Page 94 of Road Trip With a Rogue
She didn’t say that out loud.
His brows rose. “When have I ever given the impression that I don’t value you? Or respect you? Or like you?”
She opened her mouth to give an example, but struggled to think of one. Despite being the most aggravating companion, he’d never made her feel as though he didn’t give weight to her thoughts, or considered her a lesser being.
“Perhaps you gleaned mydislike of you from the way I refused point-blank to make love with you?” he said drily. “The way I could barely stand to be in the same room as you. The way my cock didn’t even twitch in your vicinity.”
The heat in his eyes brought a flustered blush to her skin.
“Liking someone isn’t the same as desiring them physically,” she murmured. “You said it yourself. You don’t need to be friends to… fornicate.”
His lips quirked at her sudden modesty. “True. But don’t you think we might be friends now, after all our adventures?”
“We’re more like accomplices. Partners in crime. Besides, I don’t see why you’re so keen to marry me either.”
“I would have thought it’s obvious. Entertainment. If I marry you, I get someone to aggravate and torment on a daily basis.”
His teasing was ridiculous. “You have your family for that. And Finch. And all your servants.”
“It’s not the same. You’re far more amusing.”
He guided them into a sweeping turn that made her pulse race, then glanced back down at her, his eyes glowing with devilry.
“You seem to be under the false impression that I’m harboring a crushing sense of guilt. I’m not. I’m not noble. I’m selfish and lazy, which is precisely why I told Perry to elope: to make my life easier. Marrying you will mean I won’t have to go to all the bother of seducing other women or keeping a mistress. I’ll save a fortune in jewels and furs. Not to mention the relief of not having to worry about contracting the pox.”
“And you callmeromantic,” Daisy drawled. “I wonder if this is how Perry convinced Violet to run off with him? With such flowery words.”
He grinned at her sarcasm. “The day I model my behavior on Peregrine is the day I take one of my Mantons and shoot myself in the head.”
“Icould be expensive,” she threatened. “If I put my mind to it, I bet I could make a serious dent in your fortune.”
“You’re welcome to try, but for the record, I have anobsceneamount of money. And the beauty of compound interest means that it just keeps on multiplying. I bet I’ve made enough to buy you a whole new outfit, and a diamond choker, just while we’ve been having this conversation.”
Daisy rolled her eyes. Really, just because he was rich didn’t mean she should cave on her principles. Even if a tiny voice in the back of her head told her to think of all thegoodshe could do with his fortune at her disposal. She could set up all kinds of charities to help women in need, the ones who couldn’t afford to pay King & Co. to take care of their problems.
“If you’re worried that I’ll forbid you to work for King and Company, let me put your mind at rest,” he said. “I have no objection to it, provided you take reasonable precautions to keep yourself safe.”
Daisy raised her brows. “Becoming your duchess will make me a more visible target. Just look what happened at Gretna.”
“Notbecoming my duchess will severely limit your ability to continue doing your job. If you’re excluded from theton’sdrawing rooms, you’ll have to concentrate on the lower levels of society, which are generally in the more dangerous parts of town. You’ll definitely be safer as my wife.”
There was undeniable logic to that. Damn him.
The waltz ended in a triumphant chord and they swirled to a stop. He looked down at her, his expression inscrutable.
“So, what’s it to be? Shall I start telling people we’re engaged?”
What choice did she have? Marrying Vaughan was the only logical option, but every rebellious, self-protective part of her protested at having to agree when it was such a one-sided emotional commitment.
What was wrong with her? She was going to be his duchess, the envy of every woman in theton.She should be glad she’d been given this chance, grateful that she wouldn’t be ruined. But it felt like a hollow victory. He didn’treallywant to marry her. And making him fall in love with her suddenly felt like a gargantuan task, a feat far beyond her ability.
They were still standing in the middle of the dance floor, being watched by a hundred pairs of eyes. A lump formed in her throat, but she swallowed it down.
“Yes. Do it. Tell them we’re engaged.”
Something like triumph flared in his eyes, and he sent her that dazzling, arrogant smile she knew so well. “Would you like me to do it the boring way, or the scandalous way?”
“What do you mean?”