Bronwyn Scott - A Lady Dares

That was enough to wake her senses. Elise pulled away. She would not repeat the mistakes of the past; this had to end now. She had scandal enough to worry about without being caught kissing her master builder. ‘Mr Rowland!’ She hoped her exclamation carried enough chagrin for more words to be unnecessary.

‘How about we dispense with the “Mr Rowland” bit?’ He made no move to back up and release her. ‘You can call me Dorian and I’ll call you Princess.’

‘My name is Elise,’ she snapped, realising she’d been manoeuvred too late.

‘Well, Elise it shall be, then, if you insist.’ He shoved off the wall. ‘Now you can say you’ve had fun.’ He winked. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I must be back to work if you want your yacht done by the deadline. Have a nice rest of the afternoon, Elise.’

She could not stay in that office a moment longer. It took all her patience to wait until Dorian was safely engrossed in his work before leaving. She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d succeeded in driving her off her own property.

How dared he? Elise strode through the crowded streets surrounding the docks, burning off her excess energy and anger, if that’s what it was. He’d kissed her in broad daylight and for no apparent reason other than the fun of it. One thought overrode even that: he’d been audacious, but she’d liked it! Hadn’t she learned her lesson with Robert? Handsome men were not to be trusted. They knew they could barter on their looks to take what they wanted unless a woman was careful. Elise was so wrapped in her thoughts, she nearly ran into Charles Bradford before she noticed him.

‘Miss Sutton. I was just on my way to see you.’ Charles righted her after their nearcollision, tucking her hand through his arm. ‘Whatever are you doing out here in the street? It’s no place for a decent lady.’

‘Lunch,’ Elise improvised, pulling her skirts to one side to avoid a barrel being rolled to a nearby store.

‘Out here?’ Charles had to shout to be heard above the street din. ‘Might I suggest a quieter venue? My carriage is just the next street over. Perhaps I could escort you?’

There was no gracious way to refuse and perhaps it would be better to be with someone instead of fuming alone over her latest interaction with Dorian Rowland. In no time at all, Elise found herself ensconced in Charles Bradford’s open barouche. Of course, it was open. Being alone with a man in a closed carriage was unheard of for an unmarried woman and Charles was first and foremost a gentleman. He’d known he was coming to see her and had planned accordingly. Unlike certain other males of her recent acquaintance, came the unbidden comparison. She doubted Dorian Rowland planned accordingly for anything or even planned at all. He just did or said the first thing that came to mind.

‘I must confess to being surprised to find you here,’ Charles began as the barouche started to move. ‘I stopped at your house first and your butler told me where you were. I didn’t think there’d be anything more to do at the shipyard. If there’s still business to take care of, you should have contacted me. My father and I would have handled it for you.’ There was reproach in the comment.

The Bradfords had offered as much earlier when the tragedy had first happened, but she’d insisted on overseeing it all on her own. She knew what Charles meant. There wasn’t that much to do if she was closing the yard. ‘You might be surprised at what a girl finds to amuse herself with,’ Elise answered vaguely, her thoughts going straight to shirtless men and afternoon kisses. Charles might be all that was proper in a young man with his well-cut clothes, fashionable hair and polished manners, but he wouldn’t understand her latest endeavour or the need behind it. If he had understood, he and his father would never have pulled out.

It occurred to her that this might be a prime opportunity to pull them back in. What if they did know what she was doing? They might re-invest and there would be money again. She wouldn’t have to wait until the yacht was finished. That thought only lasted a moment. Charles was looking at her with his calm, brown eyes and she almost blurted it out. But caution held her back. It had only been a day and Dorian Rowland had amply demonstrated he was uncertainty personified. What if he suddenly quit? What if he lacked the skill to finish the yacht? She’d do better to wait and see if her project could be completed before she told a soul. It wouldn’t do to be seen as a failure just now. If she was to fail, she wanted to do it in secret.

Charles found them an acceptable tea shop where they could have sandwiches and a quiet table. He was solicitous, asking after her wellbeing, her brother’s plans to return to Oxford and her mother’s time in the country. The more solicitous he was, the more the contrast grew. He was nothing like Dorian Rowland. To start with, he wore all of his clothes and he was unlikely to steal a kiss in a public place. Charles was safe. Charles was comfortable. But she couldn’t help but wonder—would Charles’s chest be as muscled beneath his linen shirt? It certainly wouldn’t be as tanned. She blushed a little at the thought. It was most untoward of her to be picturing gentlemen without their clothes on. She could blame that, too, on Dorian.

‘Miss Sutton? Are you all right?’

‘Oh, yes. Why do you ask?’ Elise dragged her thoughts back to the conversation.

‘I asked you a question.’ Charles smiled indulgently. ‘What are you planning to do with the shipyard? My father would be able to help you arrange a sale. I’m sure you’d rather be off to join your mother.’

Actually, that was the last place she wanted to be. How to answer without lying? She opted for part of the truth. ‘I’m thinking about keeping the yard, after all,’ Elise offered quietly, waiting for his shocked response.

To his credit, Charles kept his shock to a minimum. He didn’t disagree with her, but merely voiced his concern. ‘Miss Sutton, your fortitude is commendable. But you have no one to run the place. Surely you can’t be thinking of doing it on your own?’ She knew what he was thinking. To do so was to invite social ostracism for the last time. She’d already skated so near the edge on other occasions. With her father gone, there’d be little pity left for her.

‘I have someone.’

‘Who?’ Charles reached for his tea cup.

‘A Mr Dorian Rowland,’ Elise said with a confidence she didn’t feel.

The tea cup halted in mid-air, never quite making it to his mouth. ‘Dorian Rowland? The Scourge of Gibraltar?’ The tea cup clattered into its saucer with an undignified clunk. ‘My dear Miss Sutton, you must be rid of him immediately.’

She’d hired someone called the Scourge of Gibraltar?

Elise was glad she wasn’t holding a tea cup, too, or it might have followed suit. ‘Why?’ she managed to utter.

The horror in Charles Bradford’s eyes was so exaggerated it was almost comical and it would have been, too, if it wasn’t aimed at the one man she’d pinned all her hopes on.

‘Don’t you know, Miss Sutton? He isn’t received.’

‘I was not under the impression craftsmen were in the habit of being received at all,’ Elise answered coolly, some irrational part of her leaping to Dorian’s defence. Perhaps it was simply that she wanted to defend the shipyard and her own judgement, or her brother’s judgement for that matter. He’d been the one to recommend Dorian.

Charles smiled indulgently. ‘Oh, he’s not a craftsman, not by birth anyway.’

‘I’m afraid you’ll have to explain that.’ Elise mustered all the bravado she could. With a label like the Scourge of Gibraltar she could guess the reasons without the specifics, though details would be nice.