Page 30 of Discovering Her Earl

“What would you like me to do? I will cede to your expertise.”

Cede to her expertise? What the devil? Was this part of his game?

Cocking her head to the side, to study him for a moment, she found she could no longer stay quiet.

“I thought, like most men, you would expect to be in charge after reading a book on the matter.” Even Uncle Henry occasionally got caught in the trap of explaining something to Aunt Rose that needn’t be explained by someone who didn’t know it any better than she did.

But Lord Melville was shaking his head with that bright, friendly smile on his face.

“I should hope you find I’m not like most men. I don’t pretend to be better than the men who would be so bold as to think you needed a man to run things for you, but perhaps you would agree I’m at the least, not as bad?” He winked and the odd warmth returned.

“Very well.” She closed her eyes briefly trying not to think about the winking. “We need to take some measurements. Please get the measure from the box of supplies.”

She pulled her blank journal from another box and took out a pencil to take notes. She started with writing down the date and the members of the team on site.

Miss Elaina Bantham and Lord Melville

Surely, she shouldn’t feel such a thrill at seeing their names written out together like that.

“If you’d rather, you can use my given name, Julian Huntly.” He gave a nod to the page and smiled.

Julian.

“I think everyone is familiar with who you are,” she said, while clenching the pencil to keep from writing out his name.

Julian.

“You may call me Julian, if you wish.”

Her eyes went wide. “I can’t do that. It wouldn’t be proper.”

“Do you call everyone on expedition by their full names?”

“No. But we don’t usually have titled gentleman on our digs.”

“We are the only people here. I don’t think anyone would care.” He waved his arms around at the barren plot where they would be working.

Damn her reluctance to have a chaperone. It seemed completely unnecessary since she knew without a doubt, she would never allow a man to compromise her. And the inconvenience of dealing with a meddling woman on a site was not worth the sense of propriety no one cared about.

So, she wore men’s clothing. It was easier to work without the hindrance of a full skirt catching at her legs as she tried to move. A chaperone would never allow such a sneer at fashion. In fact, the one time she’d had one, the woman had expected her to sit in the shade and watch the work rather than be part of it herself. A lively argument had ensued and the woman may have fallen in a large puddle of mud.

To this day Uncle Henry still accused Lainey of pushing Mrs. Kirkpatrick rather than woman stepping back into the mud by her own power. It was possible that Elaina’s threatening step closer had forced the woman to make a hasty retreat that resulted in her ending up in a puddle. But Elaina hadn’t actually touched the woman.

Still, a chaperone would be too restricting. And for what reason did she have to protect her virtue at this point?

She was a spinster and as such was ignored in most things, including scandals involving handsome men. After all, if she had the skills needed to lure a man like Lord Melville—Julian—in that way, she would already be married, would she not?

“It might be amusing to you that I wish to keep things professional including our proper names. This is not a randy party, my lord. It’s business.”

“I see. I’m sorry if I offended you. Or if you thought I wasn’t taking this seriously. I assure you, I am.”

Yes. So far, he had proven as much. And in doing so had once again impressed her. But she didn’t want to like him. It was too dangerous.

She’d liked him five years ago, and that had been a horrible mistake. Even if he didn’t seem much like the same person who had acted so callously with her tender feelings, she wouldn’t let down her guard. Or let go of her pain.

She took charge of planning the site, fully expecting Julian—Lord Melville, rather—to try to take over or complain, especially when she’d tasked him with a few duties that were less than pleasant.

But he went about his assigned tasks without a hint of irritation. Even checking to make sure she was pleased with what he’d done.