Lady Kaiden's 24-Hour Bookshop

chapter four

"I can not believe you dragged me into this,"

"Well, if my memory is proving correct you did scream at me from across a street to tell me that you would be coming."

I ignored him as always.

"—you hauled me here against my good judgment and now I am stuck here with you."

He grinned into his drink and hooked his arm into my own and guided me towards the girth of the room, "Let us make new friends, shall we?"

I resisted his lead at the sudden reality of frilly dresses and terrifying ascots, "On second thought, how about you let me leave, before society feasts on the both of us, and we call it an evening?"

When I had told my mother I would be going to tonight's ball, she gasped so passionately she almost knocked her chair on the floor because this was the first time she did not have to threaten to disown me. But I may have forgotten to tell her a tad detail about the man who convinced me.

He managed to nudge me forward with a sickening smirk on his face, "Do not get prudish on me,"

"That is exactly what my mother told me," I muttered under my breath.

He then did a horrible job covering his chuckles with a cough, "Come on, Adeline, the party just started."

I frowned, "And I want it to be over," My grievances apparently did not make it to his ears as he pulled me towards the ballroom that were filled with people. Blech. We, or more he, approached a woman who was turning purple at the velocity her mouth was moving and a man who obviously wanted to drown in his own drink.

Lord Olliston bent down to my ear and whispered discreetly, "That is the lovely Frannie Thatcher," he pointed to the woman, "and that is my dear friend Harry Fortensum. He is our target."

My eyes scanned the two, Frannie was no stranger to me, she was one of the many women who castigated behind my back for the many scandals I have caused. Although, unfortunately for Miss Thatcher, she is not the greatest whisperer. The man beside her, though, was an unknown entity and frankly not in my territory of knowledge.

I hummed nonchalantly, "I understand their proposition." My mumbles were casual as if we were having a completely normal conversation, "Introduce me and only speak when spoken to, I got this covered."

"I knew you were just the lady for the job," he guided me towards the couple as we both glued on our picture-perfect smiles.

"Evening, Miss Thatcher, Mister Fortensum," he bowed his head, while I promptly curtsied. "I would like to introduce my frien—"

"Acquaintance," I coughed squeezing his arm.

"—my companion, Miss Kaiden."

Frannie gave me some sort of automated response, but with a hint of malice in the mix. Lord Fortensum, on the other hand, gave me a polite, but curt greeting, meaning he had enough manners to not say aloud how his friend had brought over another pretentious money leach.

"Likewise," I uttered back to the both of them.

"How was your evening, Lord Olliston?" Frannie's eyes actually twinkled in the light.