Debutantes Don't Date. Kristina O'Grady

sweetness of the grapefruit as it slid across her tongue. She was apprehensive about how the food would be and worried that it wouldn’t be very fresh, but this was divine. The fruit had been picked from the conservatory this morning, just for her. Well, not just for her but just for breakfast and Lady Harrison hadn’t touched the other grapefruit on the sideboard, so maybe it was just for her. A small sigh escaped her lips just as Lord Bingham walked into the room. He looked directly at her with an expression in his eyes she couldn’t read and she felt her face flame with a blush. Really, it was not as if she was moaning about him! Her face got hotter with the thought.

      “Jasper! Come and join us, won’t you?” Victoria smiled up at her brother and waved a hand holding her fork at an empty chair at the table.

      “I’ve already breakfasted hours ago, sister dearest. But, I was hoping to steal your companion away for a few moments, if I may.”

      “You may have already had breakfast, my lord, but I have not. You can wait until I am done, thank you very much.” There was no way Grace was leaving her grapefruit, and the eggs looked nice too. Oh, and the bacon. She must go and have another look at what all was on offer. She knew she was putting off what needed to be done and she knew she was being rude to the only person who could help her, but she felt it was the only way she could keep her distance. Besides she needed to talk to Victoria again first.

      “Of course. I will enjoy a coffee while I wait until you are free.”

      Infuriating man! How dare he dismiss her rudeness as if it never happened? And Victoria wanted her to align herself with this man? She might as well get it over with; she’d lost her appetite anyway. She pushed her chair back from the table and winced at the sound it made as it scrapped the tiled floor. “I’m free to see you now, My Lord.”

      Jasper paused in pouring coffee into his cup and raised a brow in her direction. “As you wish. Victoria, may I use your drawing room?”

      “Of course you may.” She smiled at her brother and then turned to Grace. “Remember what I said.”

      As if she could forget.

      Grace followed Lord Bingham down the hallway to the drawing room near the front door. Even after Mrs Walters gave her a tour this morning she was awed at the grandeur of this home. She was amazed it was so clean. Everything sparkled, even the rooms that were so obviously not in use. She couldn’t even keep her one-bedroom apartment this clean. She was so busy gazing at the crystal chandelier, she didn’t notice Lord Bingham stop at the doorway.

      “Ouf.” Strong arms wrapped around her body and his scent invaded her nostrils. Suddenly she was back at the ball and her body melted into his.

      Jasper tightened his arms and planted his feet so he didn’t topple over. He tried to move his hips back so the bundle in his arms wouldn’t feel his sudden desire. She was having none of it. Her prickliness earlier at breakfast melted away and she became the woman who seduced him last night. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips begged to be kissed. Well, he was a gentleman after all, and if that was what the lady wanted…

      “I thought you would have more sense than making love in full view of my staff, Bingham. And you miss, if you intend to stay under my roof, you will act with some restraint and decorum.”

      Lord Harrison’s voice had the effect of a bucket of cold water on Grace. She leapt out of Jasper’s arms, tripped on the hem of her borrowed dress and landed soundly on her bottom on the cold marble floor. Tears sprang to her eyes, partly from the pain but mostly from the humiliation of being caught again; and being made to feel like a slut. Good Lord, this whole time-warp was going to take some getting used to. Really, who thought a kiss was an act of sin?

      “You keep this up much longer, Bingham, and you will need to procure a special licence.”

      “Thank you, Neal. I will be sure to heed your advice.” Sarcasm dripped from his lips. “Come, Miss Lancaster, I believe we have a few things to discuss.”

      She was so glad to see the door shut in Lord Harrison’s face that she almost broke out in giggles. She managed to cover them with a cough that lasted so long Jasper stepped towards her to smack her back.

      “Are you quite well? Now then, Grace, I may call you Grace, can I not? I think we are past formalities.” A cheeky smile spread on his face.

      “Of course,” she snorted.

      “Good, call me Jasper.” He raised his hand and almost brushed a wayward strand of hair from her eyes but turned to pace the room instead. “Maybe Neal’s right. Maybe we shouldn’t have a long engagement. There’s really no reason to wait; my family consists of Victoria and you say you no longer have one.” He turned to face her. “What do you say? We get married in a week?”

      “A week?” she squeaked and collapsed into the nearest chair. She couldn’t get married, and certainly not in a week’s time! For the second time in five minutes hysteria set in, but this time instead of laughter there was a body-numbing panic. What if she couldn’t figure out how to get home before then? What if there was no reason that she time-travelled? What if she just disappeared without a trace, anyone she married would be frantic for her. She couldn’t marry someone and then disappear into thin air. But…she couldn’t not marry this man either. As Victoria had pointed out last night, she had no other option. Victoria’s evil husband would just as soon throw her out of his house on her ass as look after her. If it wasn’t for Victoria and Jasper’s protection, what would become of her? Would she end up on the street? It was not as if event managers were in high demand in the 1800s was it? She knew if she didn’t at least pretend to be engaged to Jasper, Victoria wouldn’t be able to protect her and Jasper wouldn’t want to. She would be out on her ear in no time. Oh God, she would have to become a prostitute. The thought of selling her body to the unwashed men of this time made her skin crawl. Eww, yuck.

      Jasper watched as the panic filled her wide eyes. Her face became so pale he was afraid she might faint. Surely the thought of marrying him wasn’t that bad? He knew of several women who’d sell their souls to become the next Countess of Bingham. “Are you perfectly well?” he asked.

      Grace shook herself out of her daydream, looked him in the eye and opened her mouth to accept…nothing came out.

      “Come.” Jasper pulled her to her feet and led her over to the sofa, gently pushed her down and sat next to her. He rubbed her hands briskly in between his to try to get some blood flowing. “Grace, Grace, are you feeling better now?” At the slightest nod of her head Jasper continued. “If getting married to me is scaring you, you need not worry. I will look after you. I’m very well off you know, you will never want for anything and I will never hurt you. Grace, are you listening to me? I know you were confused last night after you hit your head, but surely you feel better now. I’m sorry if you don’t remember the event that caused us to get in this situation to begin with, but going by our reaction to each other, I believe we’ll get along very well together.”

      Grace marvelled at how sweet he looked sitting next to her. His eyes were filled with concern as he continued to rub her hands. He was going to rub the skin right off if she didn’t respond soon. She took a deep breath, looked him in the eyes again and crushed his ego. “I am honoured you would ask me to marry you, I really am. But I can’t marry you. Not because I don’t think that you are a good man, but we just met. I don’t want to rush into anything.”

      “Rush anything?” Jasper jumped off the sofa to his feet and frowned down at her, his hands on his hips. “Every time we are in the same room as each other we are rushing it! If we rush it any more, you are going to be with child!” The last point he punctuated with flailing hand gestures.

      Grace calmly got to her feet. She didn’t like being looked down on, even if she was vertically challenged. “Don’t be ridiculous. We need to have sex before we can make a baby. And we certainly haven’t done that yet, have we?”

      “S…s…sex! What kind of woman are you to utter such a word?!”

      “Really Jasper, keep your voice down.”