“Absolutely not,” Alex said hotly, which wasn’t exactly convincing.
“You are.”
“Wipe that grin off your face. You look ridiculous. And we’re in public.”
But the man didn’t listen. “I assumed you had come to an agreement with Lucien,” he said. “But I never thought you’d have actualfeelingsfor him.”
She had approached Will with a similar arrangement before he confessed his love for Phoebe. Though she was terribly happy for the both of them, it had certainly complicated things for her.
“Idon’t. This is just a mutually advantageous business arrangement.”
“Is that what you’re calling it?” Alex shot him her darkest look and Will held up his hands in defeat. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
“You won’t say anything, will you?” Alex couldn’t hide the apprehension in her tone.
He sighed. “If Phoebe asks me directly, I won’t lie to her. But she seems convinced. At least for now.”
“Then I had better go fetch Lucien before he ruins everything.”
“Alex,” Will cautioned. “You’re sure about this?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
“Yes, but…” He hesitated. “Things can become complicated when matters of the heart are involved.”
“Haven’t you heard? I don’t have a heart,” she said with a laugh that Will didn’t return.
He stared at her for a moment. “We both know that isn’t true,” he murmured.
Will had been a student at Oxford at the same time as Alex. And thus he was the only one who knew about her past with Benjamin. The only one who had seen her at her rawest and most vulnerable. And though he had treated her with nothing but the kindness and compassion she had needed back then, Alex could not stomach being so unguarded in front of another person ever again. They had barely spoken about the business with Benjamin since. That he would allude to itnowwas infuriating.
“And there are other ways for you to gain influence,” he added offhandedly. As if she hadn’t triedevery other optionshe could think of before resorting to a fake suitor.
Alex lifted her chin as she simmered with barely leashed frustration. “What would you know about gaining influence? All you did was manage to be born with a set of genitals that for completely arbitrary reasons are prized above mine and then inherit one of the most powerful titles in the country thanks to nothing more thanfate.”
Will’s mouth dropped open, but before she could chastise him some more, Phoebe chose that moment to join them.
“What are you talking about?” she asked with a bright smile. Phoebe had been in a constant, cheerful mood since her engagement. At this moment it was highly irritating.
“Nothing,” Will replied just as Alex said, “Genitalia.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something that sounded awfully likeDear God, woman.
“Well, it’s true,” Alex insisted.
“Funny how your commitment to the truth fluctuateswildly,” he drawled.
Phoebe let out a long-suffering sigh. “Someone come and get me when you stop speaking in code.”
“No need,” Alex said crisply as she met Will’s eyes. “We’re done here.”
Then she turned on her heel and marched across the room to fetch Lucien. They had a show to put on.
Lucien’s fingers tightened around the cup of punch as he mindlessly answered Freddie’s questions about his time in Paris, while resisting the urge to glance back at Alex yet again. She was still deep in conversation with the duke and Lucien did not want to interrupt them.
When Freddie had first approached him, he was delighted. But the longer he stood talking with her, the more a strange restlessness began to take hold and the harder it was to remain focused. No doubt that was because he could practically feel Alex’s gaze boring into his back.
They did need to keep up appearances and she would likely have a few choice words for him when he finally managed to extricate himself from this conversation. But that wasn’t the source of his discontent.
