Page 47 of Bad Luck Bride (Scandal at the Savoy #3)

D evlin’s meeting with Delia had gone well, better than he’d thought it would.

He had chosen to take her almost fully into his confidence, explaining that in light of Wilson and Pamela’s unexpected elopement, he had proposed to Kay.

He did not reveal what had precipitated Pam’s elopement, but he took full responsibility for the fact that during the past fourteen years, none of the things that had hurt Kay would ever have happened if not for him.

He wanted, he explained, to right the wrong done to her.

He also confessed that despite his efforts to get on with his own life, his love for Kay had never truly been extinguished, and though Kay had refused his proposal, he was not taking that answer as final.

He needed to win her over, he explained, and for that, he admitted freely, he needed help, especially since she wasn’t even speaking to him at the moment.

All he wanted was a chance to court her properly, but how, he’d asked, could he even begin, if she refused to speak to him?

Delia had listened, and at the end of his little speech, she had agreed to do what she could to help broker a truce.

But Kay had arrived before they could get down to specifics, and he’d been forced to make his exit, leaving him rather in limbo, until a few days later when a note from her arrived in the morning post.

Remember what I said the other day about opportunities? I may have one for you. Come to my office this afternoon at three o’clock. After that, it’s up to you.

—Delia

PS—given your quest, you may want to consider moving to this side of town. It’ll be easier.

“How intriguing,” he murmured. He couldn’t imagine what Delia had in mind, or how moving to the other side of London would help him, but he’d happily do whatever was necessary. Promptly at three o’clock, he was walking through the doors of the Mayfair Hotel.

When he arrived at Delia’s office, he stopped in surprise at the sight of a woman in the antechamber. She was putting file folders in a cabinet, and her back was to him, but there was no mistaking the rich, bright color of her hair. “Kay?”

She turned, and to his complete amazement, she actually laughed. “You look as if you’ve been struck by a lorry.”

“That’s rather how I feel,” he confessed. “What are you doing here?”

She nodded to the stack of manila folders in the crook of her arm. “Delia has hired me to be her secretary.”

“Secretary?” As he said the word, Devlin began to get a vague inkling of what Delia had in mind. “Well, you certainly look the part,” he added, glancing down over Kay’s plain white blouse, necktie, and blue serge skirt. “But I didn’t realize you knew anything about secretarial work.”

Her freckled nose wrinkled up ruefully. “I don’t, but I’ve signed on for a course in typing and shorthand so I can learn. In the meantime, it’s trial and error, I’m afraid. You don’t object, I hope?”

“Object?” he echoed in surprise. “Not at all. Why would I?”

“Well…” She paused and bit her lip. “I did refuse your proposal.”

“And you feared I’d be spiteful?” He shook his head, remembering the first time she’d come to confront him in his rooms at the Savoy and her assumption that he’d started the rumors about their elopement for revenge, and he grimaced. “You really do tend to think the worst of me, don’t you?”

“No, no, it isn’t that. I realize,” she added as he raised a skeptical eyebrow, “that I have tended to believe the worst about you in the past, but now—” She broke off, lifting her free hand to tug self-consciously at a loose tendril of hair at her neck.

“Now, I don’t know quite what to think, Devlin, honestly.

Every time I think I have you pegged, you do something wholly unexpected, and it forces me to think again. ”

He grinned, his hopes rising a bit. “That’s part of my charm.”

She didn’t smile back. “To answer your question,” she said earnestly, “I thought you might object to me working here because of the project Delia wants us to collaborate on.”

At that surprising bit of news, Devlin’s theory of just what opportunities Delia had been referring to seemed confirmed, and his hopes shot up another notch, but with an effort, he kept his face impassive. “Will we be collaborating on a project?” he asked.

“Well, yes. Didn’t Delia tell you anything?”

“Very little,” he replied truthfully. “But,” he added, feeling his way carefully, “I assume it’s why she’s asked me to come. So that she could give me the details.”

“That was her intention, but when she set the appointment with you, she forgot she already had one for the same time. Merrick’s Employment Agency.”

“Employment agency, eh? Is your position here only temporary, then?”

“No, no, it’s permanent. But the hotel is still short-staffed, and she’s gone to interview more applicants.

But as to what she wants you to do, Lord Calderon has asked her to take something on, and she doesn’t have time, so she’d like you to handle it for her.

To that end, she’s asked me to assist you. ”

Delia, Devlin appreciated, was a very clever woman. “I see.”

“That’s why I was worried you might object. I feared you might find working with me a bit… awkward. Under the… ahem…

circumstances. You see,” she rushed on, looking decidedly nervous, “I need this job.”

“Kay,” he said gently, “you don’t need to explain. I understand, and I don’t feel the least bit awkward about working with you. And even if I did, that would be my lookout, not yours. I’ve no intention of queering your pitch, I promise.”

She visibly relaxed, underscoring just how precarious her financial situation was. “Well, that’s good.”

“I confess, you’ve made me quite curious. Just what is this project we’re taking on?”

“I can give you all the details,” she said. “Just let me finish putting these files away.”

He glanced around as she resumed her task, noting that the packing crates were gone and the room was much tidier than it had been on his previous visit. “You seem to have put a great many things away already,” he commented.

“You have no idea. The past few days, I’ve felt as if I’m Hercules cleaning out the Augean stables. But I’m ever so grateful for the job. Especially since the Mayfair is providing a suite for me, my mother, and sister as part of my compensation. We couldn’t have afforded to stay on at the Savoy.”

So that was why Delia had suggested he move to the West End. More opportunities to see Kay and make his case. His hopes rose another notch, but he didn’t show it. “I see.”

“She said it’s often done.”

He wouldn’t have said often, and practically never for a secretary, but he wasn’t about to point that out. “Oh, yes, quite often.” He paused, then added diffidently, “In fact, I’ll be moving into the Mayfair as well. I’m bringing my things over in the morning.”

He was watching her as he spoke, and though her back was to him and he couldn’t see her face, he did notice that she froze for just a second before dropping another file into the drawer.

“After all,” he went on, “the only reason I was at the Savoy to begin with was that Pam was there. Now she’s gone, so it makes much more sense for me to stay here. So, I suppose it’s my turn to ask the question you asked me. You don’t object? If you do, then of course—”

“Not at all,” she cut in, shoving a file into place without turning around, the brisk, perfunctory tone of her voice telling him nothing. “As you say, it makes more sense for you to stay here. Why pay for your accommodations if you don’t have to?”

“It’s not the expense,” he rushed to reply, lest she think him cheeseparing. “It’s just that London traffic is beastly, and if I’m to help Delia, I’d prefer to be on the spot rather than all the way across town.”

“I understand, believe me. I’ve only been working here three days, but I’ve already come to appreciate how convenient it is to live where you work.”

Kay dropped the last file into the cabinet and shut the drawer, then moved behind the oak desk beside Delia’s door. She sat down, and when she gestured for him to take the chair opposite her across the desk, he couldn’t resist teasing her a bit.

“This is certainly a day of surprises,” he murmured, accepting the offered chair. “I never thought you’d even speak to me again, much less invite me to sit down, given the ruthless way you’ve treated me these past two weeks.”

“Ruthless?” She made a scoffing sound. “Oh, please.”

“Last time I saw you, you heartlessly refused to dance with me. The time before that, you slammed a door in my face. And then, when you didn’t send my flowers back straightaway, I was sure you intended to deprive them of water and let them wither to a depressing condition before returning them.”

She did smile at that, just a little. “I considered it, I admit. Not the withering part,” she added at once. “But I knew I ought to send them back. In light of the fact that I had refused you, returning them would have been the correct thing to do.”

He couldn’t resist pointing out the obvious. “And yet, you didn’t.”

“No. I—” She broke off and looked away. “It… it seemed a shame. I mean, you’d already spent the money, and it’s not as if the Savoy would take them back.”

“All very sensible reasons to keep them,” he said gravely.

She gave a sudden laugh. “You should have seen them. They filled up the entire suite. When Wilson saw them, he asked if someone had died.”

Devlin frowned at that. “Rycroft saw them?”

She nodded, her smile widening, as if she sensed his displeasure and was savoring it, the little devil.

“He called on me,” she said, “when he and Lady Pamela came back from Scotland, or wherever they’d spent their honeymoon after eloping.

The footmen had just delivered the flowers a few minutes before. ”

“What the hell did he come for?” Devlin demanded, his ire rising. “To gloat and rub your face in it?”