To Tame a Dragon (5 page)

Dinner was served, un-charred thank heavens.
While Amelia did not mind her unflattering nickname, in fact
found it quite amusing, she did not actually enjoy overcooked
meals. It put her in an unpleasant mood, and she was feeling
slightly put out already. Guilt was not an emotion she
entertained overmuch and it did not sit well with her.

Robin had assured her that Jameson had been
amused but it was a touchy subject. And it really had been the best
excuse for his, and Clarice’s, behavior. The
ton
would be
quick to forgive them both.

Jameson said, “I admit your audacity did shock me for a
moment, Amelia. But even I must admit there are few reasons
society accepts a broken engagement, especially one so close to
the wedding. As always, you played the hand you were given with
aplomb. I salute you, my dear.”

Amelia looked to her mother. “It is so
difficult to tell when he is being serious.”

Jameson forked a perfectly cooked piece of
bird and ate it with considerably more force than was necessary.
It would be easy for a slightly less assured woman to believe he
was imagining it to be her. If it weren’t for the diabolical
twinkle in his eye, she would.

Amelia inhaled sharply. “Very well. I accept
your compliment and will refuse to believe I have hurt you in
the slightest. You may cease with your trickery.” She pointed
her fork at him. “Do not go mucking up all my work now that you
have come out of hiding.”

Lady Beckham sighed and shook her head while
Jameson snorted. “Amelia, please lower your utensil. And kindly
refrain from threatening Jameson at the table.”

After dinner, they retired to the drawing
room. Lady Beckham left soon after, leaving the door ajar.
Jameson had been family for so long that none of them thought of
him as anything but a son and brother. He was allowed liberties
with Amelia that would have ruined his ex-fiancée.

He lowered himself into a chair, sipping his
after-dinner drink. He watched her read, comfortable in the
silence. He was happy here, with her. She was fun, absurdly
loyal, sometimes outrageous. He could spend every night with her
and never be bored. Never be afraid of hurting her.

He took a drink to fortify himself and spoke.
“I have come to the conclusion, my dear dragon, that we should
marry.”

She looked up from her reading with her
eyebrows raised. “Oh, Jameson. Do be serious.”

“I am serious.”

She eyed him and the level of his drink. “How
much have you had tonight?”

“You know I never drink to excess around you.
You’re much too much even when I’m sober.”

She shook her head and went back to her book.

“I’m serious, my dear. I think we should
marry. We complement each other, as man and wife should do.”

She closed her book, set it beside her, and
folded her hands in her lap.

“You’ve thought of this, have you?”

“I’ve thought of nothing else all day. You
pointed out yourself that I need a wife with a backbone; one who
will tie me to the altar when needed. Your brother innocently
pointed out today that you have the bone in question in
abundance.” He laughed. “He was there to guard me from
sister-peddling brothers and unknowingly peddled his own.”

Jameson realized Amelia was not hopping on
board his idea when she didn’t laugh.

He leaned forward. “And my dear, I have
exactly the quality you are looking for in a husband.”

“Which quality is that?”

“I have enough charm to coax you out of your
murderous tendencies. Had it been in you to kill me, I would
have perished a long time ago. It is a match made in heaven, my
dear.”

She was silent, staring at him for a long
moment, then started laughing.

“I very nearly believed you were serious. Are
you trying to get even with me for that rumor?”

He set his drink down and lowered himself to
one knee. She stopped laughing.

He had not expected her to think it was a
revenge-driven joke. He hadn’t thought at all how she would
react, simply assumed that she would see how right it was.

He reached for her hand and she said sharply,
“Jameson, you are in danger of becoming one of my weekly
proposals.”

“This is no joke, Amelia. And kindly do not
compare me to those idiots. I am not here for your money or for
the challenge. I am here because today the idea of marrying you
struck me from out of the blue, and the longer I think on it the
better it sounds. I can think of a thousand reasons for marrying
you and not one reason against.”

He started to get up, then looked to her.
“May I get up?”

“
Please
get up.”

He began to pace between the sofa and the
door. “If you’ll just follow my train of thought here. You’ll be
doing your sex a frightful favor. Think of all the silly girls
who’ll have to give up the idea of marrying me. Plus, you’ll
save one lucky girl from a fate worse than death.”

“By taking it upon myself?”

“No, no. See, you know what I am. There will
be no shocking realization a day after the wedding. Or indeed
the day before. Had I tried to break our engagement you would
have simply grabbed my ear and frog-marched me to the altar. No
painful physical violence. No tears or wailing. You would have
no great expectations dashed.”

“Have you pickled your entire brain? Nothing
left in there to decide between a good or bad idea?”

“And you have willingly and enthusiastically
been my friend for more years than I can count. If you worry
that one day you will tire of me and stab me in my sleep, you
need only look at these last weeks. Not a day has gone by that
we have not enjoyed each other’s company. Not only am I still
alive, but we are still friends. We suit, Amelia.”

“I can’t think of a single fellow who suits
less than you do, Jameson.”

“You’re not following me.”

“I’m following you. I’m simply wondering what
dark recess this madness has sprung from.”

“My dear, it’s a perfect solution.”

“To
your
problem. I can see it adding
a great many more for me.”

Jameson eyed her shrewdly and sat back down
in his chair. “Ah.”

“Ah? You really are most vexing. Ah, what?”

“Ah, you must have some other lucky jackanapes
in your sights.” He was surprised to find that gave him a twinge
of regret and he took a small sip.

“I do not have anyone ‘in my sights’. That,
however, does not mean I want you there.”

“I don’t see why not. I’m quite the catch.”

Amelia raised an eyebrow, daring him to
continue.

“It’s true, and I’ve been told so by more
than just your mother.”

“Have you forgotten that I’ve spent the last
two weeks extolling your sins to your ex-fiancée and half
the
ton
?”

He coughed. “Well, obviously I’m not the best
catch for just any girl. But the right girl now...”

“You thought Clarice was the right girl only
a few months ago.”

“And wasn’t it brilliant of me to realize she
wasn’t
before
the wedding?” He tapped his chin
thoughtfully. “We may want to run up to Gretna Green. I don’t
seem to do well with a lot of time to think.”

“I’m sorry, I thought you said ‘drink’.”

He smiled at her engagingly and she frowned.
“No. Let me put an end to this nonsense now. No. And I’ll be
taking the rest of your drink with me. You have an upsetting
habit of thinking you make sense.”

“See, this is why you would make me an
excellent wife.”

Her eyes flashed for a moment. “But you, sir,
would not make me an excellent husband. Now hand over your
drink.”

“Yes, dear. Will this be a permanent
situation, or will I be allowed the occasional treat?”

He rose, holding the glass out of her reach.

“Jameson.”

“There is one reason I would make you an
excellent
husband, my dear dragon.”

“I have my own money.”

He took one large step forward, trapping her
against the sofa, and bent to whisper in her ear. “That wasn’t
the reason I was thinking of.” He pressed the glass into her
palm. “Promise me you’ll think of my proposal when you’re not
quite sober.”

A small snort escaped her. “I believe ‘not quite sober’
would be the only way I would ever accept your ridiculous
proposal.”

He smiled and kissed the indentation below
her ear. “Ah.”

The next morning Amelia still refused to
shiver, refused to feel the
frisson
his kiss had caused.
It was Jameson, first of all. And second of all, it was
Jameson
.

She might still be unmarried, but it was
impossible to reach six and twenty with her dowry without being
wooed. She knew what he was doing.

Idiot! He’d always come up with the most
dangerous play ideas when they’d been growing up. Dangerous and
exciting. “No, not exciting.”

Her mother looked up from her ladies journal.
“I’m sorry, my dear?”

Amelia shook her head. “Nothing. Just
thinking out loud.”

And he had obviously not been thinking at
all. Where had this come from? One moment they were fine friends
and then he had to ruin it. A woman had to stay on her toes at
all times around him but who could have foreseen this? He’d just
got out of an engagement, the last thing he should be thinking
about was getting into another one.

Amelia threw her needlepoint down with a
sigh. Her mother peeked up again, then set her journal aside.

“Darling, what is the matter? You look quite
ferocious.”

“Mama, did you sometimes want to kill Papa,
or am I merely unlucky in the choice of men surrounding me?”

“Is someone unworthy pursuing you, Amelia? I
know you handle most of these buffoons yourself but you are not
alone. We would gladly help you.”

“I wasn’t talking about those men; I was
referring to Jameson and Robin. Oh, all right—I was talking
about Jameson. He is the most frustrating man, really. And I’m
not even related to him. I’ve simply been stuck with him because
of fate.”

Lady Beckham hid her smile. “You aren’t stuck
with him because of fate. You’re stuck with him because you
trailed him and Robin around incessantly when you were younger.
You adopted him yourself.”

“If I was feeling less generous I would point
out that you should have kept me away from him.”

“Yes, dear. I did try.”

“Well, he was so sad. Nobody else could make
him laugh.”

Amelia remembered those dark days still so
clearly. Her hero, her brother’s wild best friend, wild no
longer. There’d been no more smiles, no more jokes. She’d done everything
she could to get him to pull her hair again; she’d been outrageous and
wild as he used to be. She’d pestered him and Robin had protected him,
and they’d never stopped.

“Has he done something worse than breaking
his engagement? You seemed to take that fairly well.”

Amelia looked at her mother sharply. “I
didn’t
enjoy
it. I simply wasn’t that surprised about
it.”

“Oh, I must admit I was. He is normally quite
sensitive to the hurts of others.”

“Don’t you think it was better than making
himself and poor Clarice miserable? I know, don’t answer that.
He proposed, he should have gone through with it. It just seemed
so silly from the beginning. Why in the world did he ask her to
marry him? She’s just a little mouse; he would have eaten her
for breakfast one morning and no one would have realized.”

Lady Beckham cleared her throat. “Well, that
is behind us now. What has he done recently to raise your ire. I
thought he’d been keeping home.”

Amelia looked out the window. She couldn’t
tell her mother that he’d kissed her. That he’d asked
her
to marry him, and despite all attempts to dismiss it, he’d
sounded serious. Two weeks after
the fiasco
with
Clarice!

She continued to look out the window as she
said, “He’s already looking to propose again.”

“Surprising.”

“Infuriating. I have spent considerable
effort untangling his latest mess, and he wants to go out and do
it again!”

Lady Beckham was silent as she poured more
tea.

Amelia stood abruptly, giving in to the urge
to pace. “Why this sudden fascination with marriage? He seems to
think it will solve all his problems, yet I only see it adding a
great many.”

“Does he have a specific girl in mind? That
would not be kind to Miss Underwood. Perhaps you are right,
Amelia. Haste in this instance would not be prudent.”

“Jameson and prudent are not on speaking
terms, I fear. I must somehow get this idea out of his head
before he makes a mess I can not undo.”

Her mother did not try to hide this smile
when she said, “I can not think Jameson is capable of doing
anything so horrible, my dear. You do have a specific talent.”

Amelia sat abruptly, boneless in her chair.
“He taxes my abilities to exhaustion.”