Geek Girls Don't Date Dukes (18 page)

wasn’t cut out for the domestic servitude life.

After sponging off Lady Chesterfield’s skirt with a

damp cloth, they returned to the party. Leah was careful

to keep her face calm and her hands steady as she tended

to the refreshment table, but damn was she dancing

inside. This was it! This was the way she’d imagined her

trip into the past. She’d go to balls and routs and teas and

soirees, and masques and house parties and hunts and

rides in the park…

“Ramsey.”

She jumped. “Yes?”

“Fetch a fresh pot of tea,” Mrs. Harper sniffed. “Silly

girl, whatever you are dreaming of I can never know.”

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Damn
skippy, Q- tippy
, Leah thought with an internal snort. They didn’t have drugs good enough to give Mrs.

Harper a dream this awesome.

And in just a little while, Leah would be living it.

The rest of the evening proceeded uneventfully,

fortunately. After two near disasters, Leah was petrified

that the third time would be the charm. She managed to

keep quiet and out of the way of the other servants and

guests. But it was kind of tough to stay away from the

duke. Now that she knew she’d get a chance to meet

Wymond—

holy shit, his name was Wymond?!?—

on

equal ground, she had to avoid him as much as possible.

Their only time together so far had been so brief and

unmemorable, at least for him, that Lady Chesterfield

thought it would be best to keep their real introductions

for society. After all, if anyone figured out that Leah was

a servant, the duke wouldn’t look at her twice— certainly

not to figure out if she was good enough to marry.

So despite her desire to get to know him, Leah kept

her distance while the party wound down, and he and

the dowager said farewell to their guests. When there

were only a few old women left, he kissed his mother on

the cheek and took his leave.

Leah sighed in a mixture of relief and disappointment.

Oh well. It’d all be worth it in the end.

She was hefting a tray toward the kitchens when she

passed Avery in the hallway.

“Hey,” she said, pausing for a second. “I didn’t

embarrass you too bad, did I?”

He gave a half smile. “Get about your duties, Miss

Ramsey. No time to be dawdling now.”

She smiled back, curious at the heavy twinge in her

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chest as she turned and walked away from him.
Avery
.

She hadn’t thought about leaving him at Granville

House. He’d been so kind to her, the only real friend

she’d had in this time before she met Lady Chesterfield.

And honestly, she wasn’t sure how she’d get along

without him.

She set the tray in the bustling scullery and stepped

out into the area to catch a breath of air. The late

afternoon wind was chilly, and she shivered. Tilting her

chin skyward, she closed her eyes and filled her lungs.

Things were so odd here. Everything, not just the lack of

electricity and the ridiculous workload— the way she felt.

Back home, she knew what she wanted. She always

acted first and thought later. But here she found herself

second- guessing every move she made. What had caused

this crisis of confidence? Could she fix it? Should she?

A bitter laugh escaped her. Well, her second- guessing

wasn’t getting her out of any trouble. As it was, she had

stepped in it way more often than not here. Avery would

probably be glad to see her go. She’d caused him enough

problems already.

She shook her head, straightened her apron, and

headed back into the fray. She had a rout to clean up

after, a bag to pack, and a resignation to give.

It was time for Leah to hurtle headlong into her

future. And that was just the way she liked it.

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Fourteen

Avery could not relax until the carriages rolled

to a stop beside Granville house. Even then, after the

hampers were unloaded, and the servants had gone about

their final duties of the night, tension lined his shoulders

and clenched his teeth. Miss Ramsey may have avoided

the dowager’s wrath, but what could she have been

doing so long with Lady Chesterfield? The woman was

mischievous, clever, and as eccentric as any matron of

the ton could ever hope to be. He did not know what

she was about. How could he prevent Miss Ramsey from

falling prey to a bored baroness’s scheme? Simple. He

could not.

The duke had gone straight from his mother’s rout

to his nightly amusements and would not be back until

the wee hours of the morning. With his own duties

completed and the preparations made for their departure

on the morrow, Avery had nothing pressing to attend

to, and his beleaguered brain made free reign of the lack.

Pacing along the back edge of the dark garden, he set his

mind to wander where it willed.

Miss Ramsey wanted the duke. She was beautiful enough

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for any man, he was quite sure. And compassionate— he’d

seen that in the way she’d looked at his ailing aunt. Why

did he long to see her looking upon him with compassion

and— dare he think it— regard in her eyes?

Spinning with a soundless roar, Avery plunged his fist

into the oak’s trunk. The tree shuddered, raining leaves

down around him. His knuckles stung with the ache of

fresh scrapes. The pain eased the anxiety that had built in

his chest at the words he could not think.

He must not think them.

Shaking out his hands, relishing in the numbing

pain of them, he sank down onto a garden bench and

looked up into the branches that had showered him with

greenery. God could be so cruel. His father had taught

him that.

In his mind’s eye, he had always pictured God with

the face of his father, sitting on a throne and pointing

down at Avery with a scowl on his face. No matter

what Avery had done, it had never seemed to please

either of them.

He dug his fingers into the stone bench on either

side of him. And when he’d decided it didn’t matter and

stood up for the one person in the world who’d loved

him, she’d paid with her life.

He was not good enough to pursue Miss Ramsey. She

had proved tonight that she was quick, clever, and strong

enough to pursue the best in the land. And Avery was

the farthest thing from what she deserved. He’d keep his

distance, no matter the cost.

Shoving to his feet, he turned and walked toward the

stables. Better to hit his training bag than an innocent tree anymore. If his dark thoughts were prone to destruction,

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then he should be in a safe place, away from living things

that could come to harm because of him.

He’d just passed the entrance to the area when Miss

Ramsey exited the kitchen door.

“Hey,” she said, her beautiful smile stretching her lips.

Her hair wisped out from beneath her mobcap, and her

cheeks were stained pink with excitement. “I’ve been

looking all over for you.”

Even though he longed to smile back at her, he did not.

He could not. Looking away, he spoke toward the stables.

“My apologies, but I must be on my way. I have

duties…”

“Come on, Avery, even I know the duke is out on

the town tonight.” He flinched as she laid a careless hand

on his forearm. “I need to tell you something.”

Pulling free of her grasp as carefully as he could, he

turned to face her. Her tone was much too serious to

ignore, no matter how much he wished it were other-

wise. He nodded toward the garden he’d just come from.

“If you must, then please speak in the garden. It is

more private.”

She walked in the direction he indicated. Tapping

his thigh with anxious fingers, he tried to ignore the

sway of her skirts. She drove him mad with the simplest

of movements. Although he’d been with other women

before, none of them made his blood fire in his veins like

her. With tremendous effort, he restrained the growing

interest in his loins.

When they reached the bench by the oak, Miss

Ramsey sat down and stretched her feet out in front of

her with a grateful sigh.

“Gosh, that’s better.” She bent down and removed

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her boots, wiggling her stockinged feet in the night air.

“Holy crap, this feels good.” Propping her ankle on her

knee, she rubbed her abused toes.

He averted his gaze. What a pitiful man he was,

tempted by a slender female foot. Clearing his throat, he

clasped his hands behind his back.

“You wished to speak with me?”

She dropped her foot and looked up at him, the

vibrant blue of her eyes shining with excitement and just

a tinge of regret. She opened her mouth to speak, but just

then a voice called from the kitchen doorway.

“Ramsey,” Cook called. “Mrs. Harper is asking for

ye. Look sharp, my girl.”

Miss Ramsey groaned and shoved her feet into her

boots. “That housekeeper makes the Stormtroopers look

soft and cuddly. Can I catch you later?”

Avery nodded. “Of course.”

She smiled at him. “Thanks, Avery. You’re the best.”

Worry grabbed hold of his spine as she walked away.

Whatever she’d been about to tell him had been impor-

tant. He did not know her very well, but he knew that

she would not waste his time idly.

With a lingering glance at the setting sun, Avery set

off toward the training room. Although he no longer felt

the burning need to punish his body as he had before, the

exercise would calm him.

And with the tempest roaring in his soul, that was a

comfort he sorely needed.

i

When Leah’s head finally hit the pillow, she was beyond

exhausted and was somewhere between La- La- Land and

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Completely Punchy. She fought the urge to giggle as she

rolled to her side with a smile.

No more scrubbing chamber pots and toting ash

buckets. She was going to be like a Regency era

Eliza Doolittle, only without the slipper fetching for

Professor Higgins. She nearly cracked her jaw with a

yawn as Henrietta flopped into bed behind her. Leah

rolled her eyes as a bony heel connected with her

calf. And to think she’d actually wondered if the little

demon would miss her.

“Oh heavens! A spider!” Henrietta screamed.

The bed jostled violently. Henrietta’s full-

blooded

shriek had Leah leaping out of bed and reaching for the

nearest blunt object to defend herself with, in this case a

heavy candlestick.

“Henrietta, where is it?” Leah brandished the metal

object toward the room at large, searching wildly for

the murdering eight- legged bastard as Sara and Teresa

snorted with laughter. Wait, what?

“Oh,” Henrietta gasped, doubled over with mirth.

“Your face, you should have seen…” She collapsed on

the pillows in a heap of full- throated laughter.

A chill settled over Leah’s shoulders. The mocking

laughter echoing in her ears, she set the candlestick down

carefully and smoothed her shift over her hips. Slowly,

methodically, she stepped toward the bed and the still-

gasping- with- giggles Henrietta. Kneeling on the mattress

with one knee, Leah leaned close to the young maid.

“You listen to me, and you listen good,” Leah said

in a low tone. The girl stopped laughing, eyes widening

slightly at Leah’s words. “I’ve let you off easy until now.

But you’ve just messed with the biggest bitch you’re

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ever going to meet in this lifetime, and she’s had all she

can take. Just remember, that whatever’s coming? You

asked for it.”

Henrietta wasn’t breathing, just staring at Leah’s face

with the glassed- over look of someone who realized

they’d stepped in a giant pile of trouble.

With a calm smile and a gentle “good night” to the

room full of silent girls, Leah settled into her pillows once more with a happy sigh.

This was going to be so satisfying.

i

She had to get up early the next morning, but it was so

worth it. Fortunately, her internal clock had been honed

to a fine edge since college. Jamie had a nasty habit of

forgetting to pay the electric bill.