Reason to Wed (The Distinguished Rogues Book 7) Read Online Free PDF Page B

where they stood. He stared a moment and then nodded before returning to hang on Esme’s conversation.
    Richard’s tension remained. That man. Richard could never decide whether to like Hammond or not.
    When Jillian was drawn away by Lord Hogan to dance, Richard watched her go with a wry chuckle. His sister had a suitor chasing after her. Lord Hogan had been keeping a rather close proximity to her these past months since she’d packed away her black gowns and started to embrace life again. Always at her elbow, always interested in what she was doing. Richard wouldn’t mind the connection, should the man propose, which was why he’d also been invited for the week, to see what might come of the connection.
    He tapped his fingers along the balustrade as he made his way to the dance floor below. He did not want to spend the night watching lovers flirt and sneak away to quiet corners. If he could not have a wife, he wanted to lose himself in the arms of someone who did not expect a commitment from him.
    Or, if that were not possible, he’d rather spend the night with someone who challenged his mind. That meant his best chance of amusement tonight was sparring with Lady Heathcote.
    Damn Esme for being so damn intriguing.
    He’d always fought the attraction, but tonight he was feeling distinctly adventurous. Since their interlude on his bed, he’d wanted to get under her skin in the worst way, and not just to earn another scowl.
    Once he reached the ballroom floor, he scanned the crowd. Esme had moved on from his cousins and was currently out of sight. Irritating woman. Why could she never be where he expected her to be? She was like every other woman he’d known. Always making him chase after them for a bit of attention.
    It comforted him that she wasn’t with Hammond, who was leading some other lady to the dance floor.
    Without the hope of even uncivil conversation, Richard stepped out onto the terrace to enjoy the moonlight alone.
    Or so he first thought.
    Ahead along the terrace, Esme stood just outside the ballroom windows, looking in through a distant set. Candlelight played over her face and he could tell by the way her head tilted that her attention followed the dancers inside. She did not turn to greet him as Richard approached her. He stopped close behind and shared her view.
    Meriwether and his intended bride pranced on his dance floor, looking as smitten as young lovers were supposed to do. His cousin’s strolled past, arm in arm, with only eyes for each other.
    “The party is going well,” she murmured without turning or taking her eyes from the dancers.
    Jillian and Lord Hogan danced past next. “So it seems.”
    “Warn your sister away from Hogan if you can.” She sighed. “He will not be good for her.”
    He bristled. Although he should have listened to Esme about his last lover, there was only so much advice a bachelor could stand, particularly when it concerned members of his own family. “They’re just dancing.”
    “That’s how it starts.” Esme shook her head. “He’s all wrong for her, but she likely won’t know it until it’s too late.” Meriwether and his future bride twirled past and she shook her head again. “Or she will, and won’t act on her intuition to run.”
    When Esme still did not turn away, Richard caught her hand and tugged. Staring after the one you lost only led to one’s friends considering you a fool. Esme was hardly that, but in case her heart had truly been involved with Meriwether, and wounded, Richard would be the one to do the saving this time.
    If she allowed him.
    “Come away,” he whispered.
    Her lashes lowered over her eyes and her grip on his fingers tightened.
    He tugged again and thankfully she followed him toward the terrace stairs and out into the moonlit gardens without raising a fuss. A remarkable feat.
    Richard led her away from the house, strolling through the still gardens with little thought to direction. It was blessedly peaceful after the