Someone Irresistible (13 page)

“—Which revealed a very tight corset—”

“—Lucky, lucky man—”

“—And it was made of blood red satin.”

“You—” Justin sat up abruptly, his shoe hitting the floor as his leg fell from the bench, his eyes opened wide in astonishment. “Good God.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I thought.”

Justin blinked. “Red?”

“Red.”

“Satin?”

“Right again. As smooth and appealing as an apple ripe enough for picking.”

“And did you consider picking it?”

Agitated, he remarked, “I’m not sure that’s what she wants.”

“Is it what you want?”

“That’s irrelevant,” he snapped.

Justin blew a slow breath out through his teeth. “Where on earth would she—”

“I’ve no goddamn idea,” he mumbled, exasperated, waving his palm in the air.

Justin slowly shook his head, tracing the rim of his mug with his thumb. “And a widow at that.”

Nathan had no notion of what such an absurd statement might mean, but he didn’t ask for explanation. He shoved his fingers through his hair again, swiftly glancing around them for eavesdroppers. Of course there weren’t any, but nonetheless he was feeling agitated and hot in the stale, crowded air. The rain fell harder and louder on the rooftops, and its wetness blanketed the window beside them so that the view of the street was now totally distorted. He wouldn’t be going out in that anytime soon, and finding an empty hansom cab in this weather would be impossible.

After a moment, he sighed. “You see my problem?”

“Um…” Justin cocked his head thoughtfully, mouth twisting, forehead creased, staring at what remained of his meal. “You’ve got yourself into a sticky situation, to be sure, though it certainly can’t be an unpleasant one.”

Nathan’s face flushed fully now, and he sat up again quickly, turning his body forward, feet flat on the floor, forearms resting on the splintered wood of the table.

“Indeed,” he answered formally, trying to regain some gentlemanly composure with his calm demeanor. “And yet I’m not sure if her tempting manner is purposeful or accidental.”

“Why should you assume it’s accidental?” Justin chuckled again and lowered his voice. “It’s my experience that women don’t do anything accidentally. From the common wench to the perfectly bred lady, every part of their little minds is spent on entrapment of the male sex.” With a

twitch of his mouth, he added succinctly, “A corset in red satin must be a marvelous thing to behold, I wouldn’t know. But that aside, no lady would unbutton her gown in front of a man who was not her husband if she didn’t want him sexually. You know that, for God’s sake. She’s not an innocent miss. She knows
precisely
what she’s doing.”

That, Nathan finally admitted to himself, was exactly what he wanted to have confirmed for him. And with such a categorical confirmation came an unexpected, and totally unwanted glowing warmth in the pit of his stomach. It actually took all his strength not to reveal a triumphant smile.

Justin raised his mug toward the barmaid, a motion requesting two more. “Seems to me the Widow Sinclair definitely wants you to pick those apples of hers. The question now is, do you have a taste for apples?”

“I’ve always had a taste for apples,” he replied without thought, then amended, “all apples.”

“But if you’re standing in an orchard with ripe red ones at your fingertips do you cross the road for the green ones when they might be out of reach? Likely not. You eat what’s there.”

Oh, yes. Eating Mimi’s apples. What a thought.

“I think Mimi’s apples might be out of reach as well,” he murmured, gazing absentmindedly to the dark gray rain-coated window.

Justin understood at last and sat back heavily against the wooden sill. “Not because of her, but because of your ongoing trouble with her father.”

His jaw tightened. “I simply can’t trust her. I don’t know if she was involved in stealing the jawbone—if she was
ever
involved—but it worries me.” More than it should, he decided. The thought actually sickened him.

Justin drummed his fingers on the tabletop, staring at him, his gaze forthright. “You’re in a tight spot, to be sure, my friend, but if I were you, I’d be very, very careful. Mimi Sinclair is a determined lady. If she wants you, I don’t think it’s possible for you to deny her. I’ve seen you with her. If you intend to continue working with her professionally, my advice then is twofold: do not, in any way, get her with child, and watch your back around her family. I’ve known her father for years, as you have, and you know as well as I, he’s a cunning man who looks out very nicely for the interests of his daughters. Mimi is a widow still in mourning, and Sir Harold has already asked me of your intentions toward her.”

Nathan’s brows rose with that, but Justin waved off his curiosity with

his palm before he could comment.

“I did my best to brush it aside as nothing, but he’s clever, Nathan. If I see the attraction between you and Mimi, so will he, and so will the lovely widow’s sister, and they won’t take kindly to you getting involved.”

Nathan said nothing because there was nothing more to say. Justin understood his concerns on the matter, his intentions to attend the New Year’s Eve party where he would reveal the Megalosaurus to all in his country, in his profession, who mattered. The fact that he needed Mimi and her skill if he was to accomplish his intended coup was turning out to be more than an unforeseen hindrance, but a very real problem if he didn’t play his relationship with her carefully.

But could he afford to get involved? And why did she want him, of all men, anyway? These were questions he just couldn’t answer for now.

One thing, however, was certain: he’d come this far in returning his honor and name to the forefront of science, and he refused to allow a lovely, perhaps even lonely, widow to undermine that achievement.

« ^ »

M
imi had been restless all morning. Nathan still wasn’t expected to arrive for a good twenty minutes, yet she’d been in her studio since breakfast—nearly an hour—gathering the day’s necessary tools, laying them out in an order that was
not
necessary, and more or less passing the time by glancing at the clock.

Finally, when she couldn’t take any more pacing, she had retreated to her garden from the studio entrance, walking the brick path around the back of her home to the far corner of the yard, where she now sat on a stone bench, staring at the small but secluded fountain as clear water trickled down white marble. She adored these surroundings, isolated within the walls of tall lilac bushes and rose-covered trellises that filled the air with the scent of flowers from early spring until late autumn. It was her own small area of privacy that allowed her moments of peace and solitude, a place that had held no interest for Carter but that she

cherished. Nathan probably would not find her here if he looked alone, but one of her servants would no doubt direct him when they discovered her absent from the workshop. Her garden was where she always went when she wanted, or needed, to think. As she did now.

She and Nathan would sculpt again today, although she’d finished the first molding of the lower jawbone yesterday after he’d hastily left her, again, before luncheon. Annoyed with that, she’d decided that getting him to eat a complete meal with her would be her immediate goal for this afternoon. She wanted to spend time with him, talking, away from work.

Admittedly, just the fact that he’d left her so quickly and abruptly had bothered her more than it should have. She didn’t understand the need for him to do so, especially when it had been her ultimate desire to entice him to stay. She knew she’d been too forward by unbuttoning her gown in front of the man, but the technique of subtle seduction was not in her repertoire. Still, it had subdued her when he hadn’t appeared to be impressed by her rather suggestive conduct. Then again, maybe he had been, and that’s why he’d left. Could it be he’d had trouble controlling himself? Mimi had no idea. She really didn’t understand men all that well, and she’d never before risked seducing one of them.

Getting Carter to notice her had never been a problem.

The thrill of the moment between them yesterday had left her breathless, though, which puzzled her, because nothing much had really happened. But just knowing that Nathan had watched her closely while she leaned over to give him a good, rousing peek at the top of her breasts had thoroughly excited her. Even sexually, which she found perplexing. But more than anything she’d been surprised not only at herself and her actions, but her physical response to Nathan’s hot gaze when he’d lifted it to hers.

Oh, indeed. He’d seen what she’d wanted him to see, but instead of mentioning her indecency, or ignoring it, which would have been the gentlemanly thing to do, or even grabbing her for a lingering kiss and—

God help her immoral thoughts—reaching out to caress her, he’d stood up and left. Just like that. Mimi didn’t think she’d ever felt more thoroughly deflated than at that moment. After his untimely departure, she’d found it difficult to concentrate on her work, but she’d finished the lower jawbone and teeth out of sheer determination in hopes that when he arrived this morning he wouldn’t begin to realize what a state of fluster and dejection he’d put her in.

She’d also had trouble sleeping the night through, and that was probably because she’d been restless with her musings about what her approach should be when she saw him today. At last, she’d decided she

had two choices: she could be a lady and revert to her former controlled self, pretending yesterday’s sensual encounter had never happened, or she could persist with what she wanted. After hours of tossing in bed, she’d decided to do the latter.

Being married had all but spoiled her innocence, she concluded, though in a most delicious way. She knew what she liked and what she missed about intimate encounters, and as the days ticked by, she grew ever-increasingly desirous that those needs be satiated by Nathan. She would probably burn in hell for thinking such a thing, but lascivious thoughts didn’t simply vanish because one wanted them to. She just wasn’t sure she could encourage his interest in her, although she had, two hours ago, made the very brave decision to try to do so again this morning. If Mimi was anything, she was tenacious.

She’d chosen one of her older, more fashionable gowns, a plain crepe in rich dark silver-gray, with a low scooped neck and cropped sleeves, deciding on it not because it was comfortable, but because it wasn’t.

She’d lost a considerable amount of weight from the shock of Carter’s death, which she’d since slowly regained, and now the gown fit tightly in the waist and bust. Very tightly. She’d also donned a silk chemise in black lace, and a black satin corset. The constriction through the lower bosom lifted her breasts, and the black lace peeking up to the edge of the silver-gray, which only the most observant and close individual could possibly see, drew that much more attention to her pale skin.

She’d changed the style of her hair as well so that it had a softer look to it, braiding it loosely and winding it on top of her head, held in place with a pearl comb. She had a good selection of mourning jewelry given her by her mother-in-law, but Mimi more or less found the pieces too dark and morbid for her individual style. In the end she rarely wore any of it, though she still wore her wedding ring. She supposed she would always wear that.

Closing her eyes, she lifted her face to the morning sun, absorbing the heat of it through the slight autumn chill. Lacing her fingers together in her lap, she breathed deeply of the crisp early air mixed with the scent of lingering rainwater and wet leaves, wondering if it was close to ten yet, if Nathan would arrive on time, smiling when she remembered that she came to the garden to forget all that.

Yes, she brazenly wanted to continue her wanton considerations where Nathan was concerned. He occupied her thoughts, tempted her in too many ways, and nothing sounded lovelier at the moment than kissing Nathan, than feeling his beating heart beneath her palm, than touching his skin with her fingertips and pressing her body—

“What a vision you make, Mimi.”

Her lids fluttered open in surprise, as her pulse began to speed just from hearing his wonderfully deep voice penetrate the silence. But it was his candid gaze, the note of fresh evaluation in his eyes when she finally looked at him, that made her breath catch in her chest.

He stood at the edge of the secluded garden, wearing a white linen shirt and dark blue pants, the sun casting a bright glow to the side of his face and shoulder. Again she was thoroughly taken by his marvelous physique, his commanding bearing, but especially by the very masculine hardness of his facial features. She would never tire of looking at Nathan Price. He entranced her in every way and always had.

“Good morning, Nathan,” she said at last in innocent reply.

“Indeed it is,” he returned softly, his tone somewhat assessing, giving her a half smile as he took a step or two toward her, moving within the walls of her retreat.

He hadn’t shaved this morning, which gave his face a scruffy edge where his beard began to grow on tanned skin, and his hair hung loosely over his brow—combed but not groomed. He never wore jewelry or cologne, she’d noticed, and his nails were most certainly not manicured, but were, in fact, cut short over rough, callused fingers. He was the only man she knew who, even when dressed formally, resembled one who’d spent a day of hard work in the sun. Other ladies of gentle breeding would no doubt find his look common, or even disagreeable; Mimi was drawn to it. She’d never known an educated man who carried himself so well and yet looked more like an ordinary worker, as Nathan did. He was a contradiction in personality and image, and she liked it far more than she should. She had, since the moment she’d laid eyes on him for the first time years ago, and all the years in between when she’d grown to adore him during their sporadic but fascinating conversations.

Mimi sighed inwardly as she realized again what she was doing. She appraised his appearance every time they were together, as he usually did hers, she knew, feeling a subtle warmth within. Yet this morning he never moved his gaze from her face. He didn’t even glance at her breasts, which, beyond her initial surprise, she found both amusing and at the same time a trifle disappointing after her careful preparation of her person for just such an observation.