My Lord Deceived Read Online Free PDF Page A

the woman behind the bar who was
pouring rum for two customers. He watched her glance up and smile
at something one ageing customer said to her. Her straight, white
teeth glinted in the candle light as she threw back her head and
laughed, her eyes alight with twinkling mischief that made him want
to smile. His face softened, and he waited for her to notice him,
but her attention was taken by two young sailors propping up the
bar at the far end. He watched closely as she scowled at them and
shook her head, clearly not prepared to fulfil their order.
Whatever they were asking for they weren’t going to get, but the
sailors didn’t seem prepared to take no for an answer.
    Jonathan and
Harper both stiffened in readiness when the men began to grow
heated in their persistent demands for more rum, only for several
of the locals to interrupt and strong-arm the young deckhands out
of the pub.
    Kat watched
them go and shook her head. It never ceased to amaze her just how
much young men could drink, and still remain upright. She knew that
those two would have sore heads in the morning, but had little
sympathy for them. She turned around to dispose of their mugs and
froze when she saw who stood on the opposite side of the bar.
    “Evening
gentlemen,” she said warily and flicked a beseeching glance at the
inn keeper, Harry, who was unfortunately busy further down the bar.
She tried to keep her gaze impassive, but the sight of Jonathan
Arbinger mere feet away shook her. The realisation that she was
going to have to serve him made her cringe but she kept her face
polite and impassive as she moved toward him and Mr
Hamilton-Smythe. Her job was to serve in the tavern after all
which, ordinarily, wasn’t a problem; however it was the intensity
with which Jonathan studied her that disturbed her greatly. It was
as though he was trying to read her inner most thoughts and she
didn’t like it one bit. Especially given that he had haunted her
dreams for so long now that she had a physical ache deep inside at
what could never be.
    Over the years,
she had tried to keep him at a distance. Whenever he had ventured
close enough to speak to her, he had always left her feeling gauche
and tongue-tied. She was a young woman who knew her own mind. She
wasn’t afraid to work for her living and enjoyed what she did, but
the effect that this man had on her always left her feeling a
little off balance and unworthy. He made her think about things she
had no business considering, especially with someone like him.
    Whenever he
left, and he always seemed to leave, it seemed to take her longer
and longer to put away the feelings she had for him and carry on
with her life regardless. She knew it was self-defeating to feel
anything for this man. He was a charlatan; a rogue who used his
home as a half-way house on his way to, or from, London. He had no
intention of settling in Denham Hall and, when he did decide to
stop being a rogue and settle down, it certainly would not be with
someone like her. Still, it did little to banish the acute
awareness she felt whenever he was around.
    Kat sighed,
feeling a small pang of envy for the woman who would have him for a
husband. Even though he was socially far out of her reach, he was
still extraordinarily handsome. His sheer size alone captured the
respect of most of the people around him, and the wariness of
others. His broad shoulders filled out his expensive jacket with
masculine perfection, and emphasised his lean yet powerful frame.
His brown, slightly curled hair gently brushed the collar of his
pristine white shirt and gave him a slightly wind-swept look that
was dashing as well as it was roguish.
    She felt the
now familiar tightening around her heart and immediately blocked
the feeling out. She certainly didn’t love Jonathan Arbinger
anymore; that had been a young girls dream. The handsome Lord of
the parish always sent many a female heart aflutter whenever he
happened by. Kat was no different to practically every