My Seductive Innocent Read Online Free PDF Page B

behind an indifferent visage. “As I said, propriety is a nice mask, and I’ve many secrets to hide, but you can call me Nathan, nonetheless.”
    Heat seared her entire body. She was sure her face and chest must be red with her blush. He probably thought her a silly lady who would swoon if he took her in his arms and kissed her. Her gaze inadvertently went to his full lips and then his strong arms, and her legs, much to her dismay, felt a little wobbly. She locked her knees in place. She refused to be the sort of nitwit that swooned. “All right, Nathan , what can I do for you?”
    “That’s rather a dangerous question to ask a gentleman, Sophia.”
    “Seems a rather normal question to me. You are, after all, standing in my father’s tavern. Did you want a drink? A meal? Directions?”
    “Touché,” he said with a chuckle. “In my defense, I was distracted.” He glanced toward Moses. “I’m going to teach Sophia that clever little boot to the throat trick and a few others she can use to kill you rather easily. I’d behave myself from now on if I were you.”
    Nathan removed his foot from Moses’s chest, and Moses lumbered to his feet. “You’ll pay for that,” he snarled before stomping off toward the kitchen.
    Sophia frowned as he disappeared behind the kitchen doors. “Better be aware on the road today. Or better yet, tell your coachman to keep a look out.”
    “I left my coachman in London, but I’ll be sure to keep my guard up.”
    She regarded him. “I wasn’t aware dukes travelled alone,” she teased. She couldn’t help it; she was too intrigued.
    “I prefer to be alone,” he replied.
    “Isn’t that rather improper?” She didn’t usually banter with the men in the tavern, but this was fun. And Nathan was no ordinary man. Besides, it was harmless. He would be gone very soon, and she’d never see him again.
    His brown eyes glittered with flecks of light as it held hers. “I’m no proper duke.”
    His voice had dropped very low and husky, and her heart thumped in response. She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. “You only pretend to be?”
    “That’s right. Now you know one of my secrets.”
    “I’ll guard it with my life.” She tried to joke, but her voice came out thick and strained sounding, even to her own ears. He must have noticed too because he gave her a strange look before stepping back and putting space between them. “Say, you don’t know where Mr. Bantry’s horse farm is, do you?”
    She did, but if Mr. Bantry owed this man money, she wasn’t going to lead him there, no matter if he’d just saved her or not. Mr. Bantry had mouths to feed, and she wasn’t going to be the one to make his children go hungry this winter. “Why?” she demanded.
    Another tight smile stretched his lips but this one reached his eyes. “I’d like to purchase a horse from the man, so you can lower your hackles.”
    “Oh,” she said, a tad embarrassed, as the tension drained from her shoulders. “I can give you directions, but he trains horses for men who are disabled and I don’t see anything incapacitated about you.” As she spoke, she found herself following the curve of his massive shoulders down his broad chest toward his tapering waist, and finally to his thighs. He wore tan breeches that fit snugly around his legs so that his muscles strained against the material. Suddenly hot, she swallowed hard. She’d never seen a more perfect example of masculine beauty or power. It made her stomach flutter and her heart speed.
    Good God above, she hoped she wasn’t a trollop at heart. Her poor dead mother would probably flip in her grave to think the child she’d died giving birth to had turned out not to be worth it.
    “Sophia?”
    Her name rolled off his tongue in three distinct, silky syllables. It made her heart stop and then jolt to a start again when she realized she was staring at him. She whipped her gaze up and found his brilliant dark eyes fixed on her. Embarrassed didn’t