She laughs and shakes her head, “oh pish. I saw your work on that machine. It was brilliant. Besides, an instruction manual is better conversation then the man I have been meeting.” She sighs and smiles at George, “but at least I got to see you. Maybe I can visit you at the mill again and you can show me how to work on the machinery?” George looks up at her through his bangs in surprise. She wants to know how to work the equipment?
“I c-can, but y-you know th-that y-you’ll g-get dirty?” He picks at his sleeve and shifts in the chair, “it’s n-not work for s-such a fine l-lady as y-yourself.” Vivienne arches a brow and smiles taken aback. No one has ever been so polite to her, usually she was told she was too stupid for men’s work, or that it would be too hard on her delicate disposition. She finds herself flushing and quickly looks into her glass,
“Ah that won’t be an issue. I work with my father on his inventions all of the time. It is a kind of dirt that I can agree with.” George scratches his head embarrassed. No one ever commented to him about his work, at least not directly. He isn’t used to this much praise.
“W-well in that case I s-suppose I w-will teach y-you.” He smiles at her and sees Edmund coming around the corner. Edmund grins seeing the pair together and waives heading over to the pair of them. He meets his brother’s eye for a moment before looking at Vivienne who glares at him,
“do you know what time it is? What were you too busy wooing one of the other ladies? You can at least pretend to take this engagement seriously.” She sighs and looks over at George, “luckily this young fellow kept me company while you were away. What does it say when your employers are more punctual then their boss?”
Edmund arches a brow looking over at George and then at Vivienne before bursting into laughter, “do you not know who this is? Vivienne, this is my little brother. I am not really his boss. We both stand to inherit the business.” Vivienne looks over at George surprised. She has heard of Edmund’s younger brother, but somehow she thought he would be more outgoing. The last thing she expected was to see such a studious and intelligent man.
“Oh I see. My apologies then. I had no idea. “George smiles at her and shrugs standing up so Edmund can take his seat,
“That’s okay. Most people don’t believe we are related.” George says as Edmund wipes the tears from his eyes and claps his brother on the shoulder,
“ I got all the good looks, but erm, Georgie here is into reading and boring things just like you. Which is perfect, because I have other things to do this afternoon. So…” he pushes George back in the seat with a wink, “he’s just going to have to stay with you today.”
Vivienne arches a brow and is about to protest when she realizes she won’t have to deal with Edmund at all if she lets him go and she can take this opportunity to learn more about the mill. “Fine. Go.” Edmund flashes her one last smile before turning to his brother and saluting him,
“good luck Georgie!” he exclaims and turns on his heel vanishing down the walkway and beyond the gate.
Vivienne shakes her head and looks over at George, “well Georgie, good riddance to him. He really is very obnoxious isn’t he?” She smirks and takes a drink of her lemonade. “Well let’s go then. I see no reason for us to waste the day. Show me your machines!” Her eyes are alight with determination and for a moment George forgets his own bashfulness as he stands,
“my n-names George. Only Edmund c-calls me Georgie.” He says softly, “c-come on th-then, the c-carriage is around th-this way. H-hope you d-don’t mind if I d-drive it?” Vivienne arches a brow and stands up,
“not at all. Can you show me how? Father always said it was too dangerous, but I confess I am curious.” George looks unsure but smiles.
“Y-you c-can watch m-me.” He assures her and leads her around back where a small carriage is situated. He hooks the horses up and climbs into the driver’s seat offering his hand to Vivienne who takes it with a grin and sits beside him watching how he holds the reigns.
He leans over explaining the process of controlling directions when his hands brush hers and his face turns beet red. He draws away and quiets focusing on the road. Vivienne nods listening to the instructions with interest hardly noticing when their hands touch. As he pulls away she tilts her head quizzically, but lets him move away and contents herself to watching his movements.” I have never seen a gentleman drive his own carriage.” She comments as they come to a stop at the mill.
George hands the carriage over to a worker and turns, “I d-don’t like to r-rely on other p-people. B-besides my F-father is a d-do it y-yourself k-kind of m-man. Edmund c-can drive t-too.” He adds.
Vivienne snorts and says, “that is something I would love to see. He seems above such things.” George nods and leads her into the mill and back to the area he had been working in before.
“Edmund i-is sometimes v-very d-difficult.” He pulls out a worn manual and hands it over to Vivienne so she can follow what he is doing. Vivienne takes it eagerly and is surprised as he also hands her over an apron with a smile, “ th-this is a two man j-job. Do you w-want to help?”
“I thought you would never ask. Where are your tools?” She takes a seat by his side and lets him show her the diagrams in the book. The two work together and Vivienne notices the more they work, the more George’s stammer seems to disappear. She smiles at him and looks back at her portion of the job.
Chapter 7
George returns home covered in oil and sporting a dopey smile. He opens the door and his father waves at him without looking up. He never gave his younger son too much attention as he never caused any trouble. George makes his way to the shower smiling the whole time and unable to think of anything other than Vivienne. How close she sat next to him, the way her hair would sometimes brush against his shoulder, the smell of her perfume, the sound of her laugh, and most importantly how she actually listened to what he had to say. Never in his life has anyone truly listened to him. Always the younger brother, the smaller brother, the boy with the stammer. Brilliant, they’d say, but sadly inept in any situation that doesn’t require a wrench. But not Vivienne.
He heads to his room and is almost asleep when he hears a knock. He sits up and sees Edmund in the doorway. “Georgie! How was it? Did you hit it off with her?” He enters the room and plops down on the bed without giving George any warning. George is barely able to move aside before his brothers backside collides with his legs. He looks up at her brother with mild irritation, but smiles at his words giving him a slight nod,
“ I th-think s-so.” Edmund nods and looks at his younger brother thoughtfully. Typically he would be the one showing George what to do, but in the case of Vivienne Amor George probably knew better. The woman was just as dull as he is.
“Good. Now don’t fail us eh? We need her to love you. Not just like you.” He adds. George nods looking at his brother annoyed,
“g-get out of m-my r-room.” He huffs and lays back down for bed. He would do his best to make Vivienne feel for him the way he feels for her. He just doesn’t know if he can pull it off. He sighs and fades off to sleep.
The next day Edmund finds him and grins, “so I have dates lined up all week. Afraid I can’t make it to any of the meetings. That’s all on you. It’s no secret that she and I dislike each other, these meetings are Father’s way of forcing me to get on with her. I have all the dates set at different locations so Father doesn’t know it’s you meeting her and not me. Don’t mess this up Georgie.” He hands him a piece of paper and grins, “well I am off. Good luck.” George blinks and looks down at the slip of paper about to ask Edmund what he is supposed to do, but by the time he looks up Edmund is gone.
With a sigh he looks at the first place and time on the schedule. He chuckles when he sees that Edmund was planning on taking Vivienne shopping and then fine dining. He cannot imagine the woman who spent the day with him working on machines would want to do that. He goes to retrieve the carriage tugging at his shirt self-consciously. This time he lets a driver
take him, he had to look the part when he went into town after all, even the mousey brother had to live up to some standards.
When he arrives he sees Vivienne waiting in the town square and his heart stops. She is so beautiful wearing a light summer dress and practical shoes, a white sun hat and a pair of lace gloves, so different than the other ladies around her who all wore large dresses and petticoats. George feels a warmth spread throughout his body and despite his best efforts he cannot look away from her. Never in his life has he wanted to be with someone so badly.
Vivienne sees the Dicken’s carriage and sighs resigning herself to a day with Edmund, but when she sees George step out she cannot stop the smile from spreading. Her mood continues to elevate when Edmund does not follow and when George begins to head her way. She catches his eye and to her surprise she can feel her heart beating throughout her body, a feeling of excitement she never feels unless her experiments are going well.
“S-sorry I am l-late. Edmund d-didn’t t-tell me about th-this until a f-few moments ago.” George blushes embarrassed that he and made her wait on him. He hates to see boredom cross her beautiful features. Vivienne smiles and gestures for him to sit,
“don’t fret I have not been here long,” she lies and tilts her head, “ I am surprised you wish to take me shopping though.” George does not need to know how late Edmund had made him and for some reason Vivienne wanted to spare him further embarrassment or pain.
“I-I d-didn’t plan th-this outing.” George admits as he stays standing. “B-but I do ha-have an alternative.” He blinks and looks over at the carriage, “h-how d-do you f-feel about a h-hike?” Vivienne arches a brow and looks down at her clothing,
“a hike? Not a common thing to ask a lady to do. I fear that I am not dressed for the occasion. “George nods,
“it w-was a s-stupid idea.” He says softly and sits down. I should have known better than to ask her on such a troublesome outing. Stupid. He thinks to himself before he feels a hand on his. He looks up to see Vivienne leaning over,
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to. We will just have to get creative. Anything is better than this terrible place. “She stands up and takes his hand in hers gently tugging on him, “this was a stupid idea. Your brother’s. Like I would want to do something as paltry as shopping. Come on then!” She grins and pulls him out of his seat leading him back to his carriage.
For a moment George is shocked, but soon he is smiling ear to ear as he stumbles after her. “It is n-not too t-terrible a h-hike. J-just something b-brief.” He adds softly and blushes when she opens the door and barrels into the carriage. He should have done that. It is bad form to let a lady open doors for herself, but he has little time to dwell as she is pulling him inside after her.
He sits in the seat a crossed from her and can’t help but smile when he sees her face. She is looking out the window excitedly, and as she turns to him he can see her smile as she pushes brown curls from her face. “This day is turning out far better than I thought already. Show me this hike then.”
George nods and gives the order for the driver to take them out to the country side. It was a short distance and the hike itself was not so long. Only about a half hour up an easy incline to a natural pond. He had asked some of the servants to set up a picnic there for the two of them when he found out his brother had planned to leave him with Vivienne for the day.
Vivienne is out of the carriage first, but she slows down so George can lead the way. She watches how he moves and does her best to mimic him. He is so different then all of the other men she has been with. He didn’t treat her like she couldn’t handle herself. It was…nice. When they reach the clearing Vivienne gasps seeing the picnic and smiles at George coyly, “I thought you said you had just found out that Edmund abandoned me?”
George blushes and looks down, “I w-well…. I a-asked s-some s-servants t-to… I m-mean…” Vivienne giggles and leans over gently kissing his cheek causing him to heat up and blush furiously,
“ it is very sweet. Come on let’s eat.” She grabs his hand and rushes over to the blanket with George in tow. He raises his hand to his cheek and smiles.
Halfway through the lunch he looks over at Vivienne, “ s-so your fa-father is an in-inventor? D-do you … d-do you a-also invent th-things?” Vivienne looks up from her sandwich and her eyes spark, “ do you want to see?” George smiles and nods at her.
She reaches into her dress and takes out a small notebook, “your d-dress h-has pockets?” George asks surprised and Vivienne laughs,
“ a hardly inventive addition. All clothing should have pockets really. Here,” she hands him the book suddenly shy. She was never worried about showing her inventions to someone before. George takes it and flips through amazed at the drawings and schematics. It was so detailed…. So organized. He looks up at her and smiles,
“i-it’s amazing. Y-you’re amazing.” He blushes and looks down handing her the book back. Vivienne takes it and holds it to her chest. Only her father had ever valued her inventions before. With a smile she takes his hand again. “So are you. I will show you them in person next time we meet. Just don’t tell Edmund. He isn’t worthy to be in my workshop.” George looks over at her and nods. For once he is the better brother.
Chapter 9
Vivienne smiles to herself thinking about George. They had spent the week together doing things she never thought she would do with a man. The hike, the machinery, and she even showed him her personal workshop. The look on his face when he saw her machines stopped her heart. She had finally found someone who really appreciated her work, and not just her money. She sighs and looks over at her father,
“do we have to go to this event? If it’s to raise awareness can we not just send out a pamphlet or something?” Harry chuckles,
“average people do not read pamphlets my dear. You have to spend money to make money, and we have to have money to work.” Vivienne sighs and nods gasping as a servant tightens the corset around her waist.
“Fine. But why do I have to wear all of this?” She gestures to the multi-layered blue and cream Victorian dress. The hoopskirt enough was too much for her, and with all of these layers of lace and fabric Vivienne knew she was likely to faint. Fan or no fan. Harry only smiles and leans over stroking her cheek,
“yes you do. Your fiancé will be there and so will the patrons. They need to see the lady of the house.” Vivienne frowns thinking of Edmund. First he was obnoxious and then he dropped her entirely. Probably out and about with other women drinking his mind away, she thinks to herself but can’t help the smile, well at least I get to see George instead. Harry grins wider thinking the smile is for Edmund. Perhaps finally Vivienne was taking a liking to him.
J~*~
Edmund sighs waiting at the entrance to the fundraiser with his brother and father. He couldn’t get out of the event no matter how hard he tried it was too important for the public to see the new couple together. He looks over at George wondering if his little brother is keeping his end of the deal, and if he has why has Mr. Amor not demanded a change to the proposal yet? Before he can think on the subject longer the carriage arrives. He watches as the footmen opens the door and he begins to step forward to take her hand, but he is stopped midstep when he sees the woman who walks out.
Vivienne is beautiful, if not uncomfortable, wearing deep blue sapphire earrings and a pearl necklace, her hands gloved, and Edmund even sees a high heeled foot as she steps down. His breath catches in his throat as Vivienne approaches and scowls at him, “what’s the problem? Cat got your tongue? Get your head out of the clouds dear, we have work to do.” She takes his arm and half leads Edmund to the event shaking him out of his haze.
When she sees George she waves at him actually excited to see the younger man. George blinks at her in awe and when he sees the wave he blushes and looks away from her. She frowns wondering what the problem is, but continues into the event with Edmund. Edmund leads her to a large table,
“You look beaut
iful.” He compliments, “can I get you something to drink?” Vivienne looks over at Edmund surprised at his offer, but nods. Once he is gone she leans over to George,
“I hate these events. Want to get out early?” George looks up at her and coughs. Never had he imagined that Vivienne could look so different, so amazing. Vivienne doesn’t deserve him, she deserves someone much more charming, and George looks over at his brother, someone like Edmund.
“E-excuse m-me I ha-have to g-go.” He stands abruptly and walks a crossed the event leaving a stunned Vivienne behind. Edmund returns with the drinks and smiles offering hers.
“Now where were we? Oh. You look beautiful tonight Vivienne and I was wondering if perhaps we could try again? It is clear our family wants this marriage, and I have been very childish about the whole thing.” He says softly and looks at her. “So maybe we can start tonight?”
Vivienne looks at him shocked and presses the drink to her lips. Edmund has never been so polite to her, but he is right. “Well I suppose we can try, but is something wrong with George?” Edmund blinks and looks over at his brother hiding in the corner and laughs,
“No Georgie is just inept. Don’t worry about him. Tonight is going to be all about us.” Vivienne looks at Edmund and frowns standing up,
“you are terribly rude. I don’t want to start over. I am leaving.” How could he say such things about his brother? She storms off leaving Edmund slack jawed behind her. Regis comes over and looks at Edmund angrily.
“what have you done? This is an embarrassment. Go after her!” Edmund stands and heads off behind her, but by the time he gets to the door her carriage is already leaving. He turns back to his fuming father,
“she’s gone.” Regis slams his fist in the table,
Bad, Very Bad Shifters- The Complete Mega Bundle Page 81