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“Well, you have an excellent reputation.” He sighed, rubbing his forehead as he placed a croissant on his plate. “I just recently accepted the title as Duke of Finhearst. My father and I were estranged for years. My mother never married him and,” he sighed with what she suspected was exasperation. “Suffice it to say, my father never acknowledged me until he realized he needed an heir. So now I’m stuck with the ridiculous title and all the women throwing themselves at me, literally in some cases. I need to just marry someone so that I can get back to concentrating on business.”
Raven smiled. “You enjoy business?” she asked.
He grinned back at her. “I enjoy the challenge of beating others in the game,” he explained. “I had already built up a significant corporation before my…sire…dumped this title on me.” He broke into the croissant. “Now I have to focus on fixing the problems my father created with his ineptitude and I don’t have time to…” he leaned back, shaking his head again. “I just need to get this over with. I want a wife who is willing to shield me from the various women who like to manipulate situations. Their efforts are getting in the way and already, some of these women are creating risky situations. Someone is going to get hurt.”
Raven nodded her understanding and her heart ached. Another man who didn’t believe in love. First Tim, now this guy! What was it about men and their disbelief in emotions?
“So, you’re not interested in a love match.”
He snorted. “I don’t have time for love, Raven.” He set his coffee cup down firmly on the saucer, creating a harsh rattle. “Last week, a woman parachuted into my backyard.”
Raven stared at him, then burst out laughing. “Oh my, that’s…bad,” she whispered, covering her mouth to try and smother her amusement.
“Her parachute got caught in a tree and she was hanging there for four hours until she could reach her cell phone and call for help. The emergency crews had to bring in a special vehicle to reach her.” He sighed heavily. “And the month before, a woman secreted herself onto my yacht in a box. She kept herself hidden from my crew until she thought the ship was sailing, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to get rid of her until my ship docked again.”
Another stifled laugh, but she managed to say, “What happened to her?”
“The cleaning staff found her. The ship was going in for scheduled maintenance. I was in Iceland at the time.”
Raven finally gained control of her laughter and held up her hand for him to stop. “Okay, I get it. You need help.” She sighed and pulled out her pen and notebook. It was such a relief to worry about someone else’s problems for a little while. She’d been trying to figure out how she would face Tim again after their…interlude…and so far, she hadn’t come up with any ideas.
For the next hour, she asked him questions, the whole time, she was stunned by how similar Edward’s answers were to Tim’s. Both men didn’t really believe in love, considered marriage to be more of an obligation. At least Edward was trying to marry in order to stop the chaos that other women were bringing into his life. Tim’s reaction to marriage and forever-after was…well, he just didn’t believe in it.
“Edward?” a male voice called out, interrupting their conversation.
Raven turned and saw Antonio del Campo, the future Marquesso del Campo, coming towards them.
Edward’s dark eyebrows lowered with irritation until he focused on the man. Then his face brightened. Edward quickly stood up and smiled, doing the bro-hug thing.
“Antonio, you old bastard!” Edward laughed.
It was such a shock to hear the distinguished, British accent speaking in such a way, but Raven stood as well, smiling as the two men moved apart. After the two men laughingly separated, Edward turned to introduce Raven. But Antonio interrupted his friend, his eyes lighting up in greeting.
“Raven!” Antonio called out, then his surprise turned serious. “Why are you here instead of driving my friend crazy?”
She pulled out of his gentle hug and looked up at him quizzically. “I’m sorry?”
“Tim has been haunting the club lately,” Antonio explained. “I estimate that he’s won a small fortune at the poker tables over the past week.”
Raven’s heart sputtered. “Haunted?”
“Si,” Antonio replied with a nod. “He looks horrible. I thought that you and he were going to make an announcement soon. But the way he’s been lately…” he didn’t finish the statement, just let the unspoken question hang in the air. When Raven didn’t reply, Antonio continued. “Did something happen between you?”
Edward, who had been standing off to the side, interrupted. “You are the mysterious woman that Tim Armstrong has been seeing?”
Raven was stunned. She looked from one handsome face to the other, then back, trying to figure out what they were talking about.
“I’m sorry, but are you saying Tim is gambling too much?”
Antonio did that casual, European gesture that could be translated several ways. “He has…not been himself lately,” he finally replied.
Raven’s eyes widened even as she tried to hide her reaction. Still, everything inside of her screamed that she needed to get back to Tim. She needed to find out what had upset him! She remembered all of the text messages that she’d ignored over the past few days and guilt tumbled on top of her concern.
Turning to Edward, she did something she’d never done before. “I hate to cut our meeting short, but can I get back to you with any more questions?”
Edward’s eyes narrowed, but after a brief moment, he nodded with a smile. “Absolutely. Your man needs you.”
Raven ignored the chuckle from Antonio as she rushed through the various tables, determined to get back on a plane to Philadelphia…and back to Tim. She had to know what was going on with him!
