Duke Looks Like a Groomsman - Valerie Bowman Page 0,13
dismounted too and soon tied both horses to one of the fence posts. Then he turned to face Julianna.
Her green eyes flashed with a mixture of amusement and probably pride. “I’d say your forfeit should be telling me why you’ve decided to take up a new profession.”
Rhys pushed his long hair away from his face with his fingers. He clearly had two choices. He could lie to her or he could tell her the truth. Julianna was clever and shrewd. It would be waste of time to lie to her and try to get her to believe some silly tale about why he was pretending to be a groomsman. No, the most expedient way to get Julianna to help him would obviously be to explain to her what was in it for her.
“I need you to keep the secret,” he said. There. A lob across the bow. Just to see her reaction.
Her brow furrowed. “It’s a secret that you’re pretending to be a groomsman?”
“Well, not to everyone. The other groomsmen and the stablemaster all know.”
“What about the coachmen?” she asked with an irrepressible grin.
“All the servants are aware,” he clarified, placing his hands on his hips.
She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed him warily. “I cannot imagine Lord Clayton doesn’t know.”
“Of course, he knows,” Rhys replied, tilting his head to one side.
“Then who, precisely, are you trying to keep it from?” She put a pretty smile on her face and batted her dark eyelashes again.
“The guests,” Rhys announced.
“The guests?” Her eyebrows raised and her countenance dripped with skepticism. “Why the guests?”
He expelled a breath. “It’s complicated and it doesn’t matter. Let’s just say I’ll make it worth your while if you play along and don’t tell anyone who I am.”
“Worth my while?” She narrowed her eyes and took a step toward him. “I must admit. I cannot wait to hear what you think would be ‘worth my while.’”
Trying to appear as nonchalant as possible, he leaned back against a nearby tree. “Money, of course.”
She laughed out loud at that, her arms falling to her sides. “You’re offering to pay me for my silence?”
He shrugged one shoulder. “You’re refusing?”
She pulled the crop between her fingers. “I don’t know if I’m refusing or not. First, I’d like to hear why you’re pretending to be a groomsman, especially since the others in the stables already know who you are. Did you pay all of them as well?”
Rhys had to smile at that. “No, they are keeping the secret as a favor to their employer, Clayton.”
He pushed himself off the tree and grinned at her.
“Very well. Why exactly do you want the other guests to think you’re a groomsman?” she asked sweetly, lightly slapping the crop into her gloved palm.
Rhys paced in front of her. She had a way of making the whole thing sound even more ludicrous than it already was. “Does it truly matter?”
Julianna shrugged. “Perhaps not, but you’re requesting my help, so I feel as if I have the right to know.”
He braced a hand on the fence post. “How much do you want?” The words came out much more harshly than he’d meant them to.
She arched a brow. “How much are you willing to pay?”
“Don’t play coy, Julianna. It doesn’t suit you. How much money will it take for you to keep your silence? To pretend you never saw me? To act as if I’m just a groomsman named Mr. Worthy for the remainder of the house party?”
She moved back toward Alabaster and rubbed his flank. “You’re actually serious, aren’t you?”
Rhys tossed a hand in the air. “Of course, I’m serious.” Damn it. He was letting her spark his temper. He needed to take a deep breath.
She turned to look at him, eyes wide. “You truly believe you can pay me for my silence?”
“Is there something else you’d prefer to money?” he drawled, hands back on his hips. His patience was quickly growing short.
A sly smile curved her perfect lips. “Oh, yes, actually, there is.”
Chapter Six
At the dinner table that evening, Julianna sat between her mother and sister and could think of little else than her conversation with Worthington at the tree line that afternoon. If anyone had told her a sennight ago that she would have had the most insane discussion today with Rhys Sheffield of all people, she scarcely would have believed it.
But now she pushed the roasted goose around her plate, completely without appetite, unable to think about anything other than what the devil Worthington