Scotsman of My Dreams by Karen Ranney

Author:Karen Ranney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

“What you want me to do?” Minerva asked.

“What are you doing right now?”

“I’m sitting in front of your desk, looking intently at you and smiling just a little.”

She amused him, and he realized he hadn’t been amused for quite some time.

“I’ve been asked to make some decisions by my solicitor,” Dalton said. “Evidently, he sent a brief, describing each situation. I need to have you read those.”

“Very well,” she said. “I’ve been told I have a quite a good reading voice.”

“I enjoy listening to you speak,” he said.

“Oh. Is that why you asked me to help you?”

“You have a distinctive way of speaking. As if you weigh each word and give it extra solemnity.”

“I don’t think I weigh my words, especially with you.”

“Actually, your voice is only part of the reason. I find myself annoyed at my secretary most of the time.”

“What has poor Howington done to deserve your annoyance?”

“Poor Howington? What has the man done to deserve your sympathy?”

“I can’t imagine working for you is an easy occupation. No doubt you bark orders and expect ­people to do phenomenal things at all hours.”

“I do not,” he countered. “I barely ask Howington to do anything. And I never disturb him after hours.”

“Never?”

“No. He doesn’t live here.”

“Ah,” she said.

“What does that mean?”

“It means you can’t belabor him because he isn’t here, not that you wouldn’t.”

“Are you going to belabor me with all my imagined flaws and faults?”

“Imagined?” she said.

“Your voice is only one of the reasons why I asked you to help me,” he said.

Perhaps he was reverting to his Scottish heritage. Or becoming more like Minerva, with her startling frankness. He had the oddest sensation that he should tell her the truth.

What would he say?

I find I like being around you. There’s something about you that’s refreshing.

Instead, all he said was, “You’re unlike any other woman I’ve ever known.”

“No doubt because other women fall at your feet in admiration, Your Lordship. I shall not be overcome.”

“That’s reassuring.” He couldn’t help his sarcastic tone, because he had no illusions as to his appearance. He might have once had some attraction for the opposite sex. Some of that might have been his physical appearance, his reputation, or his fortune. Now all he had was his fortune.

He reached down into the bottom drawer on the right-­hand side of the desk, pulling out a sheaf of papers. His solicitor had sent him five issues that needed to be resolved. With each one, Benny had sent a single sheet explaining the situation along with a packet of information for more in-­depth study.

“And I’d like it if you wouldn’t ‘Your Lordship’ me to death,” Dalton said. “Howington does that and it is grating to the extreme.”

“What would you like the poor man to call you? Your Excellency? O Exalted One?”

He smiled. “ ‘Sir’ is just fine from Howington. You can call me Dalton.”

“Well that’s only fair, isn’t it? You already call me Minerva. Not that I gave you permission.”

“ ‘Miss Todd’ seems extraordinarily proper, and

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