob was not going to fight about it. He wanted to hear the rest of her doomed-to-failure plan.
“A week with you,” she continued, refusing to see the impending disaster of her idea, “and then we can pretend we are just meeting the following week at Cherish’s house party. Perhaps I’ll merely ride over daily, not participate too much in order to give you time with the young ladies they have invited.”
“No, Fiona. I’m sure Cherish has invited you to stay over for the duration of her party. She’ll expect it of you and question your reasons if you don’t. Besides, it isn’t safe for you to be traveling home every night after supper or whatever events they have planned.”
“I’ll think about it,” she said with a nod to acknowledge his point about the dangers lurking in the wee hours. “No need to make a decision on that yet. Gawain is my cousin and Cherish is my best friend. If I need a room, they will accommodate me.”
But Rob wished to know more about this proposal of hers. Offering to spend a week in bed with himhadto come with strings attached. “And what is the price I am to pay for this week-long frolic in your bed?”
“Cherish has invited several young ladies to her house party, all of them lovely and more than suitable to be your duchess. Once the party begins, you must promise to give each one serious consideration.”
“That’s it?”
“No.” She took a deep breath. “And you must promise to choose one of them to be your bride by the end of the house party.”
“That is no bargain,” he grumbled.
Fiona held up a hand. “Do not be so hasty to refuse, for there is no other sensible solution. You shall have me, all of me,beforethey arrive. An entire week alone with me to get me out of your system.”
His heart was not asystem.
She cast him a pleading look. “Don’t you see? It is your unfulfilled fantasies that are the problem, Rob. So I am giving you permission to fulfill them.”
“Full access to your body?”
And your heart, Fiona. It is your heart that I want.
She cleared her throat again. “Yes, full access. What do you say? Does this proposal meet with your approval?”
No, it was a terrible idea. Incredibly foolish. He would have to be out of his mind to accept.
But he nodded. “Yes, let’s do it.”
Chapter Two
Fiona’s smile falteredas she felt the impact of Rob’s smoldering gaze on her. It tore through her like wildfire. And now he was nodding and agreeing to…Dear heaven, what was she thinking? This was going to be a disaster.
He rubbed a hand across the nape of his neck. “I am accepting your proposal with one modification.”
They were still standing on the steps of Lady Forster’s terrace, the lively strains of a popular English reel filling the night air. He looked magnificent in his black tie and tails, his jacket cut to perfection and stretching with impeccable precision across his broad shoulders before molding to his muscled torso and trim waist. “What modification?”
His eyes were the most stunning shade of green she had ever beheld, reminiscent of an emerald ocean and flecked with silver, as though he had captured the stars and they now shone only through him.
This was what made his gaze so dangerous. One glance was all it took, and he had her insides tumbling like a capsized boat upon rough waters.
His dark-gold hair also had flecks of silver at the temples, which gave him an aura of authority to add to his already too-tempting features.
However, as dangerously handsome as Rob was, she knew that she would always be safe with him.
Always.
He gave her cheek a light caress. “I am not going to propose to anyone until three months after the house party.”
Pain filled her, for she understood the reason for his caution. He thought their activities in the week before the house party might leave her with child.
What a painful jest. Did he not understand what it meant to be barren? This was what she was, and had almost twenty years of empty hopes to prove it.
