11

Anna studied him. He didn’t seem all that cut up about his father’s quite recent death, which was puzzling. Perhaps they hadn’t got on. “That seems very…”

“Old-fashioned?” the Duke finished. “Yes. Remarkably so. My father was a very old-fashioned kind of man, not to mention vindictive. But that’s another story.”

It certainly sounded like a story. But not one she was interested in, sadly for him.

“What has this got to do with me marrying you?” Anna asked.

“My personal assistant found a note in my father’s papers signed by your father, promising a marriage between the Seventh Duke of Springbrook and your father’s daughter.” He gave her that predator’s smile again. “I am the Seventh Duke of Springbrook and you, I believe, are your father’s daughter.”

Anna smoothed her already smooth jeans then clasped her fidgeting hands in her lap. “Yes, but my father said it was a gentleman’s agreement. A handshake that they both then forgot about.”

“He certainly forgot about the note, yet that is indeed in existence.”

“You think I’m going to agree to marry you because of some note?”

“Of course not.” His eyes gleamed from beneath thick black lashes. “I’m not a fool, Anna,”

Heat rose in her face. She was letting him get to her again, wasn’t she? Glancing away, she found herself staring at the cup full of tea. She could smell its faint, slightly citrusy scent. It looked to be her favorite kind too, Earl Grey with a slice of lemon. “I’m not sure why you think I’m going to marry you based entirely on some long- forgotten agreement your father had with mine. It’s nonsense.”

His laugh was soft and deep and sexy, and she remembered that too. He’d laughed down by the lake and she’d been shocked by it, since she’d never heard such a warm sound. It shocked and transfixed her now.

“You’re right,” he said, as if he had no idea the effect his amusement had on her. “It is nonsense. But I can make it nonsense that is very much worth your while.”

“And how are you going to do that?”

The gleam in his eyes intensified. “With money, of course.”

“You mean you’ll pay me to marry you?”

“Exactly. It’s not a love match, obviously. I prefer to think of it as a business arrangement. You allow me to marry you and I pay you for the privilege of having your name on the marriage certificate.”

Loath as she was to admit it, there was a certain cool logic to the idea. And the calm, dispassionate way he talked about it, calling it a ‘business arrangement’, helped too. Perhaps there was merit in it. Her father would at last be able to get the help he needed and she would finally be able to go to university.

She met his gaze. “How much are we talking about here?” she asked.

“I take it you’re interested?”

“In the money, certainly.” A sudden suspicion gripped her. “But you knew that, didn’t you?”

He didn’t even blink. “Yes, I knew that. I did my research.”

She could feel herself flush again, but ignored it. “Give me a figure.”

He leaned back in his chair in a lazy movement. Giving every impression of being at his leisure, and yet his eyes gleamed hot. “How much? How does this sound?” And he named a price that stole her breath entirely away.

It was a lot of money. A lot of money. Enough for the expensive treatments her father had wanted. Enough for an entirely new house that would enable him to live more independently than he was doing now. And definitely more than enough for her live comfortably while she studied.

“You’re joking.” Her voice was breathless with shock.

He didn’t seem at all bothered. “Oh, I assure you I’m not.”

“But that kind of money? Purely to get married?”

“Yes, well, you remember I said that there were two stipulations?”

Anna's gut lurched. “And what is the other?”

He gazed at her steadily from beneath his lashes, that wicked smile playing around his beautiful mouth. “I must also have a son.”

Her eyes went wide, her mouth opening slightly.

Poor Anna. This was not at all what she’d been expecting, was it? Cedric didn’t move, keeping his posture relaxed. He would have to go carefully here, because yes, this would be shocking to her. And her instinct would be to refuse. Which meant he’d have to walk a very thin line.

She’d already revealed herself to be passionate and that she had a temper. And he could see, too, a certain stubbornness in the firm line of her jaw and the tilt of her chin. A woman who did not like being told what to do. And really, why should she?

If his research was correct, she’d spent the last nine years caring and providing for her father, which meant that, although she might be relatively young, she had a certain maturity. He could not simply fling some money at her and expect her to fall at his feet. Nor, he suspected, would simple charm work. At least, not to tempt her into motherhood.

He would need a more complex plan.

“So let me get this straight,” she said at last, her voice flat. “Not only do you want me to marry you, but you want me to have your child too.”

“Yes,” he said simply.

“That’s…madness.”

Cedric spread his hands. “What can I say? When I told you my father was old-fashioned, I meant it.”

“Why?” She was sitting bolt upright in the armchair, the tea he’d brought her untouched. He hadn’t really expected her to drink it, but he had seen her glance longingly at it, and he filed the information away for future reference. “Why on earth would he make those stipulations?”

“Because he was a vindictive old bastard? Who knows? But I assure you I went over that will with a fine-toothed comb. There are no loopholes.”

He could tell her about Vincent now, but what would be the point? She didn’t need to know.

She put her hands on the arm of the chair. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, but I am. Deadly serious.” He tilted his head, watching her. “However, I agree it’s a big ask. Hence the amount of money I’m willing to pay in recompense.”

“You can’t possibly think I’ll agree to it.”