Read Online Someone Irresistible by Adele Ashworth - Free Book Online

wronged . I must discover who set me up for professional ruin in front of the most important people in my field on the night that I was to gain final, undeniable respect. And above it all, I want to know why.”
    She didn’t argue or say a word when he finished his fervent disclosure.
    They both knew she wanted to exclaim that it wasn’t her father who could have done such an ignoble deed, but she’d been defeated in a manner and it would do no good if she tried even a modest defense of him now. Nathan had to admire her poise in that.
    A loud clatter of dishes in the kitchen broke the settled quiet between them, and they both turned toward the noise.
    “It’s getting late and I must be going,” she said at last, pivoting to face him squarely “I have two more requests of you, however, if we are going to be working together.”
    Her demeanor had changed subtly so that she looked slightly weary, even remotely concerned, but every bit as determined as she was when she’d walked into the boarding house just a few minutes before.
    He waited, folding his arms across his chest. “Go on.”
    She drew a long breath. “You must give me your word that my father will not be humiliated in any way. That would be tantamount to my helping you to ruin him.”
    He couldn’t promise her that, which she likely suspected.
    Nevertheless, he nodded, attempting to evade the issue. “I need the sculpture by New Year’s Eve. I’m attending a formal banquet given by Professor Owen. Several statesmen and dignitaries, and nearly every paleontologist in England will be there.”
    Her face went slack as her eyes opened wide. “How do you expect to get an invitation?”
    “Through Justin Marley,” he revealed, only because he believed it wouldn’t matter if anyone knew. “Justin and I have been in contact these last two years, more friends than colleagues, really. He’ll be attending, certainly, and it was, in fact, originally his idea.”
    “And what do you propose to do with the sculpture?” she asked a bit dubiously, tilting her head, her brow creased in a frown.
    He began to step toward her. “Show it to everyone.”
    She attempted to hide a smile, but didn’t press him for detail.
    Instead, she asked, “Will my father be attending?”
    When he stopped directly in front of her, he admitted, “Probably. But I will not reveal who the sculptor is, Mimi. That has nothing at all to do with my intentions.”
    She gazed into his eyes a moment longer, evaluating, calculating the difficulties ahead, perhaps the possibilities, shielding her worries the best she could.
    Nathan watched her candidly, taking in the smoothness of her skin, her full mouth that he remembered so well, a few strands of her straight, clean hair that had fallen loose to peek out from beneath her hat. If there was one thing he now knew with certainty it was that she truly did not believe her father to be guilty of his downfall. If she suspected it at all, she would have immediately denied him the chance to redeem himself at the banquet. Her father would be there, Owen would be there, Justin and other top English scientists would all be attending. She fully understood what was at stake. The only other possibility was that she had been involved with the theft and instead confidently knew this was something he would never learn. She’d agree to help him not to protect her father but to see him fail again.
    Ultimately. That thought alone sickened him more than he wanted to acknowledge.
    With a final look of acceptance, she lowered her gaze and swept past him, her skirts brushing his legs as she moved to retrieve her reticule.
    “I also need you to be there for the sketching, Nathan,” she informed nonchalantly, lifting her bag and pulling the strings over her right wrist.
    Turning to face him again, she added, “And for the sculpting as well.”
    It was his turn to be surprised, and he surely expressed it in his features, for she smiled, somewhat