Her Dearest Enemy Read Online Free PDF Page B

warmth, her eyes downcast, her teethstill chattering.
    Suddenly her gaze jerked upward. Her color deepened.Brandon bit back a curse as he realized whathad caught her eye. The hem of his gray flannelnightshirt hung just past his knees, revealing thelower part of his bare legs and ankles—more nakedflesh than any proper lady would be fit to see.
    Well, to hell with her, he thought. If the sight ofhis hairy calves offended Harriet Smith’s sense ofpropriety, that was her problem. It wasn’t as if he’dsent her an engraved invitation to come calling tonight.She could damned well take him as he was orcome back when he was dressed for company.
    It was chilly in the front hall. Gripping her upperarm through the robe, he steered her into the parlor,where a few dying embers still flickered in the fireplace.Two comfortable leather armchairs faced thehearth. Thrusting her firmly into one of them, hegathered some kindling sticks from the wood box andbegan feeding them into the embers. Little by little,small orange tongues of flame began to lick at thesplintered pitch pine. The crackling sound was warmand welcome.
    “Will’s gone.” Harriet’s low voice, rising fromthe shadows of the chair, startled him. “I think he’srun away.”
    Brandon bit back a sigh of relief. It would hurtJenny’s pride to know that Will had deserted her, butin the long run it would make everything easier. Now,surely, she would stop fighting his plan to send herto Baltimore.
    He glanced up at Harriet, his expression deliberatelycynical. “So the young rooster’s flown the coop,has he? Somehow I can’t say I’m surprised. I wouldhave wagered he wasn’t man enough to own up to hisresponsibility.”
    She surged forward, her eyes suddenly angry. “Idon’t know what responsibility you’re talking about,Mr. C-Calhoun,” she said, her teeth still chatteringwith cold. “But I didn’t fight my way through thestorm to sit here and listen to you disparage mybrother! I only came to ask you if you’d seen Will,or if you had any idea where he might be. If you can’ttell me, I’ll be on my way….”
    Her voice trailed off, catching at the end as if shewere stifling a sob. Brandon stared at her in amazement.Lord, didn’t she know? Hadn’t the young fooltold her what he’d done to Jenny?
    Turning away from the fire, he seized her icyhands—not out of affection or sympathy but in an effortto hold her captive while he pummeled her withthe truth. Her thin, cold fingers were all but lost inhis big fists. Instinctively they sought the warmth ofhis flesh, pressing into the hollows of his palms, evenas her eyes blazed resistance.
    Heat and emotion had brought the color back toher face. With the wind-tossed mane of her hair framingher aquiline features, she reminded Brandon ofsome wild, mythical bird goddess, held to earth onlyby his determined grip. Let her go and she would flyaway, back into the storm that had brought her here.
    Lowering his eyes, he forced his mind back to reality.When he looked at her again it was dowdy,stubborn Harriet Smith he saw. Harriet Smith, hisenemy, dressed in his own robe and a pauper’s gownthat gapped between the buttons.
    He pressed her hands so hard that she winced.“Didn’t your brother talk to you?” he rasped. “Didn’the tell you about the ungodly thing he’d done to myJenny?”
    “What?” She stared at him, caught off guard.“Will told me he’d changed his mind about going tocollege. We quarreled…” Her voice trailed off. Hereyes widened in horror as the realization struck her.
    “Yes!” Brandon crushed her hands in his, wantingher to feel the kind of pain he was feeling. “Yourno-account brother has gotten Jenny with child. Shegave him the news yesterday, and now he’s skippedout on her, slunk off like the filthy coward he is!”
    He watched her crumble then, like a mud figure ina deluge—first her face, then her head and shoulders.Even her fingers seemed to dissolve in his hands.
    “No,” she