Taming London (Warwick Dragons #1) - Milly Taiden Page 0,6

have to be his date for the event. I wouldn’t have him bring his flavor of the week to this dignified event and ruin all of our—your hard work.”

Bethany felt her cheeks heat. “Are you basically asking me to be your son’s date to a benefit I am planning in your family’s name?”

Johanna’s smile was small, but it was full of mischief. “Yes,” was the graceful answer with a head nod.

“But,” Bethany shook her head. “Surely, you know what that will look like. It’ll look like I’m dating him. And quite seriously, too, if I’m made to plan the event.”

“Precisely. It will help me find him an appropriate match in the meantime.”

Bethany licked her lips. “So you want me to make-believe date your son so that he can be a more respectable prospect for his future wife?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

All the air was out of the room, and Bethany’s vision was blurring. It was an impossible task. She knew she should say no right then and there. There was no way London Warwick would be okay with this plan. Bethany looked nothing like the women he seemed to gravitate toward. Who would even believe he could fall for the likes of her?

“I’ll pay you, of course. I am coming to you as a friend, but I also value your expertise. I’ll double your regular fee, and also cover all expenses.”

That was hardly necessary. Bethany wasn’t exactly hurting for cash, but whatever inheritance she would have had from her mother’s death was locked in a trust that she shared with her stepfather. Living in the city of London was expensive. She still needed to share a flat. Rent was exorbitant in central London. It would have been nothing for Leonard Humphreys to pay for the rent, but that was too much to ask, and Bethany knew that. She also knew that there was no way she was ever living with her stepdad again.

She had been at his side when the police investigated her mother’s suspicious death, but she hadn’t been so sure of his innocence.

Especially not when he had married Lucille St. Louis three months after her mother’s funeral.

“Dear?” Johanna asked, pulling Bethany from her thoughts. “Are you all right?”

Bethany plastered a smile on her face. “Yes, of course. Sorry, Johanna. This is a lot to ask of me… I’m not sure I’m the right fit for this kind of endeavor.”

“Of course you are, Bethany.” Johanna squeezed her hand. “I have every faith in you.”

Bethany gulped and inhaled deeply. “I’ll try my best.”

“Then we are sure to win.”

Bethany didn’t know why Johanna had chosen those particular words, but there was nothing to win.

Was there?

She had the distinct impression that she had stepped into something much bigger than she could anticipate. What had she gotten herself into?

Chapter Four

Bethany

Bethany was laying it on thick, and she knew it.

She had picked her outfit with a lot of thought. Thankfully, her best friend and flat mate, Eugenie, had been there to help Bethany rein in her absolute terror. They had settled on a high-waisted black pencil skirt, paired with a soft pink silk blouse and matching high heels. Her stockings matched her skin tone, but they were definitely tied to garters.

Eugenie had insisted.

Bethany had pissed and moaned about it.

There was no way London Warwick was going to see her scandalous undergarments. But Eugenie had insisted that the sexy lingerie was going to give Bethany all of the confidence she needed to go up against the man she had secretly been crushing on for years. It was why she had also been adamant that Bethany wear a particularly shocking lipstick color. It drew the eye to her mouth, and she wasn’t sure she was entirely comfortable. Especially not when she was being stared at by every other man on the tube. There was no way she was wasting the cash on her Oyster card.

“I’m here to see Mr. London Warwick,” she said to the security guard in the lobby of a rather luxurious building.

The security guard, a young man who couldn’t have been more than twenty, gave her a slow once over that made her skin itch. Did he have to leer? For one terrifying second, Bethany was concerned that the man could see her underwear. That wasn’t it, of course. He was just a creepy creep creeping. She rolled her eyes at the silliness of men and stood her ground. She was Bethany Russo. She was here on the job, and she wasn’t going to let