Jacquie D'Alessandro Read Online Free PDF Page B

distancing Lady Catherine by the simple act of fetching her a glass of punch.
    “The book just doesn’t seem like the sort of thing a lady such as you would read.”
    “And precisely what sort of lady am I, Mr. Stanton? The sort who is unable to read?”
    “Of course not—-”
    “The sort who is not intelligent enough to understand words containing more than one syllable?”
    “Certainly not—”
    “The sort who is incapable of forming her own opinions?”
    “No.” He raked a hand through his hair. “’Tis abundantly clear that you’re fully capable of that.” How had this conversation gone so wrong so quickly? “I meant that it did not seem the sort of reading material for a proper lady.”
    “I see.” She gave him a cool, detached look that tightened his jaw. Definitely not the way he’d hoped to have her looking at him by the end of this evening. “Well, perhaps the Guide is not as scandalous as you’ve been led to believe, Mr. Stanton. Perhaps the Guide could be betterdescribed as scintillating. Provocative. Intelligent. But of course, you wouldn’t know as you haven’t read it. Perhaps you should read it.”
    He raised his brows at the unmistakable challenge shining in her eyes. “You must be joking.”
    “I’m not. In fact, I’d be happy to lend you my copy.”
    “Why on earth would I want to read a ladies’ guide?”
    She offered him a smile that appeared just a bit too sweet. “Why, so that you could offer an informed, intelligent opinion when next you discussed the work. And besides, you might actually learn something.”
    Good God, the woman was daft. Perhaps the victim of too much wine. He took a discreet sniff, but smelled only alluring flowers. “What on earth could I possibly learn from a ladies’ guide?”
    “What women like, for one thing. And do not like. And why Lord Nordnick’s wooing attempts directed at Lady Ophelia are bound for failure. Just to name a few.”
    Andrew’s jaw tightened. He knew what women liked…didn’t he? He couldn’t recall hearing any complaints in the past. But his inner voice was warning him that maybe he didn’t know quite as much about what Lady Catherine liked as he’d thought. Actually, maybe he didn’t know Lady Catherine as well as he’d thought—a notion that simultaneously unsettled and intrigued him. God knows she’d revealed an unexpected side of herself this evening. He recalled Philip’s warning about her newfound headstrong, blunt behavior. He’d put no stock in Philip’s comment at the time, but it appeared his friend was correct. And it further appeared that the blame for this change rested on the Ladies’ Guide ’s shoulders.
    Damn you, Charles Brightmore. You and your foolish book have made courting the woman I want—an already Herculean task—even more difficult. I’ll relish exposingyou and putting an end to your writing career.
    Yes, more difficult indeed, for not only had the Guide clearly filled Lady Catherine’s head with ideas of independence, but this discussion, which was supposed to lead to him asking her to dance and the start of his courting campaign, had turned contentious—a turn of events he needed to correct immediately. No, this meeting was not going at all the way he’d envisioned. According to his plans, Lady Catherine should be in his arms, gazing up at him with warmth and affection. Instead, she’d backed away from him and was glaring at him with annoyance, a feeling he shared, as he was more than a little irritated himself.
    He pressed his lips together to keep from arguing further. Indeed, arguing was the last thing he wished to do, especially tonight, when they had so little time together. His wooing campaign was off to a disastrous start. Retreat and regroup was definitely his best alternative.
    Raising his hands in a show of acquiescence, he smiled. “As much as I appreciate the offer to read your copy, I believe I’ll decline. As for the likes and dislikes of Today’s Modern Woman,