Page 66 of How to Tempt an Earl

“It’s a simple mathematical error. If you had another person double-check your figures, you could minimize mistakes.”

He forced his gaze away from the creamy expanse of her neck and eyed her suspiciously. “How do you know all this?”

She turned away from the ledger to look up at him. “I’m not ignorant.”

“I never thought you were. But these figures are complicated. How?”

Her face closed, as if guarding a secret. She shrugged a shoulder, and her shift dipped a fraction of an inch lower. “I was always good with mathematics.”

“So are my croupiers, but they could not simply open my books and decipher the columns and rows so quickly. What else are you not telling me?”

“What makes you think I’m not being truthful?

“You make a horrid liar.”

“Unlike you?”

His jaw tightened. “I suppose I deserve that, but I still want to know. Most people would enter this room and select a book. You didn’t. You chose to study business ledgers and find mathematical mistakes. Why?”

She stirred uneasily in the leather chair, then let out a long breath. “I suppose there is no harm in telling you the truth now. I worked for a milliner.”

“In the shop?”

“No. A widowed proprietress who needed help with the books after her husband’s passing. I handled her accounting needs for months. She’d pay me for my work. I needed the income to run my father’s household. The baron’s creditors have grown less forgiving and more demanding over time.”

He stared at her with renewed interest, and heightened desire. He came home intending to seduce his wife, to make love to her and consummate their marriage, to ensure she couldn’t easily dismiss him. Instead, he’d discovered she was far more shrewd, intelligent, and perceptive than he’d ever imagined.

Nothing was going as planned.

He’d known about her financial troubles, of course. It’s what had first brought her to him. Selfishly, he was glad her difficulties had forced her to seek him out, and that they’d made their arrangement. But he’d never fathomed that she’d taken other action to help herself and her household.

She was a fighter, a survivor. And there was nothing Ian admired more than a survivor. They were similar in that regard. His father had turned his back on Ian. In essence, Grace’s father had done the same to her.

They’d both survived.

“You are disappointed.” Anxiety shone from the depths of her eyes.

Disappointed? Hardly. Her spirit and beauty were a drug, clouding his brain, stealing his logic.

“No. I’m fascinated.”

Her eyes rose to his. “Truly?”

“Yes, truly. You didn’t cry, throw hysterics, or lock yourself in your room. You didn’t roam London for the closest relative and impose yourself upon their good graces. You used your God-given talents to improve your situation on your own. I know men who aren’t as strong.”

Her beautiful blue eyes shone bright in the candlelight. She swallowed, and his gaze was drawn to the slender column of her throat. He wanted to kiss and lick the silky skin, tug her shift down, and suckle her magnificent breasts.

“You may not be fascinated when you hear what else I have to say about your other mistakes,” she said.

My mistakes.

He’d made many in his lifetime, but marrying Grace wasn’t one. He needed to show her.

She doesn’t want me in her bed.

He was more determined than ever to have her…to keep her. But how? He’d never forced a woman into his bed, and he wouldn’t start with his wife. He shifted his feet, forcing his gaze back to hers.

“I’m intrigued. Tell me,” he said.