“But we’re good at working together.” And if they focused on the expansion, he could woo her without the emotions she’d evoked on the edge of that damn cliff, the fear and the shame and the need to roll over in the grass and study her profile as she spoke, to pull her from the edge of the cliff and keep her safe.Too much at once. Impossible to control. Better to focus on what he knew, what he could control. This.
“We are.” But her voice held the drawn-out pauses of hesitation.
“Go ahead, sit.” Drew sat behind his desk, propped his elbows on the table, and steepled his fingers. He nodded toward the desk he’d arranged for her, encouraging her.
With slow steps, she did as he bade, and sat straight as a pin on the edge of her chair, her hands folded in her lap.
“First order of business”—he leaned back and tapped one finger on the polished oak surface—“is Tidsdale.”
She jerked. “Tidsdale?” Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Because he is staging a coup, attempting to outdo my agency with one of his own, poaching my most valuable employees. We need a plan of action. Tell me, did he contact you outside of the letter?”
She licked her lips, her gaze skittering away from his. “We walked in Hyde Park. Or… we would have. We never quite got there.”
A walk in Hyde Park. An interaction he’d known nothing about. He closed his eyes to calm his inexplicably rising rage. “Why did you never make it to your destination?”
“He proved a scoundrel. I cannot be sure if what he was telling me about his agency was true or false. He seemed to say things to provoke me.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I did not appreciate it.”
His anger abated a bit. “So you told him off and left him alone.”
“More or less.”
“Spectacular woman.” She startled and once more met his gaze, her dark eyes wide in disbelief. Why did she look as if he’d just plopped a pie in her face? “What else did you learn from him?” he asked.
She told him what the man had said, and none of it offered a clear path forward.
“He sounds devious.” Drew pulled his glasses off and tapped an earpiece on the desk.
“Yes, I would agree with that.”
“Yet, you would work for him?”
She shrugged. “Perhaps he needs someone to keep him honest. I could do that.”
“Orwecan simply beat him atourgame before he has the opportunity to hurt anyone. Now, then.” He whipped out a piece of paper and readied his pen. “Let’s write down ideas to do so.”
“You do realize you’re asking me to help you craft a victory strategy when I’ve not decided whether or not I’m remaining in your employ.” He grinned. “You devil.”
“Perhaps. Now,A-mel-i-a, go. Every idea you have. Tell it to me.”
“Hm.” She tapped her chin, and something like joy surged within him. She would not fight him but put her mind to helping. That was as good as a concession—she’d stay with him. But he wanted more than staying now. His victory was not complete. “I think procuring the London addresses we want is crucial to beating out Tidsdale. Those houses are elegant, and our tutors and governesses will enjoy being associated with them, staying in them when the need arises. That, coupled with the small percentage you take from their pay, will prove an irresistible draw.”
“Yes. But if Tidsdale was truly testing you, and he plans to take only a small percentage as well… The elegant address is not that much of an incentive.”
“Yes.” She bit her bottom lip. “There is, of course, your family name. He is not a lord, and you are.”
“His family is wealthier, and he has never sullied his hands with work. I have.”
She drummed her fingers on the tabletop. “I know we can solve this problem.”
He’dwon. He’d won because she was not fighting this. She’d sat at her desk and let herself get carried away with the very telling activity of putting Mr. Tidsdale out of business.
“Why are you grinning like a fool? Or like one of your brothers on their wedding days?”
He snapped his smile into nothing. “I’m not.”
“You were. I saw it myself.” She sighed. “Only work ever makes you smile.”
