The Problem with Josephine. Lucy Ashford

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СКАЧАТЬ she went on emphatically. ‘But the problem, such as it is, means that some work has to be done in here in utter secrecy. As I’ve said, if word of this gets out, then I am in trouble. But so are you, and I take it that you are probably in various sorts of trouble and penniless anyway, living as you do!’

      She saw an answering flash of something else in his eyes then. Humour? Was he still finding all this amusing?

      ‘So,’ Sophie went on, fighting down the fresh thudding at her heart, ‘so, I will pay you what I can, which is not much. But my father, as deputy curator, has a certain amount of influence, and he will see, once our transaction is completed, that you get commissions in plenty. Do you agree, before I tell you what I require?’

      His eyes flickered over her, lazily, yet in a way that somehow made her pulse race. What was he doing, looking at her like that? She tried to stubbornly outstare him, yet found herself utterly distracted by his implacably male figure, his hands, his mouth—oh, Lord, that impossibly wicked mouth, that surely was curling even now, in a smile of derision.…

      She fixed her eyes rather desperately on the rakish stripes of his waistcoat. He drawled, ‘Promises are empty things. You said you will pay me what you can. I’d like to know how much.’

      Her voice was a little unsteady now. ‘I cannot afford more than two hundred francs.’

      He folded his arms. ‘That,’ he said with faintly concealed contempt, ‘is pitiable.’

      ‘It’s not much, I know!’ Her distress was open. ‘But the commissions—my father will make sure you become known, in circles you can only dream of, aristocratic circles!’

      He folded his arms, and leaned his wide shoulders back against a gilded pillar that was crowned by a marble bust of Napoleon. Bother Napoleon, Sophie thought in a sudden outburst of fury, bother him!

      ‘An offer I can resist, believe me.’

      ‘Oh.’ Her disappointment made her almost crumple.

      Then he shrugged, an easy, lithe movement that somehow made her heart do a strange little flutter. ‘But I’ll make a suggestion, shall I? I’ll tell you what my fee will be. But only when you’ve told me exactly what you require me to do.’

      She bit her lip. ‘I’ve told you. I have so little money, I cannot pay you more!’

      ‘Who said it would be money, mam’selle?’ he drawled. ‘Indeed, all it will cost you is a few minutes of your time, believe me.’

      Her mind reeled. Whatever it was, she had to accept. She was desperate.

      ‘My task?’ he prompted gently.

      She moistened her dry lips and met his eyes directly, almost proudly. He liked that.

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