Her pretense at helplessness rang false, as Hawk was sure she knew, for she tried a different tack.
“Righting wrongs is your league’s primary mission, is it not? Well, what happened to my uncle is a profound wrong. One you could help me set right.” Her tone turned earnest. “Just imagine how lonely he is. He has no wife or children of his own. Even if she is no longer alive, it would mean so much to him to know that he had sired a child with his true love.”
When he remained silent, Skye offered another argument. “I will make you a simple bargain. If you will help me with my uncle’s plight, I will help you with preparing your house for your bride.” She quickly raised a hand, preventing Hawk’s immediate rejection. “Before you say no, let me explain. I can send for Aunt Bella this morning to act as chaperone. And until she arrives, I’m certain it would be possible to ask your temporary housekeeper or one of the other village matrons to stay a night or two at the castle.”
“Searching for your uncle’s lover could take weeks or even months. I can’t afford that much time away.”
“But perhaps you can. You said construction was set to start at week’s end, and you have hired an architect to supervise. By the time you return here, the repairs will be well under way. And I can work on hiring your household staff while you are away. There is so much to be done.… Not only clearing out the years of dirt and cobwebs but decorating and refurbishing also. Aunt Isabella has excellent taste, as I’m sure you know. And actually so do I.”
Hawk shook his head in disbelief. Lady Skye was trying to commandeer his life and arrange matters to her satisfaction, but ever so sweetly, like a governess making the bitter medicine go down more easily. Only she was like no governess he’d ever seen.
Hawk was struck again by how novel she was. Novel, unique, fresh … and strong-willed. She was like a damned burr under his saddle. No doubt she counted on her persistence driving him to distraction until he gave in.
“When we are done with the house,” she continued, “I will even help you court Miss Olwen. My family has a great deal of influence in society. With my brother being an earl and my cousin Ash a marquess, we can open doors to her that would otherwise be closed.”
He had no doubt that every objection he made, Lady Skye would come up with a solution. Her suggestions were eminently logical but pointless. He had no choice but to refuse her request for help, since he had serious obligations that took precedence.
“Please just say you will think about it,” she pleaded. She must have realized he would say no such thing, for she gave an exaggerated sigh. “I suspected you would be this stubborn.”
“You are calling me stubborn?”
“Yes. But I am not one to admit defeat without a fight. I tend to remain optimistic, even when a cause seems hopeless. And I have faith you will eventually do the right thing,” she added serenely.
Hawk gave a grunt of exasperation. “Don’t count on it.”
“I am very impressed, my lord. You’ve gone for five entire minutes without making that growling sound.” Humor lit her eyes as she surveyed him. “Is that a hint of a smile I see? That is progress indeed. But I would be astonished if you can actually laugh, you are such a grouch.”
He had to admit she amused him with her deliberate attempts to provoke him. He was a stranger to laughter and preferred to stay that way. Yet he found himself smiling back at her, damn her.
Skye looked annoyingly satisfied by her achievement. “I will return to the house now and leave you to your work. I was much too nervous to eat breakfast before I spoke to you, but now that I have braved the lion, so to speak, I realize I am famished.”
Her blue eyes were perfectly innocent, yet there was a glimmer of laughter there, blast her cheek. She was teasing him in order to coerce him out of his foul humor.
She was succeeding, too. When Hawk met her gaze, something shivered through him, part laughter, part physical desire.
Then her smile faltered and he knew she had felt that same powerful jolt of sexual need. Suddenly she looked shy again, and without another word, she turned her horse away.
Hawk watched her leave with a feeling strongly akin to relief.
Oh, yes, Lady Skye was enormously dangerous to him. In less than a day, she’d incited him to forsake his scruples and possibly ruined his carefully calculated future. And that was nothing compared to the myriad of emotions she rous
ed in him so effortlessly. In the past day he’d been, in turn, suspicious, curious, irritated, protective, passionate, angry, appalled, exasperated, amused, at peace.… He couldn’t deny that with her he’d enjoyed a deep, dreamless, peaceful sleep for the first time in forever.
What shocked him, though, was how much he still wanted Skye. The desire to make love to her was still stinging his body, when his only burning desire should have been to serve and lead the Guardians.
His predicament would only grow worse with time, Hawk knew, for he couldn’t just throw her out, and she wouldn’t leave quietly. Her appearance of delicacy hid a spine of steel.
Yet she would have to give up eventually if he remained adamant. Moreover, he could ratchet up his efforts to drive her away, making it as uncomfortable as possible for her to stay.
Wholly aside from the risk of scandal, he didn’t want Lady Skye Wilde living in the same house as he. He wanted no warmth and comfort in his life, nothing womanly and soft that would remind him so painfully of what he had lost.
Deliberately Hawk turned the stallion away from the castle. He had meant to return to the stables, but it was wiser to keep away when Lady Skye could be lurking around any corner, ready to ambush him with her vexing, tenacious optimism and her vital, vibrant smile.
When the earl remained away the entire day, Skye suspected he was purposely avoiding her, but when dusk fell, she grew worried. He would exhaust himself, riding for so long with no sustenance.
By nightfall, the daily housekeeper and maids had departed, leaving only Thomas Gilpin, the grizzled old man who acted as the castle caretaker. A longtime employee of the estate, Gilpin had been present when the earl’s family perished in the fire, but he was not forthcoming in answering Skye’s questions about the tragedy, in part, she suspected, because his memory seemed to be failing.
Even so, he was mindful of his master’s whereabouts. When Skye made to don her cloak, intending to search for the earl in the stables, Gilpin reported that his lordship was already in his study. Exasperated, Skye realized that Lord Hawkhurst had slipped into the house unobserved, even though she had been watching for him.