The Emperor's New Clothes by Victoria Alexander Page A

solid ground.”
    â€œI’d like to learn to ride.” A longing look crossed Jenny’s face, and Ophelia’s heart twinged at the sight.
    â€œSomeday, darling, someday soon. We’ll have a nice home in a pleasant town and a horse for you and a carriage for me.” Ophelia threw her a confident smile. “But for now, these nice people in this pleasant town will provide us with everything we need, at least for a while.”
    Jenny frowned. “Does anyone suspect you’re not who you say you are?”
    â€œI don’t think so.” Ophelia chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully and considered the events of the evening. “Mr. and Mrs. Matthews strike me as being far too agreeable to distrust anyone without reason, and so far I haven’t given them one. There is an Englishman here—”
    â€œGoodness.” Jenny’s face paled.
    â€œNo, I don’t think he’ll give us anything to worry about. Surely, if he’d noted a problem in my performance, he would have exposed me.” She shrugged in a nonchalant manner. “He didn’t, so I assume we’re safe.”
    â€œIt does seem to be going well so far.” Doubt lingered in Jenny’s voice.
    â€œSo far.” Ophelia hesitated to mention the golden-haired, bronze cowboy—mayor—with the chocolate eyes who’d seemed to be everywhere she looked tonight. She didn’t want to pass on her unease about Tye Matthews to her sister. Unease that had nothing to do with her deception. As for that, she had few concerns. Oh, the man appeared intelligent enough, but he was still only a mere man and nothing to cause undue alarm. It had been her experience that when it came to women and cards, men rarely saw beyond what they wanted to see, or much past what was already firmly in their hand.
    Absently, she clutched the riding habit tighter. No, it wasn’t the possibility of exposure that kept his teasing eyes and knowing smile on her mind. She could, somehow, cope with having her true identity revealed. Lord knows, they’d escaped from tighter spots. But how would she handle the odd sensations flooding her when he so much as quirked a dark brow or laughed with a sound that warmed her blood and caught her breath?
    Who ever loved that loved not at first sight? The Bard’s immortal words thundered through her head.
    â€œDamnation,” she said under her breath.
    It couldn’t be. It was impossible. She’d spent her entire life avoiding just such a fate. Love was nothing more than a convenient excuse for men to use to get what they want. Why, she’d watched her father break the hearts of dozens, possibly hundreds, of women through the years, all willing victims sacrificing themselves in the name of that fickle emotion. And he wasn’t unique. Throughout her childhood she’d been surrounded by men, mostly actors, all smooth-talking charmers who used and discarded women like so much rubbish. Ophelia Kendrake refused to join their ranks.
    Resolve lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. Regardless of Shakespeare’s words about it, she did not believe in love at first sight. Not now. Not ever. Not even if it came disguised as a seductive god of the sun. Tye Matthews might well consider himself irresistible to other women, but as far as she was concerned, he was an obstacle, plain and simple, and nothing more than another player in her little drama. She could handle him. And the emotions he aroused were probably best attributed to an approaching illness, the sniffles perhaps or possibly a plague, both preferable to that dire fate called love.
    â€œWhen is this fox hunt?” Jenny asked, interrupting her wandering thoughts.
    â€œDay after tomorrow.” Ophelia tossed the habit on the bed and turned back to peruse the offerings in the wardrobe. “But we have to select clothes for tomorrow. Big Jack is going to show me around his ranch. And his wife is planning a