Abandoned at the altar and made the season's favorite scandal, a woman enters a false courtship with a cold duke whose inheritance depends on an engagement before summer ends. Their bargain becomes harder to contain when the performance continues in private.
It was my first night back in society since my bridegroom abandoned me on our wedding day.
The moment I entered the ballroom, conversation stopped before the music did. Whispers spread behind raised fans.
"That's the woman who was left at the altar."
"What could have been wrong with her?"
He had fled, yet society had decided I was the one at fault. Because of the scandal, my two younger sisters had not even been invited to be presented to the queen. If I failed to restore my reputation this season, they would lose their chance to make respectable matches.
So I did not run. I kept my back straight in a dark teal gown and hid the tremor in my fingertips. Still, the first dance ended without a single man asking me to dance.
As the second waltz began, Dominic Harcourt, Duke of Westmere, crossed the ballroom in a black tailcoat, his gray eyes cold. He was famous for never approaching a woman first, yet he stopped before me and offered his hand.
"Will you grant me this dance?"
I took his hand.
Dominic drew me close under hundreds of watchful eyes.
"You need to restore your reputation so your sisters can make their debut. My mother's will requires me to court a woman for six weeks and become engaged before midsummer."
He smiled as if he had offered nothing more than the next turn of the dance.
"If we pretend to fall in love in public, we both get what we want. What would you say to becoming each other's lie for one season?"
"Why me?"
"Because the moment I choose you, society will stop talking about your wedding and start talking about us."
I could not tell whether the answer was an insult or a rescue.
Dominic's hand tightened slightly at my waist. Hundreds watched us with avid interest, but his gray eyes held no amusement.
"You do not owe me an answer before the music ends."
He guided me through a turn and placed himself between me and the rest of the ballroom.
"Let them see me choose you tonight. Tomorrow, in private, you may tell me whether I have offered you a bargain or merely another insult."