Page 17 of The Trouble with Tweed

Claire frowned. “We never weren’t speaking.”

“My mistake.” Her sister blinked. “I thought he’d done something to upset you.”

“No.” She didn’t like lying to her sister, but it was far preferable to admitting the truth.

“I thought he’d hurt your feelings,” she pressed.

“How would he have the power to do that?” Claire laughed, but it rang hollow even to her own ears. She rose gracefully from the picnic blanket and adjusted her parasol. “We will stay in view,” she said, signaling to her maid, Mara, that she need not follow.

William gave his acquiescence, and nobody so much as arched an eyebrow in interest, except for Dahlia. Claire heard her murmur something to William, but she was already walking briskly down the garden path toward Michael.

“Good morning, Miss Preston.” Before she could react, Michael plucked her hand from her side and knelt over it, depositing a lingering kiss on the knuckles. “You look very lovely this morning.”

“What on earth are you doing?” Claire tried to yank her fingers from his, but he held fast. She only succeeded in pulling herself closer to him; they stood chest to chest.

“I’m courting you, am I not? I thought that was the point of this game.”

“There’s hardly anyone about,” she said, flustered.

“All the more reason to pretend.”

Though she knew Michael was only doing as she’d asked, Claire could feel her face flush. She’d never stood so close to a man before, certainly never been looked at in this way by one. If Michael saw her embarrassment, he ignored it. He deftly tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and walked slowly down the pathway.

“It’s not even the beginning of the Season yet,” she protested, out of habit more than anything else. Claire was not used to losing arguments; on principle, she felt she should continue until she had the upper hand.

“Not even married yet, and I’m being henpecked. It’s hardly fair. A fellow ought to have all of the pros if he’s going to have the cons,” Michael said.

“What on earth are you blathering about?”

“Only that you make it difficult to even pretend to court you when you’re frowning up at me in such a way.” Here he tipped his hat to Lord and Lady Worthington. “Though perhaps it’s all the more believable,” he said once they’d passed. “If you were simpering, no one would ever believe it.”

Claire resisted the urge to yank her hand from his arm and swat at him. He was telling the truth—people were watching, no matter how subtly they were doing so. She settled for pinching the crook of his elbow. She was rewarded with a low chuckle that heated her cheeks even further.

“Why, Miss Preston, that’s not at all appropriate.”

Michael was right, and she was flustered. Claire tried to bring her focus back to the task at hand.

“I apologize,” she finally said.

“Why on earth would you apologize?”

“For pinching you.”

“I never said I didn’t like it.” Michael smiled down at her. “Besides, if we’re to present a convincing charade, you should behave as you normally would. Knowing you as well as I do, I feel very safe in asserting that no gentleman would escape a courtship with you without getting pinched at least once for his impertinence.”

Claire sighed deeply. They’d gotten off to a terrible start today—she was completely befuddled. She took a deep breath to collect herself.

Before she could regroup he said, “I’ve been giving this much thought.”

“Oh?”

The seriousness of his words gave her pause. For some reason, Claire thought she was the only one thinking about the plan. She was the one who had coerced him into this arrangement, not the other way around. If Michael had been thinking about their charade, Claire thought he might have been trying to figure out how to get out of it.

“Indeed,” he said. “And I think that much of the success of this endeavor depends upon you.”

“Well, of course. It was my plan, after all.” Claire felt the need to point that out, as he was suddenly counseling her on how they should go about it.

“In order for this to succeed, I have to pretend to be fascinated by you. And, at the very least, you have to act as if you’re interested in me. No man will feel threatened by our courtship—and therefore be more inclined to make an offer to you—unless he believes you’re truly considering my romantic overtures.”