Seduced At Sunset Read Online Free PDF Page B

level of togetherness to which he was not
willing to commit. He preferred independent women who had their own interests
beyond his attentions. Women who were intelligent, who possessed a good wit—and
it certainly didn’t hurt if they were beautiful. Though it was not a
requirement.
    One of his most enjoyable affairs had been with a woman
who was not tall, blond, or statuesque. Her hair was red, her cheeks were
freckled, and her nose was too large, but she was always smiling and she
understood Drake’s temperament. She made him laugh and cared nothing for the
latest fashions or society gossip. In a way, she’d been an outsider, like him,
and they’d had a good time together while it lasted and remained friends to
this day.
    Lady Charlotte of Pembroke Palace was nothing like her,
however, for she was tall, blond, and statuesque, with an ivory complexion,
full lips like sweet ripe cherries, and eyes that, when focused on him, nearly
knocked him backward. Everything about her—the fashionable gown, the silk
shoes, and ridiculous plumed hat—screamed money and rank. She was not
Drake’s preferred type at all. Yet here he sat, pulling up in front of her
family’s London residence at dawn, wondering if he should get out and knock on
the door, or wait for her like a secret, forbidden paramour in the shadows.
    This was strange indeed. They had barely spoken more than
a few words to each other before she presented her scandalous offer to thank
him again. Perhaps that’s what made it so titillating. He found himself unable
to resist testing how far this would go.
    He sat forward in his seat and peered out the window at
the house, then reached into his pocket for his watch. It was not quite six
o’clock. How long would he wait if she did not appear? Perhaps she had come to
her senses and changed her mind. Perhaps she had thought more carefully about
the way he had chased down her thief and beaten him insensible. If so, Drake
would simply move on, enjoy his morning exercise, and think no more about her.
    The front door of the house opened just then and Lady
Charlotte walked out.
    Drake flung the door of the coach open and stepped out to
greet her. “Good morning,” he said, surprised by how good it made him feel that
she had kept her word.
    “Good morning to you,” she cheerfully replied as she
placed her gloved hand in his and allowed him to assist her into the dimly lit
interior of the vehicle. When they were comfortably seated across from each
other, she said, “I wasn’t sure if you would really come. I thought I might
have dreamed all of that yesterday.”
    “How is your head?” he asked as he rapped his walking
stick on the roof and the coach moved on.
    “Much better, thank you. A good night’s sleep did the
trick.”
    “In my experience, it always does. It’s a cure for a great
many maladies.”
    “Well said.” There was something lively about her this
morning. She seemed invigorated. Obviously the early morning hours agreed with
her.
    “Did the constable come to see you?” Drake asked.
    “Yes, about an hour after I arrived home. I told him
everything that happened, and he wrote it all down.” She gazed out the window.
“I hope they are not too hard on the man. I hate to think that he might have
been desperate, merely trying to feed his family.”
    “That wasn’t the case,” Drake assured her. “He is a single
man with a gambling problem and owed money to the wrong people. But your
forgiveness does you credit, Lady Charlotte, considering how he caused you such
injury. You were lucky. Head wounds are unpredictable. It could have been much
worse.”
    She turned her eyes toward him again, and he felt his body
flex. God, she truly was astonishingly beautiful, almost too beautiful to look
at.
    What exactly did she want from him? He studied her as they traveled in the gently swaying coach. Was it
presumptuous of him to assume it was something wicked? Something private and
pleasurably depraved, when