Someone Irresistible (36 page)

“As Mrs. Sinclair and her distinguished father, Sir Harold Marsh, noted, this magnificent sculpture of the Megalosaurus reptile would not be sitting in our presence today if not for Professor Nathan Price and his perfect find at the Oxford Quarry nearly four years ago. A find unmatched to date.”

The low whispers began again, giving Nathan an uncanny feeling of going through these motions once before, under similar extraordinary circumstances. But this time he refused to allow inflated arrogance to rule him. He had learned much in the last three years.

“This excellently produced sculpture, ladies and gentlemen,” Owen continued, gesturing toward the Megalosaurus with his free hand, “is one that I would like to donate, along with the jawbone of its likeness, in the name of Professor Nathan Price, to my latest endeavor, the English Natural History Museum and its intended exhibit of the giant ancient lizards. The science venture at the museum will run side by side with the displays here at the Palace—those of the museum to be more scientific in nature, naturally.” He smiled at Nathan, perspiration beading on his wide forehead, eyes glowing proudly. “Nathan, you said once before that you’d enjoy taking charge of it for me, cataloguing finds and promoting in England and abroad for the necessary funding. I realize the museum won’t be as large as we’d originally envisioned, or entirely at your direction, as it might have been three years ago—but that was another time, with different available opportunities. Now, today, I’d be very pleased indeed if you’d consider this position.” He nodded to Mimi. “With Mrs. Sinclair’s talented fingers at your disposal, of course.”

Several men chuckled. “He meant as your sculptor, I’m sure,”

Waterhouse Hawkins intimated in a whisper for his ears alone. Then he lightly slapped him on the shoulder, grinning. “Jolly good show, Nathan.”

“Yes, indeed,” added Sir Harold with marked sincerity, lifting his champagne glass in toast.

Nathan was speechless. Absolutely speechless. He’d never expected anything like this to occur here today, although if the truth be told, the offer came at the perfect time. He also realized he’d not be receiving any better propositions anytime soon with his reputation still in the

mending stages. Accepting this work would never provide the greatness he’d once envisioned for himself, but it would be close. Damn close.

With a nod toward his host, the man he admired most in the world for his sagacity of mind and generosity of spirit, he replied with a cultured air, “I would be most honored to begin the project at once. You have my deepest thanks, Sir Richard.”

“Nonsense,” Owen bellowed with a wide grin, stepping forward so that he stood directly next to Nathan and Mimi. “I should be thanking you. Both of you.” He glanced at the crowd. “Ah. Justin Marley and his father have arrived. If you will excuse me.” With that he stepped away, strolling toward the center of the room as more paleontologists and curious visitors made their way from the great entrance to the end of the hall to witness the astounding exhibit that displayed the beasts of ancient times.

Nathan stared down at Mimi, who blushed a lovely shade of pink.

Instead of commenting, she took a sip of champagne and he watched the movement of her throat, entranced, remembering that he’d done the very same thing the night they’d first kissed.

“Perhaps I’ll leave you two alone to chat,” Sir Harold announced from beside him, straightening and brushing a palm down his morning coat before taking a timely leave.

Nathan had forgotten him and never glanced his way.

“It’s hot in here,” he said softly.

“Yes,” she returned without pause, wistfully.

“Care to take a stroll with me in the out of doors, Mrs. Sinclair?”

Seconds later, she whispered, “I thought you’d never ask, Professor Price.”

« ^

T
he day had been a glorious one thus far, but nothing could compare to the feeling Mimi experienced when she walked out into the bright

spring sunshine on the arm of Nathan Price.

She’d been surprised, of course, the moment she’d noticed him in the exhibition hall, but not shocked that he stood among the other scientists. She’d half expected it, since she knew the man intimately and understood that he’d feel the need to relive, as it were, the night of the opening three years ago. But seeing him stride forward from the crowd after Professor Owen’s speech had sent a tingle of anticipation up her spine. Especially when he couldn’t take his eyes off her. What a most marvelously gratifying moment. And she immensely enjoyed the look to grace his solidly handsome face when he’d first noticed his lost jawbone and the sculpture she’d tirelessly produced to accompany it for this grand occasion.

Now, traversing silently along the curved pathway toward a small pond with a large spouting water fountain in its center, she felt a vibrant energy radiating from his body so close, sensed his strength that she’d missed for so long, and her mouth went dry with uncertainty as her heart began to beat fast in her breast from the possibilities of a profound moment to come. Nathan was here, beside her, and she would do whatever she deemed necessary to make everything right with him, even if it meant their short, sensual, intense love affair had finally and irreversibly come to an end.

Meandering through the growing crowd of gentlemen and ladies in elegant attire, Mimi avoided close contact with others by swaying against him on the stone path, as close as physically possible without appealing indecent, feeling the tightness of his muscles in his arms, the rigidity of his body. He smelled woodsy, wonderfully masculine, and never had she been so close to publicly attacking a man for the sake of sexual satisfaction as she was right now. The thought made her shiver, even in the stifling heat.

“Cold?” he asked formally.

She chuckled. “Of course not. The day is lovely.”

He said nothing to that, but directed her toward the edge of the fountain pond to sit upon the surrounding white marble. She did so, spreading her gown out properly, then nervously running her palms across her lap to smooth it.

He stood beside her for a moment, unconcerned that her skirt gently brushed his legs. He crossed his arms in front of him, squinting from the brightness of the day as he gazed out to the white cherub statues and birdbaths that lined the pond floor behind her.

She looked up at him for a moment, admiring the way his shirtfront tightened over his chest muscles, noticeable even beneath his dark

green morning suit, waiting for him to speak first, uncertain where his thoughts lay, but allowing him to set the mood. She was certainly anxious and he more than likely knew it, but with the sun on her back and the scent of flowers in the air, she could sit here for hours staring at him, if it took that long.

“The Megalosaurus sculpture is a masterpiece,” he said abruptly, pulling her from her lascivious thoughts.

She interlocked her fingers over her thighs, suppressing a wide grin of pleasure. “Thank you. I don’t know if I’d call it a masterpiece, exactly, though it did come together nicely, considering I had very little to work from by way of factual evidence and sufficient information about the creature.”

He nodded without looking at her. “Much of what you do is creative interpretation, I’m sure.”

“Oh, naturally,” she agreed. “But then dinosaur sculpting in itself isn’t much of a science.”

He frowned. “Some days I fear the same about paleontology.”

She laughed softly, but added nothing to that.

He shifted from one foot to the other. “Mimi, I have something to tell you.”

Her heart thundered in her breast, but outwardly she remained calm, composed, smiling gently. “Yes?”

He wiped a palm down his face, glancing away for a moment.

Stalling. Then suddenly he drew a deep breath and looked into her eyes for the first time since walking outside.

“I—love you.”

Oh,
God
, she’d been wanting to hear him say that to her for years, and she nearly started crying on the spot. Instead, she forced herself to remain centered, holding her emotions in check, clutching her hands together, to reply innocently, “Yes, I know.”

His head jerked back a little, brows drawing together in confusion, obviously unprepared for such a staid answer. But what did he expect?

That she would jump into his arms? Confess her undying devotion as well? Here by a public fountain and a mass of people? Men, in general, were so very odd.

He rubbed his palm along the back of his neck. “I suppose I’m not doing this well.”

“Oh, you’re doing just fine, Professor,” she replied at once, choking back tears.

He hesitated, eyeing her shrewdly, his gaze dropping ever so subtly

to her breasts and back again to her face.

She beamed inside, waiting.

“Oh, hell.” He turned and sat beside her, heavily, slumping forward and resting his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands in front of him.

“Your whole family knows I love you; I suppose it would be asking too much that you didn’t.”

She did laugh at that, wrapping an arm through his and pulling him close. “They’re guessing, Nathan. I’m the only one who knows for sure because I witnessed it in bed. And I’ve never actually told anyone but you.”

He sighed. “I guess I should have seen it there, too.”

“In bed? I think you did,” she countered. “And it scared you.”

She thought he might have smiled as the corner of his mouth lifted minutely.

“I don’t scare easily, madam.”

She thoroughly adored his defensiveness, but she wouldn’t tell him that. Instead, she huffed in feigned disgust. “Men are always scared of love.”

“This from a lady who’s never been in love?”

She had no idea where he got that notion, but she supposed the fact that she’d admitted to never truly loving Carter had made him assume as much. It occurred to her that men were also very one-sided thinkers.

But she’d keep that to herself as well.

“I’m in love with you, practical or not,” she said evenly. Growing somber, she lowered her voice to add, “I have been for a long time, Nathan.”

He remained silent for a minute or two, and Mimi could read the concern in his dark features, observed the crinkles to the side of his eyes that told of worries he held within.

“I know you’re troubled by the class difference between us,” she whispered, gazing down to her skirt and running her thumb and fingers over the gauzy material, feeling horribly awkward and embarrassed to be the one to mention it. “It’s immaterial, as far as I’m concerned.”

He actually chuckled at that, lifting his head to stare across the park, studying a group of children playing with a ball on the other side of the finely cut lawn.

“Mimi, that has never been a consideration of mine.”

She blinked, a little startled when her experience with Nathan Price told her otherwise. “I don’t understand,” she replied cautiously.

He turned to look into her eyes. “One of the most beautiful things about you, Mrs. Sinclair,” he declared in a deep, husky voice, “is that you are so passionately forgiving of one’s shortcomings. Even sometimes when you shouldn’t be.” He sat up a little, though he never dropped his gaze. “I know my station of birth matters little to you, but it matters to others who are close to you. In this way, any association with me beyond the casual could ultimately hurt you socially. That matters to me, and being in love with you is irrelevant.”

Mimi stared into his dark, mesmerizing eyes that she’d missed so much these last few weeks, hers filling with tears even as he spoke. She squeezed his arm fervently. “Nathan, none of that is important—”

“Of course it’s important,” he interrupted gently. “It may not be important to you, but it
is
important.”

She pulled her body erect, breathing in sharply with fortitude. “You are a professor of paleontology, a very distinguished gentleman in a very distinguished profession, sir.”

“Yes,” he retorted at once, “and everyone who cares about that will know how I got here and where I came from.”

That was true. Gossip spread like wildfire in the upper classes of society. Still she wouldn’t let it rest.

“But what ultimately matters?” she articulated slowly. “That we are happy together or that others show us social disfavor?”

He paused in thought, then said brusquely, “Your social life will probably change.”

She tightened her jaw with determination. “Good. My social life has been nearly nonexistent in recent years. I think I would welcome a change of any kind.”

He sat back even more, pivoting so that he looked directly at her, shaking his head at her tenacity. His eyes grazed every feature of her face, his expression softening, as he raised his arm and placed his thumb on her mouth. Lowering her lashes, she was suddenly filled with warmth and a far-reaching joy, and she kissed the tip of his finger, then rubbed her lips back and forth across the rough skin.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.

She sighed with closed eyes, marveling in the feel of him again, the sound of his deep, resonant voice. “Not as beautiful as the man I’ve always known you are, Nathan,” she returned with longing. “The man you are inside.”

She heard him suck in a breath, felt his thumb still its movement at her lips.

Seconds later she raised her lashes to gaze into his eyes only inches from hers, to witness the depth of every emotion he possessed boldly centered in them and in every remarkable line of his face. If she ever knew anything in her life, Mimi knew he loved her at this moment.

“I have something for you,” he whispered thickly after clearing his throat.

She pulled back a little, blinking to keep the tears from streaming down her cheeks and making her look ghastly in front of him. She didn’t need him running away in fright from her now.

He reached into his coat pocket, then carefully pulled out a small package, about two inches by two inches squared, wrapped in white paper and decorated with a tiny red ribbon tied into a bow. Her heart melted; her breath caught in her throat. Then her pulse began to race.

“A gift for you,” he said, holding it up with his fingers in offering.