Someone Irresistible Read Online Free PDF Page B

this had become the greatest entertainment for her since Carter’s death and her necessary state of mourning—wondering what little bauble her mother-in-law had wrapped this time in a gaudy box.
    How absurd, but terribly typical for ladies of her station.
    He was right. She’d adore a new challenge right now, and especially one opposing the enigmatic Nathan Price. The idea alone renewed her with a vigor she hadn’t felt in a very long time. But could she allow herself to get involved like this? She supposed she must, since it concerned the little issues of blackmail and family dishonor. To save her father a future public disgrace, she would need to prove his innocence of the scandal more than two years ago. She never would have believed for a moment that the Nathan of her past would actually humiliate them all, but she couldn’t say certainly that he wouldn’t. That minute thread of doubt left her no other choice. She needed to learn what he knew.
    Seconds later she felt her anger seep from her skin to leave her drained, numb. “What do you want sculpted, Nathan, and why?” she asked quietly, glancing his way again.
    “I need an exact replica of the Megalosaurus that was stolen from the Crystal Palace.”
    She had assumed as much, and almost laughed at such a preposterous idea. Perhaps he knew it, too, for his dark eyes blazed with the gravity in his request.
    “It’s important, Mimi.”
    He was completely serious, and it worried her.
    “Nobody believes it existed,” she returned briskly. “What are you going to prove with a replica of a fossil nobody’s ever seen?”
    His cheek twitched. “I’ll worry about that when the time comes to produce it.”
    “And when is that time?”
    “During a scientific function, but I don’t have details as yet. I need the Megalosaurus first.”
    She paused, watching him closely, studying his taut expression. He needed a haircut badly, and his face was deeply tanned for this time of year, apparently from working every day under bright sunshine. He’d been gone for a long while, digging for fossils on the Continent, or so she’d heard through the little gossip she’d received. That he was back suddenly and asking—no, forcing —her to sculpt the Megalosaurus made her curious, even suspicious. It was a very unusual request. Yes, indeed, the man had a purpose in mind, and although she knew she would have to give in to his demands, she also realized fully that if she wasn’t careful in her approach, they would all suffer at the outcome.
    “And if I refuse?” she asked coyly, enticing him to argue.
    Very slowly, he shook his head, glaring down at her. “You won’t.
    That’s the beauty of our little arrangement.”
    That made her mad again, and he knew it. She could almost see him hold back a smile of satisfaction as heat suffused her face. Fortunately for her, he didn’t comment on it.
    “I’m staying at the boarding house at Four-forty-seven King’s Road,”
    he said instead, “right here in Chelsea.”
    She knew which one. Quite fashionable and quaint. But then, most of Chelsea was. She wondered for a moment if he could afford it, then swiftly decided the state of his finances was none of her business.
    “Take time to think about how you’d like to begin,” he suggested reasonably. “I’ll be back in a day or two with notes and drawings of my own, and we can then discuss getting started.”
    His rich brown eyes probed hers for seconds longer, then dropped to linger on her body, her breasts, before he tipped his head in a gentlemanly gesture. “Good day, Mrs. Sinclair.”
    Without reply, Mimi stared at his wide back as he strode confidently from her morning room.

Chapter 2
    « ^ »
    T he table had been set as usual for the Sunday meal. Their father
    would be absent again this week because he was still gone from the country with several of Professor Owen’s advisors, inquiring about endorsements from the European elite for research grants. Although due