He smiled at her. “You do indeed. Tell me, how is your plan coming? Done anything scandalous lately?”
* * *
Jane blinked at Upton. She’d spent the last several minutes desperately attempting to interpret everything he’d said and done. He’d made his way directly to her and asked her to dance, hadn’t he? Very not Upton-like. That had to be a sign he was in love with her, didn’t it? He hadn’t mentioned her teacake consumption. Also quite un-Upton. Now he was being nice to her and laughing when she said something funny, a third entirely probable sign that the man was madly in love with her.
This was difficult. Why couldn’t it be something tangible to interpret like, say, handwriting? She’d learned a great deal about handwriting of late. For instance, if a letter written to someone contained wide, scrolling letters, it meant the author was infatuated by the recipient. Would it be odd to ask Upton for a sample of his handwriting? It would, wouldn’t it? She shook her head and refocused on his question. “Something scandalous?” she managed to ask in a tone she hoped sounded nonchalant.
“Yes, the scandal you and Lucy are hell-bent on creating.”
“Oh, we’ve been…” Good heavens, was she perspiring? She removed her hand from his shoulder and waved it in the air briefly. “Considering our options.”
“I see,” Upton continued. “And what of Mrs. Bunbury?”
Jane had to concentrate on his words, because otherwise she was thinking about his shoulder. Specifically how good it felt under the tips of her fingers, even through her glove. The man was surprisingly muscled for being Upton. He wore impeccably tailored black evening attire with a sapphire waistcoat and a starchy white cravat that looked enticing against the bit of stubble from his chin that had scraped the soft skin of her cheeks last night. That, coupled with the heady scent of him, and she was finding it altogether too difficult to follow the thread of the conversation.
She sucked in her breath. “Mrs. Bunbury? Yes. We have made progress there.”
“What do you intend to do?” he asked.
Jane squeezed his shoulder just barely. She couldn’t resist. “Lucy says we should keep Mama guessing by constantly acting as if Mrs. Bunbury has been in our presence and left just before Mama arrives.”
He arched a dark brow. “Truly? That’s your plan?”
“Yes. For now.” Why did Upton have to smell so good?
“Seriously?”
Jane trained her gaze over his shoulder. Why did Upton have to have such heavenly hazel eyes? Or more specifically, why had she had to notice that Upton had such heavenly hazel eyes? She’d been quite satisfied with barely noticing them before, thank you very kindly. Though now he was questioning her plan, much more Upton-like of him. Good heavens. Perhaps Lucy had been mistaken about his being in love with her and now Jane was stuck thinking about the blasted color of his eyes.
“Yes,” she answered with a nod. “Between Lucy, Cass, and myself, we believe we can make it work. At least for the day or two of the wedding until we leave for London again.”
Upton’s mouth curved into a smile that made her want to kiss him. Blast it.
“How will you explain that Mrs. Bunbury isn’t traveling back to London with you?” he asked.
Why did Upton insist upon asking a lot of questions about Mrs. Bunbury? Jane could barely concentrate on his words. Instead, she’d been staring at the sensual curve of his lips. Confound Lucy for telling her anything. “Because Mrs. Bunbury is going to become horribly ill the night of the wedding and leave before Mama has a chance to check on her.”
“Poor Mrs. Bunbury.” Upton shook his head.
Jane wanted to thread her fingers through his thick, dark, curly hair. “Don’t worry. Mrs. Bunbury shall recover.” Though Jane might not.
Upton smiled again, flashing his perfect white teeth at her. Since when did she notice that Upton’s teeth were either perfect or white?
“It’s ludicrous, of course,” he said. “But you and Lucy are so confident about it. That is her secret, isn’t it? Lucy makes things work because of her supreme confidence in their working.”
Jane returned his smile. Was he thinking her teeth were perfect and white? She didn’t know about the perfect part, one of the teeth on the bottom was a bit crooked, but they were white. Weren’t they? “I’m not certain what Lucy’s secret is, but she does have confidence. To spare.”
Upton sighed. “I suppose it will give even more credence to the story if I mention to your mother that I’ve met Mrs. Bunbury and she’s a lovely woman and an apt chaperone.”