All for You by Lynn Kurland

should have been outlawed, whose lovely posh consonants would have made her smile if they hadn’t been coming out of
his
mouth, who seemed to draw people to him like flies.
    He probably had a flyswatter hiding behind his back so he could whack them when least expected. He’d done it to her.
    She didn’t want to think about that particular moment of unpleasantness, but since he was there and she was trying to keep herself awake, she decided that perhaps it was best to get it all out of her system right then.
    She’d met him in the midst of panic over losing Pippa somewhere back in time. He had been an absolute rock, taking all pressure off Tess, being the perfect knight in trousers and tweed. She had to admit that even though she’d known he was way out of her league, she had … she sighed. The truth was, she’d developed an immediate crush on him and spent the majority of her time in England alternately gaping at him and allowing him to figure prominently in her daydreams.
    If he’d noticed, he hadn’t said anything. He had treated her politely, but it had been a stiff sort of politeness, as if centuries of breeding hadn’t allowed him to raise her hopes unnecessarily.
    And then had come The Comment.
    She’d been talking to a potential client at a Regency-style house party about her degree when Stephen had attempted a polite laugh and said, exactly,
Oh, I say, I thought organic was in reference to the manure you put in your garden
.
    She’d been mortified. He hadn’t even had the grace to look embarrassed as those around them had laughed heartily, then moved on to less smelly subjects. Stephen’s face had shuttered. He had, when the crowd had dispersed, attempted a stiff apology, then been coldly polite to her ever since. She had been happy, on those unhappy occasions when she’d seen him since, to give him a wide berth.
    Only now she was stuck.
    She leaned back against the couch and let herself relax just the slightest bit only because she knew if she didn’t, she would have a crushing headache. Unfortunately, that gave her nothing better to do than watch Stephen work the crowd.
    How he managed to be so charming and such a jerk at the same time was a mystery. Granny was blushing. Other scholars were hanging on his every word. Peaches would have told him he was hogging the limelight, but then she realized he was somehow doing all the talking but giving credit to Tess for the research.
    Peaches suppressed a frown. There was obviously something fishy going on.
    He only looked at her once. He gave her a quick little smile that would have left her fanning herself if it hadn’t come from him. Fortunately she was a woman with a steel spine and vast amounts of resistance to tweed-covered academics who thoughtnothing of tap-dancing in stompy boots over the hearts of innocent feng-shuiers.
    It was a very uncomfortable three hours.
    She was thrilled when Stephen announced that Dr. Alexander had another engagement to get to. Peaches accepted compliments with her best smile and didn’t argue when Stephen managed to get them both out the front door without any catastrophes.
    Peaches pulled her collar up to her ears and started out toward the sidewalk. “Thanks, Dr. de Piaget, for the rescue. See you around.”
    Stephen had very long legs and apparently knew how to use them. Peaches would have trotted down the street but she was in heels not her sensible Docs, so she had to walk carefully so she didn’t fall on her face and ruin Tess’s reputation.
    “Miss Alexander—”
    “I’m fine, thank you,” she said politely. All right, so it had come out a bit crisply. He had made fun of her on that fateful night the month before, spent the rest of that particular evening flirting with three of his girlfriends, and now he expected her to be nice to him? “I’ll tell Tess how you saved her this afternoon.”
    “Where are you staying?”
    “None of your business.”
    “Holly’s,” he said with a sigh, taking her by the