How to Marry a Rake Read Online Free PDF Page B

papa dropped into the empty seat with a grateful sigh. He glanced longingly at her stool, as if he’d like nothing better than to lean back and prop up his feet, as well.
    ‘You promised me a dance,’ he complained. ‘And now I cannot collect.’ He chucked her on the chin as if she was an infant. ‘You know how I hate an unpaid debt. I shall have to charge you interest.’
    ‘Then I shall be sure to dance with you twice at the next opportunity.’ Despite herself, she grinned.
    His mouth curled up at the edges, but he didn’t say anything more. He just watched her with a brow raised and a patient look on his face, as though he had all the time in the world to wait for the answer to his unspoken question.
    ‘What is it?’ she asked.
    He only continued to look at her.
    ‘Papa?’ Mae doubted this was about the hapless Mr Fatch. She raised a brow right back at him. ‘I’ll have you know that despite my inability to stun everyone with my graceful dancing, I am still counting this evening as a success.’
    ‘Are you?’ His tone was mild.
    ‘Indeed. For I’ve kept my smile fixed and my conversation light.’ No need to confess to sins he hadn’t discovered. ‘I did not speak to Lady Toswick about her grossly inefficient dinner seating. I also showed great restraint in not reorganising her servants, even thoughthe savoury tarts were served cold and the champagne warm.’
    That made him laugh. ‘A success, indeed.’
    ‘I’ve also made the acquaintance of several eligible gentlemen,’ she said loftily.
    ‘And become reacquainted with a certain one, or so I hear.’
    She grimaced. ‘To the detriment of my ankle,’ she said wryly.
    ‘As long as the damage is contained to your ankle …’ He allowed the thought to trail away, but there was no need to continue. A wealth of warning conveyed in so few words.
    Mae’s mouth compressed. ‘You are not being fair,’ she accused.
    Her father merely snorted.
    Her chin lifted. ‘You are as annoying as he is. All of that was a long time ago. It’s time for you both to realise that I am not the same person.’ She folded her arms and glared. ‘That young and inexperienced girl is in my past. And so is Lord Stephen Manning.’
    Silent again, he searched her face. Whatever he saw there must have satisfied him. He nodded and kissed her forehead. ‘Look at your mother,’ he said. ‘Lady Toswick must be inordinately skilled. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her enjoy herself at an event like this.’ He glanced back down at her. ‘But she’s drifted too far away. I’ll send her back to you.’
    Mae watched him go and step up behind her mother. She saw the hand he slipped across the small of her back and the pleasure, spiced with just a hint of heat, in the smile she cast up at him.
    And her gaze slid right back to Stephen.
    Curse him, he shone in this milieu. Dark evening clothes only emphasised the width of his shoulders and outlined the splendid leanness of his physique. Candlelight glowed in his short, golden hair and flashed from strong, white teeth. But it was his eyes—always his eyes—that captivated Mae.
    Stephen Manning lived in the centre of attention, as the focus of every group he’d ever entered. He spent his life enticing the world to look at him, daring them not to—and denying them even a glimpse of his true self.
    And Mae was the only one who had ever realised it.
    The
ton,
even his family and friends, had always been content to watch him in fascination and accept the reflection that he cast back at them. Everyone believed in the shallow image he projected to the world.
    It was all smoke and mirrors. Another person lived behind those eyes and only Mae knew the truth of it.
    And if she wasn’t careful then she might fall victim—again—to the burning need, the consuming desire, to uncover him.
    Except that she’d meant what she’d said to her father. It was those two stubborn men who were stuck in the past. She’d had plenty of