Lover Be Mine: A Legendary Lovers Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

to speculate about a
     future with him. She doubted he was the least bit serious about her. More likely he
     was out to make mischief and was only entertaining himself by toying with her. Or
     perhaps his female relatives truly had twisted his arm to meet her.
    Remembering Lady Katharine’s outlandish theory about them acting out
Romeo and Juliet
, Sophie shook her head. The very idea was preposterous. Unlike Shakespeare’s play,
     there could be no falling in love with Lord Jack at first glance. She could have nothing
     to do with him.
    In addition to the feud, he was all wrong for her—the opposite of the proper, highborn
     husband her parents coveted for her. Although his altruism
was
highly admirable.
    It was curious that he wished to keep his contributionsto the Arundel Home a secret. He’d acted as if his championing helpless women was
     of little consequence, but Sophie knew he had impacted numerous lives for the better.
    His contradictions intrigued her, a known rakehell aiding unwed mothers. Likely his
     compassion and benevolence stemmed from his own late mother’s circumstances. But whatever
     the cause, he evidently had a great deal more substance than the typical blue-blooded
     buck.
    Or perhaps her enchantment stemmed from some flaw in herself. Undeniably, she was
     secretly drawn to his bold, rebel nature. Lord Jack was a charming black sheep in
     a family of charming black sheep. He had fire and passion and was wildly exciting,
     rather than dull and pleasantly boring. Of course it was vastly more enjoyable being
     seduced by a breathtakingly amorous pirate than having her toes crushed by a kind
     but awkward older duke. There really was no contest.
    In any event, she needed to remember that it was highly dangerous to associate with
     Lord Jack, for he made her feel things she ought never feel. She would have liked
     to blame him for kindling this rebellious streak inside her, but that wouldn’t be
     fair. Of late she’d felt a vague impatience with her life, a restlessness that had
     grown stronger over the past few weeks. The closer she came to securing a proposal
     of marriage from Dunmore, the more she longed for freedom.
    Yet she had a very specific plan for her future and had to adhere to it. Even if she
     yearned for a love match with a man who inspired her deepest passions,the idea that she could marry for love was merely a self-indulgent fantasy. She knew
     her duty. She was her parents’ only child now and they depended on her.
    If that meant she was obliged to marry a widowed duke who was more than twice her
     age, then she would willingly sacrifice her own self-interests and make a marriage
     of convenience.
    As for Lord Jack Wilde … Sophie frowned as she let herself into her luxuriously appointed
     bedchamber. She was supremely vexed at herself for succumbing so easily to his brazen
     seduction. She had wholeheartedly returned his passionate kisses tonight in a temporary
     moment of insanity, and she would not let it happen again.

After the masquerade
, Jack made appearances at another ball and then a gaming hell, so the evening was
     well-advanced when he arrived home. He was unsurprised, however, to learn from his
     footman that Lady Skye awaited him in his drawing room.
    Jack heaved a long-suffering sigh, knowing what was to come. Several years ago, he’d
     moved out of his adopted brother’s London mansion in Grosvenor Square and into his
     own town house in a newer neighborhood northeast of Hyde Park, largely because he
     wanted to live his life away from the watchful eye of his loving but meddlesome family.
     All five cousins had grown up together and become as close as siblings after losing
     both sets of their parents to a tragic shipwreck at sea when Jack was seventeen and
     Skye twelve.
    It was also a matter of discipline. He disliked being alone and therefore regularly
     forced himself to go without company. But since his new home was within a mile of
     both the Beaufort