“I realize that.” Never would she be able to explain why, in God’s name, she had accepted the post. Nor why she was in such a hurry to pack her things and return to Balfour House. A heat, a fever almost, ran just under her skin and urged her to begin her employment before one could change one’s mind. Whether that one was Lord Kilcairn or herself, she didn’t know. “I’m glad you find it so amusing, Victoria.”
In truth, under different circumstances she would probably have found it amusing herself. She’d met men as arrogant and self-assured as Kilcairn before. She knew men who assumed they were going to get their way by virtue of being, who mowed down everyone and everything in their path without realizing or caring whom they might be humiliating—and they annoyed her in the extreme. Yet now, after a fifteen-minute interview with a prime example of their kind, nervous, jittery anticipation to return for more made her clumsy and restless and shivery.
But it certainly wasn’t anticipation of his promised kisses.Nakedkisses, for heaven’s sake. What nonsense!
Upon her return to Balfour House she would reiterate that tutoring his niece and serving as companion to his aunt wasallshe intended on doing, and that if he had something more nefarious in mind, he’d best forget it at once. That would settle her—to make absolutely certain he knew the rules and meant to abide by them. If he didn’t, she would simply decline the position and leave.
That, however, didn’t explain why she was bothering to pack.
“I don’t find it amusing. Really.” Victoria leaned down to scratch Shakespeare behind the ears. “Just stay here, Lex. It’s much safer.”
“I’ve stretched your parents’ kindness to the limits, Vixen. I can’t impose on them any longer.”
“It’s not an imposition,” Vixen insisted, plunking herself down on the bed. “Theylikeyou.”
“They used to,” Alexandra amended without bitterness. “Now I’m a difficulty and an embarrassment, and no doubt a poor influence on you. You’ll be heading for London in a few weeks, and they certainly won’t want someone of my reputation hanging about you then.”
Victoria smiled. “I am perfectly capable of causing trouble without your influence. But as for—”
“But nothing.” Alexandra closed the trunk and hurried over to toss her toilette items into a hatbox. “I will make my own way, Vixen. I don’t have the luxury of fortune and family that you do, and I can’t just sit about being idle and wait for someone to rescue me.”
“But Lord Kilcairn?”
She’d been trying to avoid that point, though he seemed to have become lodged in her thoughts the instant she’d set eyes on him. And it wasn’t simply because he was the most beautiful, compelling, masculine being she’d ever seen. “He’s the only one who’s evenofferedemployment in the past six months.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
Alexandra wished she possessed Victoria Fontaine’s self-confident bravado. “I am not. Everyone thinks I’m a husband-stealing strumpet. And at least half of those who think I dallied with Lord Welkins think I killed him, as well.”
“Lex,” Vixen protested. “Don’t even say that!”
“You know it’s true. Even if they don’t blame me for his death, they certainly delight in talking about it.”
“I hope you realize your new employment certainly won’t stop anyone from talking about you.”
Alexandra opened the bedchamber door and motioned to Lord Kilcairn’s two liveried footmen, standing practically at attention in the hallway. With polite, blank-faced nods they hefted her trunk and carried it downstairs. Nothing remained besides her hatbox and a small valise of odds and ends. She sighed as she snapped the valise closed. That was everything she owned. “Odds and ends” seemed a fair description of her life these days.
“Lex, I know you heard me.” Victoria gazed at her, violet eyes concerned. “Does Kilcairn have any idea about your last position?”
“Yes, he does. He didn’t seem bothered in the least.”
“Well, I suppose he wouldn’t be. His own reputation is far worse than yours. He probablylikesthe rumors.”
Alexandra forced a smile, trying to push away another rush of nervousness. “Perhaps that makes me lucky. He seems determined that his cousin marry well; if she does him credit, she’ll do me credit, as well.”
Victoria stood, her expression still skeptical. “At least keep your bedchamber door locked at night.”
Somehow she didn’t think a locked door would stop Lucien Balfour if he was intent on entering a room. Her pulse jumped at the thought, and she scowled.What was wrong with her?“I shall.”
“And if something isn’t to your liking, please say you’ll come back here right away. You don’t have to be independent all the time.”
“I promise, Vixen. Really. Don’t worry.”
Impulsively Victoria flung her arms around Alexandra and hugged her. With a belated smile, Lex returned the embrace.
“I’ll see you soon,” she said, gathering her hatbox and her dog and turning for the door.
“Be careful.”
