Emma froze.
"A duke duke?" Kenny said.
"The Duke of Beddington!" Shelby chirped. "He"s in the living room! Warren calls him Hugh." She dropped her voice to something approaching a stage whisper. "Apparently they"ve known each other for years-the duke"s been an investor in the company since the early eighties-but this is the first time they"ve met. Go on in and introduce yourself. I have to get another tray of hors d"oeuvres. He has quite an appet.i.te."
Emma felt as if she"d been turned upside down. First realizing she was in love with Kenny, and now this. She"d known that Hugh had made a fortune through investments in high-technology companies, but there were so many. How could she have known that TCS would be one of them? And she was going home tomorrow. Why had he decided to come all this way to see her now?
Kenny clasped Emma"s arm. "You"re going back to the ranch. You don"t have to put up with this."
His protectiveness comforted her. How tempting it would be to go along with him, but she knew she couldn"t. She gave him a shaky smile. "Thank you, but I"ll take care of it."
Gathering her determination, she headed for the living room.
"Emma, my dear." The chair creaked as Hugh got to his feet. He was impeccably dressed in a dark gray three-piece suit designed to minimize his stout figure. His thinning auburn hair was combed neatly back from his round face, and his s.h.a.ggy eyebrows topped a pair of small, pale eyes. The air around him reeked of expensive cologne.
Behind her, she heard Kenny whisper, "Sonovab.i.t.c.h is a dead ringer for frigging Henry the-"
She quickly moved forward. "I"m stunned, Your Grace. What on earth are you doing in Texas?"
Hugh"s fleshy fingers clamped around her own. "Wanted to surprise you. I have to be in the States on business for the next few weeks, so I wasn"t going to be able to see you when you got back. And your descriptions of Texas have been so tantalizing, I wanted to visit the place for myself."
It was a blatant lie. He was the least curious traveler she knew. He had come all this way to make certain she was still under his thumb.
She couldn"t imagine why he cared. There were thousands of women in England who were prettier than she, and a lot more willing. With his t.i.tle and his money, he could have his pick. Why had he locked in on her?
Sonovab.i.t.c.h! Kenny watched Hugh Holroyd"s eyes settle on Emma"s mouth, and he understood exactly why the Duke of Beddington was so obsessed with St. Gert"s headmistress. The h.o.r.n.y b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Kenny watched Hugh Holroyd"s eyes settle on Emma"s mouth, and he understood exactly why the Duke of Beddington was so obsessed with St. Gert"s headmistress. The h.o.r.n.y b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
Kenny"s fingers clenched at his side. Emma was so naive she thought all Holroyd cared about was her t.i.tle and her respectability, but Kenny was willing to bet the ranch it was her curvy body that had turned the duke into an upper cla.s.s stalker. Hugh"d been having visions of Lady E"s s.e.xy little mouth doing to him exactly what it had been doing to Kenny.
Which wasn"t ever going to happen. Kenny still hadn"t adjusted to Emma"s startling revelation in the kitchen. It wouldn"t have been so surprising coming from another woman-he was used to fending off declarations of love-but Lady E was extremely smart about people, so how had she managed to convince herself she"d fallen in love with him?
He reminded himself that, for all her big talk, she was pretty much a prude. For her own peace of mind, she probably needed to convince herself that she was engaged in something more important than recreational s.e.x. She had to believe she"d fallen in love. But it wasn"t true, and he needed to explain that to her.
The idea depressed him, but he didn"t have time to think about it because his father was speaking in that overly jovial manner he reserved for major investors. "Hugh, I"d like you to meet my son, Kenny. Hugh"s had an open invitation to visit for years, Kenny. I"m just glad he finally took me up on it."
"Ah, yes." Hugh had a handshake like a wet golf towel. "Pleasure, indeed, Ken. Can"t tell you how grateful I am that you"ve taken such good care of my Emma."
Kenny"s jaw tightened. "No problem."
Torie stepped forward, and the protective way she looped her arm through Kenny"s indicated she could read her brother"s mind. "Hey, bubba. Hugh here"s a golfer, and I was just tellin" him about my round at the club this morning. If I hadn"t missed a four-footer, I"d have shot a seventy-nine."
Hugh gave her a patronizing smile. "Yes, well, I suggested to your sister that she might be moving her head when she"s putting. I"ve been known to miss a few short ones on the links myself. Not often, you understand. Although I"m not in your league, Ken, I"ve made my share of pars."
"Is that so."
Shelby hurried back into the room with Peter propped on one hip and a tray of hors d"oeuvres in her opposite hand. The baby"s cheek was creased, and he rubbed one eye with his fist. "Sorry I was gone so long. Peter just woke up."
Hugh stared at the baby as if Shelby had brought a rattlesnake into their midst, but Shelby didn"t seem to notice. "Peter"s nine months old and the apple of his daddy"s eye."
Warren smiled. "There"s something to be said for having a second family, Hugh. You get a chance to correct old mistakes."
Kenny recoiled from the faintly wistful note he heard in his father"s voice. "Let me take Petie from you, Shelby, while you give Hugh some more of those hors d"oeuvres."
Hugh bristled with displeasure over the lack of formal address, but Kenny pretended not to notice.
Shelby pa.s.sed over the baby and headed toward Beddington. "You have to try Luisa"s stuffed mushrooms, Your Grace. They"re delicious. And have some cheese straws. They"re from a Martha Stewart recipe, but I overlook that." Hugh was soon resettled in a wing chair with a napkin full of hors d"oeuvres positioned neatly across his vast lap and a suspicious eye on Peter, who was rubbing his nose across the Cadillac logo on Kenny"s shirtfront.
"You know what I"ve been thinking?" Torie"s eyes gleamed with mischief. "We need to show Hugh some Texas nightlife. I was planning to meet Dex at the Roustabout later. Why don"t we all go and take Hugh along? You ever tried line dancing, Hugh?"
He frowned at Torie"s familiarity. "Emma and I have some catching up to do, so the two of us are going to have a quiet dinner at the hotel. Emma, it will be more convenient for me if you"re staying there, too, so I had my secretary book a room for you. On a separate floor, of course."
Kenny opened his mouth to tell Hugh what he could do with his room, only to have Shelby interrupt.
"No way, Your Grace. Warren and I couldn"t stand having you stay at that drafty old hotel. Luisa"s getting a room all ready for you upstairs. You"ll have your own bathroom and a pretty balcony."
Shelby enjoyed acting like a birdbrain, but she was sharp as a tack, and Kenny tried to figure out what was going on. Was she trying to help him out by keeping Hugh away from Emma, or did she only care about having bragging rights to housing an English duke?
The last of the hors d"oeuvres disappeared into Hugh"s mouth. He blotted the corners with the napkin. "Awfully nice of you, but I really don"t believe-"
"n.o.body wants to admit it," Warren said, "but the hotel"s been having a problem with c.o.c.kroaches."
It was the first Kenny"d heard about it, and he studied his father more closely. What exactly did they have up their sleeves? It only took a moment for him to figure it out. His father wanted to keep Hugh nearby so he could leverage more money out of him and maybe put off the merger.
"c.o.c.kroaches? Oh, dear ..."
Petie made a soft, m.u.f.fled noise, and Kenny remembered that he"d just gotten up from his nap. He quickly moved forward. "You didn"t get a good look at my baby brother, and I know from Emma how fond you British are of children. Here."
He gently, but purposefully, set Peter in Hugh"s lap. Hugh stiffened. Peter looked up at him and crumpled his forehead.
Kenny shot him a pointed look. Just do your thing, little bro. Just do your thing, little bro.
The baby settled, but he didn"t look happy about it. Hugh looked even more unhappy. "See here ..."
"Emma said you had some kids of your own." Kenny gave him a genial smile while keeping an eye on Petie, who was gradually getting red in the face. "Two little girls, isn"t it?"
"Uh ... yes ... they"re at school now."
Petie grunted.
"At school?" Kenny said. "They don"t have a vacation like Emma?"
Petie"s grunting grew louder and his face redder. Shelby was distracted by the maid coming into the room and didn"t notice, but Warren saw what was going on, and, to Kenny"s surprise, he didn"t say a word.
"Well, yes, but I"m quite busy, and it"s better for them to stay at their school. First-rate place. Not like St. Gertrude"s. Not that there"s anything wrong with St. Gert"s-Emma"s done an outstanding job there-but some of the girls aren"t quite the thing. We have an active scholarship program, if you understand my meaning."
Oh, he understood plenty.
"Our scholarship students are our hardest workers," Emma said firmly.
The room began to fill with the smell of a loaded diaper.
Way to go, bro. Kenny gave Petie a proud smile. The little boy was as regular as clockwork. Kenny gave Petie a proud smile. The little boy was as regular as clockwork.
Hugh wrinkled his nose and tried to shift Peter farther away from him.
"Now, how many scholarship students do you have there?" Kenny inquired politely.
"I-uh-" Hugh moved Petie to the very end of his knee. The baby, Kenny noted, was beginning to squirm, but he still looked real pleased with himself.
"We take in fifteen each year," Emma said.
"Well, now, isn"t that something. Tell me, Hugh, what"s it like being responsible for so many bright young people?"
Petie had dropped a good one, and the duke"s ruddy color began to pale. But he was too full of himself to mention what was, after all, a perfectly natural occurrence. "One must do one"s duty."
"You sure are right about that." Kenny began a long, cornpone monologue on the values of education and the joys of philanthropy. Everything was going just the way he wanted until Shelby finished talking to the maid and caught a whiff.
"Peter Traveler, what did you do, you little scamp?" Laughing, she swept up the baby. "We"ll be back in a few minutes. Kenny, Emma, there"s plenty of food, so the two of you stay for dinner, and afterward we"ll head over to the Roustabout and show His Grace just what Texas is all about."
Hugh looked as if he"d rather eat worms.
Torie beamed at him. "What a great idea. I can"t hardly wait to teach you the two-step, Hugh. I"ll even let you wear my Stetson."
Kenny promised himself right then that he"d buy his sister a whole truckload of emu feed whether she wanted it or not.
All through dinner, Kenny kept waiting for Emma to start cuddling up next to him and calling him lover lover, but, instead, she treated him as little more than a casual acquaintance. Unbelievable! When they hadn"t been having s.e.x, she wanted everybody to think they were. But now that they were, she didn"t want anybody to know about it.
He tried to get annoyed, but what he felt instead was this crazy kind of warmth. There"d been a lot of women who"d exploited him over the years, but Emma sure wasn"t one of them.
He remembered what she"d said down by the river, about not wanting to tell Hugh that she and Kenny were lovers. I want this to be private. Just between us. I want this to be private. Just between us.
Still, she had to know that the only way she was ever going to get rid of the pompous b.a.s.t.a.r.d was to let him know she"d found herself a lover, and Kenny didn"t really mind. But in the meantime it was nice watching her try to stick to her principles. Nice to know that she thought she loved him, even though he knew she was just confused.
The Roustabout was busier than normal that night, and as they led the duke inside, he looked as if he"d just stepped into the contents of Petie"s diaper. Shelby chatted away with him as Torie led them all to a large table in the back. They"d no sooner gotten there than Emma excused herself and made a beeline for Ted Beaudine, who was sitting at the bar reading Plato"s The Last Days of Socrates The Last Days of Socrates and sipping a big mug of something that looked suspiciously liked Mountain Dew. and sipping a big mug of something that looked suspiciously liked Mountain Dew.
Kenny watched as she talked to him earnestly. Ted immediately accompanied her to the dance floor, then snuggled right up as she led them into the steps of a cozy little ballad. Kenny had a pretty good idea where this was headed, and he wasn"t surprised when Ted"s hand began to ease toward Emma"s bottom.
Ted shot him a slow grin over the top of her head. What am I supposed to do? She"s forcing me. What am I supposed to do? She"s forcing me. Kenny glowered and made a silent vow to whip the kid"s a.s.s good the next time he got him on the course. Kenny glowered and made a silent vow to whip the kid"s a.s.s good the next time he got him on the course.
Hugh was talking to Warren, so he wasn"t watching the dances, but Torie and Shelby were. They exchanged glances; then, in what was obviously a misguided attempt to protect Lady E"s reputation, Torie shot up and insisted Hugh trade seats with her right that minute, so he could have a better view of the bar, as if that were some big privilege. She managed to reposition him with his back to the dance floor so he couldn"t see Emma flirting with Ted. Poor Lady E. Try as she might, she couldn"t seem to ruin her reputation.
And it all went downhill for her from there. Hugh was so busy being condescending, he didn"t notice the way Emma held Ted"s hand as she brought him over to the table for introductions, nor did he seem to find anything wrong with her ordering tequila shooters. Kenny was the only one who noticed her turning green around the gills after the first two. She ordered the third, then the fourth. But before she could drink it, she made a quick exit to the ladies" room.
When she returned ten minutes later, she was pale, but no longer green, so he knew where the shooters had ended up. He gave her hand a comforting squeeze under the table and wished he could help her out, but this was something she had to do for herself. He simply didn"t have it inside him to ruin her reputation.
The evening dragged on. After a few shots of the Roustabout"s best single-malt scotch, Hugh treated them to such a detailed description of his family lineage that even Shelby grew bored.
And then Sturgis and his film crew arrived.
Sturgis had mentioned he"d be hanging around until tomorrow so he could shoot some local color, and that obviously included getting footage of Kenny loafing around the Roustabout while Tiger rested up for the final round of the Masters tomorrow. Kenny"s anger simmered as he watched Sturgis move around the room to conduct a series of interviews with Kenny"s old school chums, who were dredging up every story they could recall about what a little p.r.i.c.k he"d been. Sturgis had already nearly ruined his reputation with the golfing public, and his friends were going to finish him off.
Hugh kept trying to get Emma alone, but Torie wouldn"t let that happen, and Kenny knew his sister had taken as big a dislike to the Englishman as he had. Out of desperation, Hugh asked Emma to dance, but Torie shot up and said Emma didn"t know squat about dancing, and Torie herself was going to show Hugh how it was done.
Club soda seemed to have helped settle Emma"s stomach, and before long she decided to take another stab at upsetting Hugh by talking to Torie and Shelby about how wonderful Ted was. Didn"t they think he was the best-looking young man they"d ever seen, and didn"t his jeans look good on him, and that kind of stuff, all of which went right over Hugh"s puffed-up head.
Then Dex appeared, and Kenny went on full alert. It was one thing for Emma to flirt with Ted, but there was no way in h.e.l.l he was going to sit here and watch her try it with Dex.
To his surprise, Torie intervened again. Before Emma could make a single move, Torie forced Dex to the dance floor. As Kenny watched her cuddle up to him, acting for all the world as if she enjoyed having a man she detested as her dance partner, he realized how much he owed his sister. They returned to the table, and she kept Dex so occupied with conversation that, if he hadn"t known she was just trying to keep him away from Emma, he would almost have thought she was enjoying his company. Kenny gave him a dirty look that sent a real strong message-Warren Traveler might have turned his back on his daughter, but her big brother was still on the job.
Lady E started looking so depressed he couldn"t stand it any longer, and he stood up. "Come on, sweetheart. Let"s dance." He emphasized the endearment and made sure his voice was loud enough to penetrate even the duke"s self-absorption.
His Royal Pain in the a.s.s frowned.
Kenny felt Emma"s resistance as he pulled her from her chair. She was still holding firm to her principles. What was happening between them was to remain private. "I don"t-That is ..." An edge of desperation crept into her voice. "Ted, are you sure it won"t upset you if I dance with Kenny?"
Kenny gave the little punk a glare that promised the b.a.l.l.s he"d be missing come next week wouldn"t have t.i.tleist stamped on them if he opened his mouth. Ted got the message and shrugged. Kenny pulled Emma to the dance floor and, ignoring the news team that was probably going to film them, slammed her right against his chest. "Shut your mouth and put both arms around my neck. Let"s get this over with."
She drew herself as far away from him as she could manage and looked up with desperate eyes. Seeing his tough, feisty little head mistress falling apart just about broke his heart. "I"m trying to help you out," he said softly.
"I can"t do it, Kenny. I just can"t. He"s tarnishing every other part of my life, and I won"t let him tarnish this." She drew a deep, shaky breath. "I-I have another plan."
It was as clear to him as the nose on her face that she didn"t have a plan at all, but was still hoping she could come up with one.
"The guy"s a jerk, honey. Just tell him so, and you"re off the hook."
"You"ve met him. You can see how huge his ego is. He has to be the one to break it off, or he"ll get even with me. And we both know how he"s going to do that."
If Kenny heard one more word about that d.a.m.ned school, he was going to break something.
She started working away at her bottom lip, scheming to beat the band. "When we get ready to leave, I"m going to give Ted a pa.s.sionate kiss. He already said it was all right."
"I"ll just bet he did."
"Then, as soon as I get Hugh alone, I"m going to tell him how Ted and I"ve fallen in love."
"No, you"re not."
She regarded him with pleading eyes. "Please, Kenny, don"t make a fuss. There isn"t any other way. I"ll make it up to Ted."
Ted? She was going to make it up to She was going to make it up to Ted Ted?
She gave him one of those dead-on looks that she did better than anybody else. "I"m not telling Hugh about us. I know that was my original plan, but ... what happened is too special." She shot him a challenging look, as if he couldn"t get an A in her cla.s.s unless he read a dozen books before the end of the week. "At least it is to me."
Something happened inside him. Something crazy. A need to laugh. A warm sensation. But then he started to feel as if he were itching all over and only jumping in the middle of a cold lake would make it stop.
She sighed and pulled away from him. He knew he"d disappointed her by not telling her it had been special for him, too. So special he didn"t want to talk about it. As he followed her back to the table, he felt crummy-mad at himself and her, both at the same time.