Unconventional Suitors 02 - Her Unconventional Hero by Ginny Hartman

her. What have you done to woo her during that time?” Benedict watched as Griffin tugged nervously at his coat sleeves. “Tell me what you have done,” he urged.
    “I’ve danced with her,” Griffin answered lamely.
    “Oh, you have? Well, then I do not understand why she hasn’t fallen all over you and been eager to become your wife. Surely she must know that if a gentleman dances with her that means he wishes to wed her. Pshaw!” Benedict spat in disgust.
    “Look,” Griffin said as he leaned forward. “I’m not sure what else I can do. You do not wish me to write her a poem, do you?”
    Benedict thought back to the horrendous poem his friends had penned for him to deliver to Gillian and shuddered. “No, you must refrain from doing that, for surely that would only push her further away. What you need to do is show her your sensitive side.”
    Griffin snorted, “I do not have a sensitive side.”
    “Well you better develop one soon or it is quite possible that you may never convince her to marry you.”
    Griffin grumbled as he grabbed The Morning Post from the desk and snapped it open. “I cannot very well force her to marry me. How many times do I have to get rejected by her before you are convinced that we do not suit and agree to pick another lady to be my wife?”
    Benedict was thoughtful for a moment. “I would be willing to agree upon ten times.”
    “Ten times!” Griffin bellowed. “You take me for a fool if you think I would let myself be rejected ten times by the same woman. I will appear desperate.”
    “Aren’t you though?”
    Running one hand through his hair, he exhaled, “I rue the day I ever came up with that blasted bet.”
    “I felt that way once as well, but as soon as I learned how satisfying the reward was, I couldn’t help but be grateful that you issued the wager. Gillian’s love is the greatest prize I could ever have won. If you let your blasted guard down for even a second, you’d see that you need someone, that you need Lady Adel.”
    “That is where you are wrong. I do not need anyone, least of all a wife.”
    “Well then, how do you expect to produce that heir you will eventually need?”
    Griffin’s dark eyebrows went together in a scowl. Benedict had a point, but he wasn’t about to concede that to him. It was inevitable that his father, the Earl of Westingham would eventually pass on, leaving him the new earl, with the responsibility to provide an heir so that the title could remain in the family, but he didn’t like thinking about his future responsibilities, and he most definitely did not like thinking about his father.
    “I suggest you concentrate on producing your own heir,” he replied as he casually thumbed through the pages of The Morning Post until he found the scandal sheet. His eyes, of their own accord, began scanning the page, only semi-interested in the words that were printed.
    “Do not concern yourself with that, for I can assure you that much time and energy has indeed been given to the cause.”
    “Of course there has,” Griffin said with a wicked grin while an odd feeling of envy pierced him completely out of nowhere. He forced himself to concentrate even more on the words in front of him to avoid having to analyze the foreign emotion.
    His eyes settled upon the popular column by Mrs. Tiddlyswan and began reading part way down the page: Let it be known that Lady Grace has been blackmailing Lord Crestin for some time. Though it is unclear as to why, this author is intent on finding out.
    Griffin stopped reading. Lady Grace? His mind instantly went back to Lady Adel and her eagerness to learn the woman’s name. Could it be possible that she was the one who had reported this piece of damning information to Mrs. Tiddlyswan? Griffin was thoughtful for a moment before deciding that it had to be a coincidence, for surely she wouldn’t be so foolish as to involve herself in such scandal.
    He laid the paper in his lap when Benedict began speaking,