“I had a thousand things to do tonight,” Theodora whispered as she smiled at the footmen still lining the sides of the dining room. The six servants were waiting for everyone to retire to another room so they could clear the dishes from the formal dinner she’d just shared with her faux betrothed.

“Work can wait long enough for us to share a meal, surely,” Quinn murmured, as he strode along at her side.

She glanced at him, and then toward Lady Templeton. “That is, word for word, exactly what she said to me earlier.”

Quinn smiled quickly. “Did you never dine with Daniel when you were engaged?”

“Of course I did.”

“Then this is no different,” Quinn promised as he linked their arms together.

He was probably right, but being suddenly engaged today, and being paraded about the house on Quinn’s arm like this, made her acutely conscious of her shortcomings. Her hair had been hurriedly redressed for dinner because she hadn’t noticed the late hour, and the only gowns she had to wear were dark and rather dreary creations. Dining formally amid the splendor of Lord Rutherford’s dining room had made her rather uncomfortable. She was in mourning and, given this engagement wasn’t real, it was difficult to feel anything but an imposter.

“Lord Templeton, might I have a word in private,” her mother asked him suddenly.

“Of course,” he said, a slightly worried expression dawning on his face.

“It won’t take long. Perhaps we could go in there.” Mama gestured to the drawing room and they disappeared, leaving Theodora and Lady Templeton behind.

“I wonder what that is about?” she asked the countess.

“I’ve no idea.” Lady Templeton replied, glancing up at the incessant barking made by her mother’s tiny companion somewhere above them. “She’s very pleased about the engagement. I told her everything, of course, and she agreed it was a sensible precaution all round to protect your reputation.”

Theodora winced inwardly. Mama hadn’t actually been pleased to hear that she’d agreed to a false engagement with Quinn. Mother had asked Theodora if she’d lost her mind entirely. Only after assuring her of the temporary nature of the engagement, the necessity of sparing Lady Templeton embarrassment, and their mutual agreement to end it once the season was well underway, had mother ceased protesting.

But she had reminded Theodora that once the engagement ended, they would have to move away immediately.

Quinn and Mama returned, quiet and unsmiling. “I am ready now,” Mama promised Lady Templeton.

“Mrs. Dalton and I are going to read together in the upstairs parlor tonight,” Lady Templeton explained, looping their arms together. “Would you care to join us, Miss Dalton?”

Theodora shook her head quickly. Despite the engagement, she was still Quinn’s secretary at heart. She couldn’t let herself forget what she was here to accomplish. “I have a few matters left to finish up today.”

Lady Templeton sighed, but her mother nodded. “I thought you might say that. Don’t work too late, and I will see you in the morning.” Mother kissed her cheek, and then quickly followed the countess to the staircase.

They all heard Soot barking and whining again.

“Soot has become quite worked up in your absence,” Lady Templeton remarked to her mother as they began their assent.

“She’s not used to being left alone yet.”

“Well, it’s early days. When Soot is a little older and grown more sedate, perhaps she could join us in the dining room,” Lady Templeton suggested.

“But not today,” Mother warned. “She’s much too fond of tugging on the hems of our gowns to make her company tolerable in a dining room.”

“Exactly,” Lady Templeton said with another sigh. “At this rate, you’ll need new gowns purchased before the season starts. A pity your daughter denied me the perfect excuse. I so want us to organize the perfect wedding for them.”

“Never mind that for now.”

The pair disappeared, and Theodora glanced at Quinn. “Should we be concerned at how well that pair are getting along?”

“Probably, but let’s put that off until tomorrow, or even later. Today has been eventful enough.” He steered her toward the study by taking her elbow, and then shut the door behind them. The room was lovely and quiet—and the click of the lock quite noticeable. The room was quite free of the other two secretaries, thankfully. Theodora sighed and dropped her shawl onto a chair. She had grown to love spending time alone in this room with Quinn at night.

“What did my mother ask you?”

“For the gems to be returned.” He sighed. “I will deliver them later.”

Theodora felt a chill sweep her skin. If mother had asked for the gems, she was ready to face the future. They could leave, purchase a home of their own, and Theodora might never have reason to see Quinn again. “I have the dinner arrangements ready for you to look over, if you have an interest in looking at them now,” she told him rather than think of that.

“Indeed, I do wish to see them. There will need to be further changes made,” Quinn warned.

“Oh?” Theodora handed her papers over, biting her lip as he moved to his desk, spread them out, and he studied the seating order she’d decided upon for his guests. She had believed she’d thought of everything. “What changes are needed?”

“Lord’s Calder and Deacon cannot sit together for any dinner,” he said. “If they do, the dinner will last until the next night. The pair can talk for hours without pause. You will need a seat at the table, too, remember, and please add another chair and place setting here,” he said, pointing to her sketch of the dining room.

“I—”

“Everyone would expect my betrothed to join me for dinner,” he said, smiling as he picked up the menu and perused her choices for the courses.

“Yes, of course.” She studied the seating plan, a little worried. The right place for her to sit of course would be beside her betrothed, but what about the empty chair he asked for? She reached for the guest list and compared the list to the chairs available. “We’re one guest name short for the number of places now. Who is missing?”

“The guest of honor.”

“Who is that?”

He sighed as he studied the papers. “This is my sister Mary’s birthday dinner.”

Theodora gaped at him, eyes filling with tears. “You’re holding a dinner for her?”

“I do so every year.”

Theodora cupped Quinn’s cheek impulsively, heart bursting with unexpected adoration. “What a good brother you are.”

“Too little, too late.” He bent to kiss her, and despite them being in the study, she allowed it.

His kiss was sweet and gentle, and somewhat briefer than she found she wanted by the end. They drew apart to finalize the arrangements, and she was rather excited she would now see the fruits of her efforts at the dinner for such an important person in his life.

Quinn’s arm stole around her back. “What else is there to do tonight?”

“I was thinking about the St. James property. What shall you do with it?”

“Before I say anything on the subject, do you have an idea already?”

“I think you should make it available to lease for the season.”

“It is barely furnished but for the one bed.”

“A day or two will take care of any shortcomings in the decor,” she promised. “I have taken the liberty of drafting an advertisement for a short-term lease, if you approve, and one for the property on Wellington Street, too. What did you want to do with the place?”

“Lease them both.” He grinned. “We agree on that.”

She grinned back widely. “A very sensible pair we are.”

“Was there anything else?”

“Only a few years’ worth of papers to pour over.”

“They’ll still be there tomorrow.” His lips settled at the top of her spine, and a delightful thrill swept through her as he kissed her neck.

“Quinn,” she whispered.

“Shh,” he warned. He unbuttoned her gown a bit, and then he swept his hands around her body to cup her breasts beneath the gaping gown. “How do you like being engaged to me so far?”

“Very well, even if it’s only pretend.” He continued to tug at the buttons until her gown hung loose and was in danger of sliding down her arms.

“We’ve never pretended to like each other.” He slid one hand down her body under the gown, forcing it to fall to her hips. He cupped her quim firmly. “I want to taste you. Right here, right now. Over our desk.”

Theodora shivered. She would like that very much. “Your desk,” she murmured, trying to collect the papers he’d spread about them before they were completely muddled.

“You can’t be my secretary anymore.” He pulled the pins from her hair and buried his face in the fallen locks.

Theodora spun around to stare at him, clutching the papers to her chest. “Why can’t I work?”

“We’re engaged now, and things must be different between us if we’re to portray a legitimate engagement.” His lips bussed her cheek softly as he took the papers and set them aside on the chair. “But I never said you couldn’t do the work, my dear.”

“Then—”

“Shh,” he whispered again. “Can’t you tell I’m trying to make love to my betrothed very quietly so no one finds out?”

He drew her hard against him. He was warm, impatient and very aroused. She stared up at him as he bent to kiss her lips, eyes locked on hers. They kissed, staring at each other, and then Theodora closed her eyes. She was overwhelmed by him, and just as aroused as he appeared to be.

He lifted her onto the desktop, raised her skirts and widened her legs to stand between them. He cupped her face as he kissed her languidly. Throwing caution to the wind, Theodora lifted her fingers to his waistcoat and began to unbutton him.

He threw off his coat and waistcoat.

Theodora wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face to his white shirt as he tackled the laces of her stays. “What if someone comes?”

“The door is locked, and my mother made it very clear that she’d not return downstairs again tonight.”

“They trust us to be alone together and behave.”

“Their mistake, but I won’t ever correct them.” He lowered her bodice and teased the skin of her upper back with his fingertips. “I know what I want.”

“What?”

“Just you, as you are now.”

A smile curved her lips as Quinn proved how much he desired her, with his hands and with his lips. She eased back against the tabletop, using her hands and elbows to slow her fall as he pushed her gently down. Although she knew this was reckless, a very stupid thing to do, she couldn’t deny him or herself another moment or two of pleasure.

Cool air brushed over her upper thighs, and she closed her eyes. Quinn kissed her breasts languidly until she was panting, and then worked his way down her body toward her thighs. He eased her legs wider apart, and then he was kissing her quim, devastating her senses, tasting the evidence of her desire for him.

He buried his face there, and Theodora arched her back, succumbing to the intensity of her own excitement. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for this. No sin she would deny him, just so long as she could feel this way forever.

Quinn groaned, and she lifted her head to watch him. He was lapping at her quim with firm strokes, eyes closed, loving her the way he did best. She stretched to cup his head, and he moaned again, right at the heart of her pleasure. Her body quivered, and then when he sucked on her clitoris, she cried out—much too loudly not to be misunderstood by anyone passing the door.

She slapped her hand over her mouth, staring at Quinn’s grinning face as he moved to cover her. “Now that was a shriek worth waiting for,” he promised as he joined with her.

Her body pulsed around him and he ground down on her as another burst of pleasure swamped her. He was moving when she opened her eyes; his were fierce as he loved her hard.

She grasped his upper arms tightly and lifted her knees high to bracket his body.

Quinn came to a stop, pressed deep inside her body.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered.

“I never want to,” he confessed, and closed his eyes. “You’ve always felt so good in my arms.”

The last was whispered, and Theodora thrilled to hear it. “I’m yours, Quinn. Don’t stop loving me.”

“Never,” he promised.