A Loving Scoundrel Read Online Free PDF

interfered in m’life too much as is. Drop it, or we’re done talking about any- thing.”
    A long moment passed before Jeremy nodded—for now. But causing their thief extended grief had not been part of tonight’s agenda. He’d have to accompany the girl home now, when they were done, to get whatever trouble he’d caused her set right.
    There shouldn’t have been any trouble, though, and that’s where this situation was getting most odd. They were offering a thief a golden opportunity. Any normal cutpurse would have jumped on it and been grateful to have such a golden egg dropped in his lap. But no, they had to get the one exception, a thief from a gang that was apparently so bogged down in rules that they couldn’t even do odd jobs without getting permission first. Which defied reason. What bloody difference could it make when, where, or what, as long as the fat purse got brought home?
    The coach stopped. Percy said with a sigh, “Finally.” Then: “Good luck, youngun. Not that you’ll need it. We’ve every confidence in you, ’deed we do. And can’t tell you how much this is appreciated. It’s deuced hard hiding from your own mother, specially when you live with her.”
    Jeremy opened the coach door and ushered the girl out before Percy’s dissertation turned into his usual long-winded sort. They were parked in the woods near Heddings’s estate. He took her arm and led her through the trees until the house was in sight.
    “I’d wish you luck as well, but you aren’t likely to need it,” he said in parting. “I’ve seen how capable you are at what you do.”
    “Wot makes ye think I won’t be bolting for home soon as I’m out o’ yer sight?”
    Jeremy smiled, though she probably couldn’t see it. “Because you have absolutely no idea where you are. Because it’s the middle of the night. Because we can get you back to London much, much sooner than if you try to find it yourself. Because you’d rather return home with your pockets full of dazzling gems than empty. Because—”
    “That were enough becauses, mate,” she interrupted in a low grumble.
    “Quite right. But one last assurance. If for some inexplicable reason you are apprehended, don’t panic. I’m not sending you to the wolves, dear boy. I will see to your release no matter what it takes. You may depend upon it.”

Chapter 3
     
    I’ M NOT SENDING YOU TO THE WOLVES . Who did he think he was kidding? He was the bleeding wolf. But she could breathe normally again, now that he was no longer near her and looking at her with those penetrating blue eyes.
    She’d nearly given herself away, with all those blushes, and that had frightened her, too, that she’d been unable to control what that gent made her feel. She usually dealt well with men, she was “one” of them, after all. But then she’d never come so close to one of Malory’s caliber. Just looking at him flustered her, she found him so attractive!
    Danny had never been so distraught in her entire life, with possibly one exception. But she’d been too young to realize the danger she had been in then, hadn’t known that if she’d stayed where she was she’d surely die, only knew that she was completely alone in the world, with no one to turn to for help.
    She wasn’t alone anymore, but she might as well be. She’d been living on a tightrope of anxiety for several years now because she was getting too old to hide that she’d never fill out with manly proportions like the rest of the boys eventually did. Sooner or later, someone was going to realize and reveal that she’d deceived everyone from the very beginning.
    It had been easy, keeping that secret over the years, much easier than she could have hoped for, and all because Lucy had been right. Bringing her home to the pack in ragged knee breeches, a shirt too big, a coat too small, that old hat she’d found to keep the rain out of her eyes, and with her long hair chopped off to the neck had left a lasting