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But he didn’t even acknowledge that she spoke. Not that she should be surprised. Unless it somehow could benefit him or she forced him to hear, he rarely paid her even the slightest mind.

He dragged Amber across the room, artfully weaving between small clusters of people with the grace and elegance of a cow meandering through a pasture, until she was in front of a man she’d only had the misfortune of personally interacting with once before, and who, once she realized Simon’s plan, she had hoped to manage to never see again.

Amber once again found herself cursing her consistently terrible luck. Only that wasn’t quite true. She only began having terrible luck after Simon had forced his way into her life.

The man was short with large dark eyes that she’d felt staring at her from across the room ever since the first time she had the displeasure of meeting him.

“Amber,” Simon said in a sharp tone, “this is the man I told you about, the Viscount Gillion, Thomas Jones.”

She glanced at Simon, heart pounding in her chest. “I see. How nice to meet you, but I should get to the dining room. Dinner is about to be served.”

Simon laughed. “You don’t need to run off just for that. I arranged for the two of you to sit next to each other. I will meet you both in there.”

He walked away but not before shooting Amber one last look to make his expectations clear.

Lord Gillion leered, offering his arm. “Come now, darling Amber. I’ll escort you to our seats.”

She took a shaky breath; she had little choice but to accept, taking his arm. He led her to the dining hall where, sure enough, they were seated next to each other.

Amber took a deep breath.It was one meal. How bad could it be?

Then he started talking. All Lord Gillion seemed to be able to talk about was how much money he had and the size of his estate.

As they ate, Amber found her eyes scanning over the other guests at the table. It didn’t take her long to find where Christopher was seated. He was on the other side of the table, a few seats down. He was besides his sister, and as far as Amber could tell, she was the only one whom he had spoken to.

Every time she glanced over, she found herself realizing just how handsome Christopher actually was. His dark, wavy hair framed his face in a most becoming way. Intelligent hazel eyes sparkled out from his face. He always looked like he knew something no one else did.

Amber couldn’t help but wonder what it might be.

The more she stared, the more her thoughts started to drift. Was he truly the best candidate for the job?

On the one hand, he hardly seemed like the most pleasant man; on the other, she knew it would be smart to start getting to know him, if only to make her play easier.

And on a third disembodied hand, now, she was stuck sitting next to who was easily the most unpleasant man she’d ever been forced to endure in her life.

Lord Gillion

“Are you listening, Amber?” he whined.

“Of course,” she lied. “Why would you think I wasn’t?”

“Because you weren’t even looking at me. You were just vacantly staring into space.”

“I have a bit of a headache,”from listening to you talk.

“You poor thing,” he cooed in a patronizing voice. “Perhaps you should go lay down after dinner.”

“Yes, I think I will.”

Through the rest of the meal, she had a bit of an excuse not to listen to him too closely. She couldn’t help but steal glances down at Christoper. He was rather handsome, she thought to herself.

Amber shook her head. What was she thinking? It didn’t matter what he looked like. This was purely a practical decision.

She couldn’t let herself forget that.

She couldn’t risk the consequences if this failed.

“Amber,” the man beside her frowned, “I understand you aren’t feeling well, but that is no excuse to be a poor conversation partner.”