“You think being a hostess for a dinner party is beyond my capabilities?”
“Now, Judith, I didn’t say that.”
“YouimpliedI was incompetent.”
“I did not. I want to see where you are in your education.”
She copied him and folded her arms. “You expect me to fail, and in front of a marquess, no less.”
“You could not be more wrong.”
Her lips pursed and her jaw tightened. Even the veins in her neck rose ever so slightly. “I know more than you think I do, my lord.”
“I’m sure you do.”
She scowled. “You still do not believe me. Ask me a question about the dinner party. Anything at all.”
Was he trying to provoke her? Of course he was. Even though making her upset and seeing the heat in her eyes was quite exciting, perhaps he should continue to charm her and become her friend. How else would he win?
“Judith my dear, don’t fret. I believe you. As I have mentioned before, this is just a trial run.”
“Whom shall I expect for the evening meal tonight?” she asked with a stiff upper lip as anger remained evident in her eyes. “Will the marquess be escorting female company?”
“No.”
“Will you?”
He chuckled. “No. Why do you ask?”
“What? You don’t know?” She put on the dramatics by placing her hand at her neck and hitching a breath. “Why, my lord, are you not aware I will need to make a seating chart?”
“But of course.”
“Then I need to know all the guests arriving tonight.”
He rolled his eyes. She was impossible. “It will just be Hawthorne, you, and I.”
She glared at him for a quiet moment. To be sure, the wheels in her head had to be churning as fast as a runaway horse. He wished he knew what vindictive thoughts charged around in there.
“Might I ask what happened to our bargain?”
Her voice remained calm, although he knew she was far from it.
He nodded. “It’s still intact. You hold up your end, and I shall come through with mine.”
“I had assumed you would find my Alex before you put me through this torture.”
My Alex…The words rankled him. “Then you assumed wrong.”
“Oh.” She stomped her foot, and her hands bunched into fists by her side. “You had every intention of misleading me, didn’t you?”
“My dear Judith, I have not the faintest notion of what you are talking about.” He stroked her chin, but she slapped hishand away. “Let me give you some advice, my dear Judith. Well-bred ladies don’t show their temper, and yours is mighty hot. To be quite blunt, it’s highly ill-mannered. Even your fiancé would want you to be a gracious hostess.”
She let out a loud grumble before spinning on her heels and marching back to the house. He grinned. He had her exactly where he wanted. Keeping her vexed with him was a good idea, also. The way she’d gazed at him in the gazebo—a moment more and he’d have been on his knees begging for her sweet kiss. He couldn’t allow that to happen again, which meant he must make her upset with him at every turn.
Yet, the challenge energized him, too.
Chapter Eight
