Between a Rake and a Hard Place Read Online Free PDF

you’re right.”
    He drained his own cup in one long gulp. Serena diverted her gaze. She wasn’t used to such raw appetites. Most gentlemen sipped their punch in a genteel, measured manner. Sir Jonah obviously wasn’t the type to do anything by halves.
    â€œYou’ll have people fawning on you right and left once you’re royal,” he said.
    â€œSo you thought you’d beat the rush and begin fawning on me now?”
    â€œI never fawn. However, if it seems that I’ve been following you, you’re right. I have,” he admitted, “but only because you interest me, Serena.”
    She’d been called many things—accomplished, well-connected, even beautiful once or twice by people who wished to curry favor with her powerful father—but never interesting. “Why do you find me interesting?”
    â€œFrankly, because you’re different.”
    She made the sound Amelia scolded her for often. “Ladies never snort, Serena,” she’d say. Unfortunately, Serena did so with alarming frequency. “In case you hadn’t noticed, being different is not a quality which is highly prized by Society.”
    â€œIt is by me.” He fixed her with his almost hypnotic gaze. “In my experience, too many young ladies are as interchangeable as a matched set of andirons.”
    Serena blinked, breaking the spell, and buried her nose in her punch cup for a moment. “Oh, you charmer, you. I wasn’t aware your experience included many young ladies. Most say you favor lonely widows and wayward wives.”
    â€œYou mustn’t believe everything you hear.”
    What about the other things whispered about him? Like the mysterious way he came by his knighthood. Usually, the commoner who was honored with the elevation to baronet had performed some service to the Crown and that service was trumpeted about by said commoner until his listeners were tempted to box their own ears.
    Sir Jonah had never uttered a word in public about how he’d earned his baronetcy.
    But that didn’t stop the rumor mill from grinding out possibilities, some of them quite unsavory. By the light of the gas lamp, she noticed a small scar bisecting one of his eyebrows. Instead of spoiling his appearance, it gave him a rather dashing air, as if he were a pirate king or a gypsy lord.
    A dangerous man to know.
    She burned to ask him how he came by the scar, but if she did it would seem as if she were interested in him as well. And she wasn’t. Not a bit. He was too rough, too direct, too…taking off his tailcoat.
    There, in front of God and everybody who cared to glance their way, Jonah Sharp was peeling off his jacket. Gentlemen never did such a thing. To be seen in public in only his waistcoat and shirt was more than a little scandalous.
    And made her breath catch strangely in the back of her throat.
    She glanced around at the other opera-goers who were taking the air. Anyone might see her with this half-dressed fellow.
    He draped the tailcoat over her shoulders. “You were shivering.”
    This surprisingly thoughtful half-dressed fellow. The fine merino was infused with the warmth of his body along with his distinctive scent—musky and rich as a deep forest with an undertone of leather.
    â€œThank you. The air is a bit brisk this evening.” She hoped he didn’t think her shiver had anything to do with standing so closely to him. She handed him her empty punch cup and pulled the lapels together in front. It was almost as if he were holding her close.
    She’d always had a vivid imagination, but no good could come from that sort of fancy.
    â€œWhy did you sneak into Boodles in the first place?” He set the cups down on the brickwork railing leading to the door.
    She took a step back and found her spine pressed against the brick facade of the opera house. “I don’t have to answer to you for my actions.”
    He braced a hand on the wall