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Robert struggled not to fall asleep next to her in the bed. Becca had succumbed to blissful slumber when he got up from the bed to fetch a drink of water from the pitcher in the parlor. He wasn’t going to bother his wait staff in the middle and risk word of her being there getting out. He was still going to protect her reputation as best he could. When he walked back into the bedroom, he found her fast asleep.
Knowing that she could not stay the night, Robert understood she would need to be woken and dressed before going back to her home. However, he knew how those parties her parents hod gone to could be. So he had a bit of time to enjoy this. Unfortunately he allowed himself to enjoy it too much and he drifted off to slumber. When he woke, he was both grateful and disappointed to find the other side of the bed was empty. Becca must have awoken on her own and gone home to save her reputation.
Robert found Quincy sitting in the hotel lounge, enjoying a cup a coffee. At least, he appeared to be trying to enjoy it. The man sat in the chair as if he was afraid of damaging it. He was barely perched on the edge of it.
“Quincy,” Robert said, startling the man with his own name. “Would you like a more comfortable place to sit?”
“I would, but every chair in this place is made of cream colored fabric and delicately carved wood. I’m just certain I’m gonna smudge it or crack it beyond repair.”
“They are not that delicate,” Robert said with a chuckle. “We just wanted them to appear so. It appeals to the ladies more.”
“Then where is a gentleman supposed to go to relax? Without fear he will end up on his arse?”
Robert extended his arm in the direction of his office. Those pieces of furniture had all been selected for a more masculine taste. “I could even offer you something a bit stronger than the coffee.”
“It’s not even noon,” Quincy grumbled. “I don’t want to be caught in a bar this early.”
“No one will see you,” Robert assured him. “It will only be the two of us in there. I will even lock the door if it makes you feel better.”
The older man seemed uncertain. “Fine, we can enjoy our coffee more comfortably in my chairs. I can have some breakfast brought in.”
That seemed to be convincing enough and Quincy nodded his head.
“So how are things going with Miss O’Hare?”
Robert wasn’t expecting that to be the first thing Quincy wanted to talk about, as he went behind the bar to ring one of the maids for refreshments. He was glad he had brought in one of the cooks from Kansas City. It would make both of the men feel more comfortable.
“What do you mean?”
“I noticed how much time you have been spending with her lately.”
“How did you know that?’
“I have tried to catch you in your office a number of times, but you were always out. I knew you were chasing her skirts.”
Robert moved to one of the windows and opened it, suddenly feeling the need for some fresh air. The collar of his shirt was beginning to get tight around his neck.
“The question is, did you catch them?” Quincy asked, in his usually indelicate way.
“Are you asking me if I bedded her?”
“That is one way of putting it.”
Robert wiped his hand down his face, wondering how much he could trust with telling the man. Quincy was one of his best friends, and the man knew how to keep a secret, but Robert didn’t know if he could suffer the disproval the truth would bring. Still, the truth was already beginning to weigh heavily on him. Perhaps he should unburden himself to some degree.
“A gentleman doesn’t give details, but I have been making progress with her.”
“Progress?”
Robert sighed, feeling the inkling of a headache beginning in the back of his head. Perhaps he should have asked of a glass of whiskey instead of toast and eggs.
We have shared a few intimate moments,” Robert said. “I’m not going to give you more than that.”
“Has she said she loved you?”
Robert thought about last night and the way the words had tumbled out of her mouth when neither of them expected it. He didn’t think that should really count as a declaration.
“Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
Robert turned away from the window to see that Quincy was making himself comfortable on the other side of his desk. clearly, the oversized leather chairs he preferred fit the older man much better.
“She was here last night.” Robert felt the need for some confession. “She has admitted her feelings to me, but I don’t know if I can trust things being said in the heat of passion.”
The old man chuckled. “Men are the only ones who say those things when they aren’t thinking clearly. Women always mean what they say.”
That at least gave him some comfort.
“After she caught me with Lettie at the theater, I thought she would never forgive me.”
“She caught you?” He could see Quincy’s eyebrows go up. He gave the man a quick retelling of what happened. He watched the shocked expression on the man’s face shifting.
“You don’t have the sense God gave you, boy. You could have been caught by any number of people.” Quincy let out a loud sigh.
“I’m not really worried about my reputation. People already think I’m the devil. Unfortunately, I have too much money to dent entry to anywhere.”
“She found you with another woman and you were able to talk your way out of it? You are slicker than I thought.” Quincy took another hearty bite of the breakfast in front of him, enjoying it by the smile under his mustache. “Maybe you are cohorts with Lucifer.”
“I simply explained that I was in the process of ending my association with the actress, when she tried to persuade me to change my mind.”
“She believed you?”
“It was the truth.” Quincy’s expression implied he did not believe that. “I can be very convincing.”
“After that, why would she come to see you last night?”
Robert took a deep breath, preparing himself for the lecture he would be receiving afterward. He explained that Becca had come to the hotel to apologize to him and mend their friendship. He told him that things had gone further, but left out the part about taking her bed. He wasn’t going to ruin her reputation, even in private. He did explain that she had mumbled those sacred words to him, but he didn’t know if they could be believed. When he was done, he looked up from where he had focused his eyes on the floor and Quincy let out a low whistle.
“You are in deep, boy.”
Robert closed his eyes, agreeing with him on every level. He woke up this morning feel elated, but now his conscience was beginning to creep into thing. He didn’t even think he still had one of those.
“Are you going to still follow through with your plan?” Quincy asked the questions Robert had been asking himself.
“Of course. I am that much closer to finishing it.”
“You have her right where you want her? Ready to crush her heart?”
That sounded terrible. “She thinks she is in love with me. She will no doubt accept my proposal in private, expecting to make it public afterward. Then, on the night of the announcement, I will publicly deny having any feelings for her.”
“Hurting her the way she hurt you?”
“Exactly.”
“You think that will make you feel good?”
Robert had been waiting for this moment for years. It was what drove him to change himself so drastically. To spend hours on the ranch building his muscles. Nights in the saloon, earning the money at the poker tables. Even the time spent in the company of ladies, becoming a better lover. All of that was for this victory.
“Are you beginning to have second thoughts about breaking the poor girl’s heart?”
“That would be a waste, after all the effort I put into it, wouldn’t it?”
Robert watched as the old man’s expression softened. He was trying to keep his resolve strong, but his insides were doing the same thing. He was beginning to doubt his own plans.
“You don’t have to go through with it. It is a smart man who can admit when he made a mistake and learn from it.”
That wasn’t something he expected to hear from Quincy. “You follow that advice often?”
“No, but I never claimed to be a smart man.”
Robert turned back around, leaning against the windows ledge and breathing in the fresh air. He missed the air in Kansas, which didn’t have the same city stench that it had in New York. Not enough to leave the city again, but enough to wonder if it would help him think more clearly. A sound of something moving in the bushes outside his window caught his attention. He leaned all the way out, turning his head in both directions but he saw nothing but the thick foliage that he had planted for his privacy.
“I’m not sure what I want anymore,” Robert admitted, even though it felt deeper than such simple words.
“Then I suggest you give it some hard thought, before you end up ruining your own life.”