Geek Girls Don't Date Dukes (2 page)

the dirt.

“Hey,” Ella said, her voice soft and knowing.

“What’s up?”

Leah shook her head. “Don’t worry about me. I’m

fine.” Leah turned away abruptly and cleared her throat.

Between the pain of Kevin’s request and Ella’s gentle

probing, she couldn’t take much more today. Cursing

herself inwardly for the lie, she said it anyway. “I wish

I could stay longer, but Pawpaw needs some help at the

shop this afternoon.”

Ella crossed her arms over her middle, framing her

green- corseted chest. “You going to keep lying to my

face? Because we can play that game if you want.”

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Leah begged Ella with eyes already filling with tears.

“Don’t make me talk about it, please.”

Ella lowered her brows but nodded. “Okay.”

“Thanks for hanging out with me today. I do

appreciate it.”

Ella grabbed Leah’s arm. “Anytime, Leah. I mean it.

Call me.”

The knowing look in Ella’s eyes made Leah feel even

worse somehow. She agreed anyway.

“I will.” Leah pulled free and walked away. She

hoped she was fast enough to keep Ella from seeing the

stupid tears that flowed down her cheeks.

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The bronze bell strung over the door of Ramsey’s

Antiques had long ago lost its clapper, but it still managed

to clang violently whenever Leah pushed through the

door. Pawpaw said that it never sang that loud for anyone

but his granddaughter.

“Pawpaw?” Leah dropped her French hood atop the glass

counter at the front of the store. Scanning the empty sales

floor, she drew in a deep breath, tasting the familiar scent

of ancient leather, dust, and pipe tobacco. “You around?”

His voice sounded far away. “In the back, Leelee.

What are you doing here so soon? I thought you were

at the faire today.”

Leah rounded the corner and collapsed on the stool

behind the counter. The hoops of her farthingale flopped

upward, nearly whacking her in the face. With a frus-

trated groan, she stood and smacked them down again.

“I was. I ran into Kevin, so I left after the coronation.”

“Kevin?” Her grandfather pushed through the

swinging door to the stockroom and set the antique vase

beside the register. “What in the hell was he doing at the

Renaissance festival? I thought he hated ’em.”

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“He does.” Leah leaned on the counter, cupping her

chin in her hands. “He came to see me.”

Pawpaw’s already lined face wrinkled further with

temper. He crossed his arms over his barrel- like chest, his

nostrils flaring. “What did he want with you?”

“To ask me to be Teresa’s bridesmaid.” Her stupid

eyes were watering again. She sniffed and trained her gaze

at the silver spoons nestled inside the glass case below her

elbows. “This is complete and utter crap. I wasn’t good

enough for him to love, but I’m good enough to be her

stupid bridesmaid?” She dashed the tears away. “Sorry, I

don’t mean to dump my problems on you.”

“Leelee.” Her grandfather pulled her upright. “Look

at me, girl. Come on.” He wiped the tears from her

cheeks with his calloused thumbs, demanding her stare

with eyes that were so blue it was eerie— the same eyes

that Leah saw in the mirror every day, only his were

crowned by wiry salt- and- pepper brows instead of neatly

groomed blond ones. Her grandfather, the gold standard

for men everywhere. She just wished she could find

someone as honorable and protective as he was. “That

boy wasn’t ever good enough for you.”

Leah barked a bitter laugh as she averted her

gaze. “Apparently he was
too
good for me. I’m not

Washington caliber.”

“I’m not talking about money and power and all

that hooey. Leelee, you were a bright child, and you’ve

grown into an even brighter woman. It’s going to take

a fine man to be able to make you happy. And Kevin

wasn’t it. Don’t shed another tear over that good- for-

nothin’.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, chasing

some of the chill from her heart.

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Gina Lamm

Geek Girls Don’t Date Dukes

She smiled shakily, drawing in a deep, cleansing

breath. “Thank you, Pawpaw.”

He folded her into his arms and she rested her head

on his shoulder, just as she had a thousand times before.

He smelled sweetly, of his favorite pipe tobacco and

aftershave. His broad hands were warm on her upper

back, and she sighed against his familiar, faded, plaid shirt.

Pawpaw was right. He’d always been right.

“Promise me somethin’.”

She looked up at him.

He continued with a half smile, “Promise me you’ll

find somebody you can count on. A man who knows

what it means to work for a living. A man who won’t let

you run over him but will listen to every word you say.”

“I’ve got a grandfather like that,” Leah said with a

laugh. “There can’t be another man like you.”

He smiled, but his voice was serious. “Leelee, listen

to me. A good, strong, honest man. You find him, and

you marry him. I want to know you’ve got somebody

to come home to, so when I’m dead and gone, I know

you’ll be taken care of.”

She pulled free of his arms and shook her head

vehemently. “Why would you say that? You’re healthy

as a horse.”

He shook his head. “I’m not guaranteed tomorrow,

and I want to know you won’t be alone.”

“I can take care of myself, you know.” She tried to

focus on the insinuation of her helplessness instead of the

dead
and
gone
statement. She refused to even consider a world without Pawpaw. And besides, she was an independent woman. While a romance would be wonderful,

she didn’t need it to survive.

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“I’m not talking about money or protection or

anything like that, and you know it, girl.” He stared her

down. “I mean a partner like I had with your grandma,

someone to share life’s burdens with. You haven’t had

it easy, and with Jamie gettin’ married, you’ll be more

alone than is good for you.”

Leah stared at the carpet. She couldn’t look Pawpaw

in the face. While the rest of the world saw the laughing,

adventurous woman she’d chosen to be, she knew that

he saw the lonely child she’d been when he and her

grandmother had taken her in. He knew her too well.

How could any man hope to do a better job of taking

care of her than the man who’d raised her when her own

mother hadn’t cared enough to do the job herself?

Her grandfather sighed. “If you’re going to stay

around here this afternoon, you’d better change outta

that getup. I could use some of your help staging the

new silver I just bought. You’ve always been better at

that than me.”

He patted her on the back and nodded toward the

office at the back of the store.

“Yes, sir.” She caught the hood that he tossed at her

and made her way through the back room. Maybe an

afternoon of manual labor would keep the ugly memo-

ries of Kevin and her worries about the future at bay. Her

throat tightened at the thought of Pawpaw’s words. Why

would he be so worried about her getting married? What

had he meant, dead and gone?

It took most of the afternoon before she could breathe

normally again.

i

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Leah stoically stared at Jamie’s TV, determined to ignore

the pitiful whining of one claiming- to- be- starved grey-

hound. He’d had a bowl and a half of food only an hour

ago, the rotten liar. He pawed at the foot she’d propped

on the coffee table, his high- pitched cries fighting with

the TV for her attention.

She’d volunteered to house and dog sit for the happy

honeymooners, but Baron seemed determined to pester

her to death. Instead of teaching a week at summer

theatre camp, she was moping around Jamie’s house

with a pile of movies, a boatload of snack food, and a

greyhound that refused to get full.

“You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feel-

ings are what they were last April, please tell me so at once.

My affections and wishes are unchanged.” Mr. Darcy’s

eyes melted Leah from the TV screen, that beautiful deep

voice rumbling through her bruised heart. “But one word

from you will silence me on this subject forever.”

Leah mouthed the reply with Elizabeth Bennet. “I am

ashamed to remember what I said then. My feelings are

so different. In fact, they are quite the opposite.”

Baron whined again and pawed at Leah’s hand,

shaking the tortilla chip free. He snatched up the

forbidden snack and trotted happily to his bed beside a

large mirrored bureau. Crumpling the chip bag closed,

Leah tossed it on the side table atop her MacBook and

lost herself in her favorite movie for a few more minutes.

She sniffed and wiped away her tears at the sight of

Mr. Darcy kissing his new bride as they rode away on

the carriage. Why wasn’t life really like that? Modern

guys—

well, the ones she’d dated anyway—

wouldn’t

know chivalry if it bit them in the ass.

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The power button clicked beneath her finger and

the TV went silent. Baron yawned and stretched, then

trotted toward the kitchen, leaving Leah alone with

nothing but her contemplation and half a bag of chips. A

warm tugging began in her chest, a feeling she couldn’t

place at all. She glanced over at the bureau.

Jamie had traveled through that mirror. It was some

kind of time portal, Leah knew. It stood silently— tall,

gleaming, with an almost otherworldly allure. Her

Converse hit the floor with a soft thump, and before

she knew what was happening, she stepped toward the

antique bureau.

The mirror’s gilt edge gleamed at her, beckoning her

onward. She couldn’t keep herself from reaching toward

the glass, and she couldn’t stop her fingers from dipping

into the mirror as if it were the cool waters of a pond.

Her mouth fell open in wonder. She pushed farther,

relishing the tingling feeling that ran through her fingers

and palm. This was insane. She should be scared. Lord

knew what time period this mirror might dump her in.

She should be screaming for help. But she wasn’t, and

she didn’t. She smiled and pushed her arm through up

to the elbow.

Excitement thrummed through her. Jamie had met

her true love— an earl!— after a trip through the mirror.

Leah bit her lip as the pulling grew stronger. Her

shoulder was nearly through now.

A soft whine interrupted her, and reality cracked her

in the skull. What the hell was she doing?

“Oh shit,” Leah said, yanking backward. “Baron,

wait! I can’t…I’m stuck, I’m— ”

Something pushed her from the other side of the glass,

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Gina Lamm

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and Leah popped free. She staggered backward, landing

on the couch with a thump.

“Oh good heavens, Baron, do get out of the way, or

I shall tread on you.”

Leah bolted upright with a screech. Scrambling over the

edge of the couch, she darted for the baseball bat she knew

Jamie kept in the coat closet. Her heart thumped wildly as

she brandished the Louisville slugger at the intruder.

“Who are you? How’d you get in here?”

The bat clattered to the floor when Leah’s brain

finally clicked with what she was seeing. A short, rotund

woman was climbing out of the bureau mirror— out of

the mirror Leah had just tried to dive through.
Whoops.

“What the hell?” Leah’s knees gave way with shock.

She clutched the edge of the sofa for stability as the

woman’s feet hit the floor and she straightened her skirts.

What was going on here?

“Language, dear,” the little woman admonished her

with a motherly smile. She was dressed in a dark gown

made of rough wool. Her grayish hair was done in a

severe pulled- back style, not a wisp out of place. Her

round face held laugh lines at the corners of her eyes,

giving her a pleasant expression. Her simple dress and

hairstyle were appropriate for a high- ranking servant of

the nineteenth century. Only one person Leah had ever

heard of fit the description.

“Are you— ” Leah stopped, swallowing the knot of

confusion that swelled in her throat.