Undercover Duke

break his heart—this he already knew. And one heart-breaking was more than enough for him.
Besides, his life was too complicated right now. The last thing he needed was a woman like Vanessa muddying the waters even more.
He drew in a deep breath. “Now you know how easy it is for a man to play the rogue. Even me.”
“I do indeed,” she said, her tone wary. “I confess I’m surprised. You don’t seem the sort.”
“The sort to do what?”
“Kiss a woman passionately.”
That stung. But he mustn’t let it. Instead he forced coldness into his tone. “That’s because I’m not. I merely thought you could use the lesson. It might save you from ruin one day down the line.”
“So your kiss was a lesson?” she said skeptically. “If so, it was certainly a convincing one.”
“What good is a lesson if it’s not convincing?”
“True.” Her gaze turned frosty before she dropped it to her gloves, which had slipped down her forearms, exposing her elbows.
As she pulled them up, he felt a stab of disappointment. She actually had very pretty elbows. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?
“In any case, it doesn’t change a thing,” she added. “I still mean to catch Mr. Juncker if I can.”
The sudden roaring in his ears caught him off guard. Over my dead body. Only with an effort did he not say the words aloud. She might not be the woman for him, but Juncker would never be the man for her. Somehow he had to keep her out of that scoundrel’s arms.
Besides, he did have to spend more time with her mother. Lady Eustace hadn’t yet told him what he needed to know. “Well, if you’re determined on that score,” Sheridan said, “I can help you with that.”
She looked up at him and raised one silky black eyebrow. “Why on earth would you? You went to great lengths to hide me during our first kiss, when I tried to make him jealous.”
“Because I thought that would be the end of it. You’ve made it clear I was wrong. So if you still mean to pursue him, I will help you, if only to demonstrate he’s not the man you think.”
“But why do you even care about that? For that matter, why care if he ruins me? Or I marry him and he gains my dowry? Or whatever you think will happen if I keep going after him?”
Her expectant gaze sent him scrambling for a convincing answer. He could hardly say it was because he needed to interrogate her mother. “I consider us friends.” Yes, that was the way to go. “Don’t you?”
She laughed hollowly. “You barely talk to me at balls. You avoid me when you encounter me with Grey and Beatrice. You certainly don’t seek me out in public. What exactly makes us friends?”
“Our connection to Grey, for one thing. Think of me as an older brother.”
“Yes,” she snapped, “I could tell how brotherly you were when you were kissing me.”
He gritted his teeth. “I told you—”
“You were looking out for me. Teaching me a lesson. Right.”
She sounded angry. Why should she be angry? That made no sense. But when he searched her face, whatever anger had been in her tone did not match her nonchalant expression, making him wonder if he’d imagined it.
“And in any case,” she went on, “I don’t need another older brother. Grey is more than enough, trust me.”
“Ah, but he’s preoccupied these days. And I am not.”
“I see.” She tucked a wayward curl up in her turban. “Very well. Tell me how you intend to go about helping me snag Mr. Juncker.”
“You might have failed in making him jealous tonight, but I can give you plenty more chances to do so.” He quickly amended that. “Chances that won’t mean your ruin.” He stared her down. “I’ll court you publicly. But as a gentleman. If that doesn’t wring an offer of marriage from him, then nothing will, and I will be proved right about his character.”
Sheridan could practically see Vanessa’s clever mind weighing the proposition, turning it this way and that in the light to figure out if it had any dark side.
To his surprise, as he awaited her response his breath quickened and his pulse raced. He told himself it was only because he needed to get more information from her mother. So far, he’d learned practically nothing about that period of Lady Eustace’s life and Mother’s, except that his mother had been considered a diamond of the first water in her youth, which he already knew. According to Lady Eustace, men had done extraordinary things to get Mother’s attention. One fellow supposedly even killed himself when she refused him.
That was the most absurd thing Sheridan could imagine—killing oneself over a woman, even a woman as widely admired as his mother. He would never allow himself to get into such a state over anyone again. Aside from the scandal and the financial burden of it, it didn’t make sense in terms of one’s family. His had been through enough grief. He would never add to it.
“You’re willing to pretend to court me,” Vanessa asked, “and risk being branded a fool once I marry Juncker just on the chance you’ll be proved right about his character?”
If it helps find my father’s killer, I am. He shrugged. “I like being right. That’s not unusual in a duke, you know.”
“Oh, trust me, I know. Grey has that particular vice himself.” Vanessa stared down the corridor in the direction Juncker had gone. “And if your plan doesn’t wring an offer from Mr. Juncker? Aren’t you worried you’ll be irretrievably linked to me? That people will expect us to marry?”
“They can expect whatever they wish,” Sheridan drawled. “Men court women all the time without success. All you need do is say the word, and I shall suddenly lose interest in you. Or, if you’re worried such behavior will hurt your future with other suitors, you can jilt me. Either way, we’ll be done with each other.”
He would