The man obediently slunk away and shut the door behind him.
“Now then,” Mr. Atkinson began conspiratorially. “Has Alexandra gone over everything with you?”
Lucien stared back at him, dumbstruck. Not once had it occurred to him that Alex would tell her father, well,everything. Then again, why wouldn’t she? After all, this arrangement involved their business. Maybe it had even been Mr. Atkinson’s idea in the first place. Regardless, Lucien rather wished Alex had mentioned this to him. And it didn’t seem fair that he was expected to lie to his own father while hers acted as a confidant.
“Of course I have,” she said impatiently, but Mr. Atkinson didn’t seem to notice.
“And you can agree to the terms?” he asked eagerly.
Lucien nodded just as Alex said, “Most of them.”
Mr. Atkinson raised an eyebrow at her.
“I have to change the language a bit,” she explained and shot Lucien a glance. “At Mr. Taylor’s request.”
“It’s very minor,” Lucien explained.
But Mr. Atkinson still looked apprehensive. “Good. Because Hank Jr. was in a fine snit at the party,” he explained, casting Lucien a look. “And I’d hate to go back on my word about your little courtship.”
Alex bowed her head. “Yes, Father.”
“That won’t be necessary, sir,” Lucien added. Something about the way he saidlittle courtshipniggled at him.
Mr. Atkinson stared at the both of them rather dubiously. “But remember, nothing I say will matter if you can’t convince other people.”
A muscle tensed in Alex’s jaw as she glanced at Lucien. “We know.”
Mr. Atkinson crossed his arms. “So, what have you planned?”
“We’re going to attend the LaSalle salon on Thursday.”
“And?” Mr. Atkinson prompted after an uncomfortable pause. “What else?”
Alex let out an irritated huff. “Nothing. People will see us together and hear that we are courting and in the meantime I can introduce Lucien to potential investors.”
“Oh, that’s very romantic,” Mr. Atkinson said, rolling his eyes.
“It is convenient,” she said tightly. “And I ambusy.”
Lucien bit back a grimace, suddenly feeling like an imposition on her valuable time.
“No,” her father drew out the word. “You are courting, remember? So you need to do something much sooner than Thursday. What about this afternoon?”
Alex balked. “I have work to do. Our meeting with Mr. Finch is at three and—”
“Oh, you don’t need to be there. I can handle Finch,” Mr. Atkinson said with a dismissive wave.
“But I wrote the brief and need to explain my changes,” Alex insisted.
Her father’s eyes softened. “My dear. I’m sure what you wrote up is brilliant as usual, but you know very well that he will accept whatever I suggest.”
The subtext being that Alex’s presence at the meeting was of little consequence. Lucien couldn’t help feeling a flicker of sympathy for her.
Alex’s body tensed but after a moment she relented with a single nod. “Fine. Just make sure you actually read it beforehand this time.”
“I will. I promise.” Then Mr. Atkinson turned to Lucien. “Are you free this afternoon?”
“Yes, sir.”
