Something Reckless Read Online Free PDF Page B

only court more images for her dark, forbidden fantasies.
    “What are you doing?”
    His smile fell a fraction. “Going to the Rose Terrace. I could use a spot of tea.”
    Her jaw fell open in shock. “ You are not joining us, Your Grace.”
    “You mean you wish to talk to me privately?” he asked, tilting his head closer. Close enough that she caught an intoxicating whiff of his spicy male scent. It was a pleasing and dizzying combination of sandalwood and something that was purely Jeremy.
    “Yes,” she said.
    He smiled. “I thought a woman of your caliber couldn’t take the risk of speaking to me alone. What did you tell me last night? That it would discredit you? And yet, less than twenty-fourhours later, you demand I stay with you alone in this parlor. Has something changed?”
    She pursed her lips. Damn him. Even though he couldn’t know just how much had changed since her verbal exchange with him the night before and this afternoon, his words still reminded her of that fact.
    In just a few short hours, she had become an utter hypocrite.
    “You certainly have not changed, my lord,” she said, hoping her voice was cold even though her heart was throbbing madly. “So please stop trying to convince me that you have.”
    She made to push past him, but Jeremy caught her arm and held her in place. Just as she had feared, heat equal to that of a furnace rushed from his touch and settled in the worst possible places. She looked up at him, her throat dry and full, her traitorous mind taking her to places she ought not allow.
    “You have not permitted me to convince you of anything yet, Lady Norman,” he said softly as he released her and took a step back as if to prove he wasn’t touching her out of any attraction.
    Her stomach sank unexpectedly at the thought.
    “Why should I believe in your miraculous alteration?” she asked, rubbing the place where he had touched her. It felt…burned. Branded.
    He cocked his head. “Because it proves you are correct in your assessment that a man can change. Think of it, my lady. What a boon I could be to your cause. I know of my own reputation. If I came out on your side, in support of you, it could change the tide of your movement. Are you so proud and do you hate me so much that you will not even consider my offer to assist you?”
    Penelope’s lips parted in surprise. “I-I don’t hate you. Hatingyou would imply I knew you or cared for you. I-I don’t.”
    He looked at her for a long, charged moment. Then he shrugged. “I would like to prove myself to you. I can help you if you let me. If you do not know me, nor care for me, you cannot truly know my heart nor my intentions. And yet you still judge me?”
    Penelope stared at him. Damn him, he was correct on so many levels. If Jeremy were truly changed and worked beside her, it would add needed credence to her words.
    But how could she believe he had changed? Or even wanted to change?
    “And how do you intend to prove yourself?” she asked, slowly.
    A little hint of a smile tilted his lips, arrogant, like he already knew he’d won. “I can show you exactly what it is you are fighting against. Secretly. Anonymously. Then you will understand your enemies all the better.”
    She tilted her head, both confused and intrigued. Show her? What in the world could he possibly mean by that?
    “I don’t know what you are talking about,” she said, pacing away from him and trying to look bored by their conversation. She didn’t want him to realize just how aware of him she was. Just how curious he made her. About what he could reveal. About who he was.
    When she peeked over her shoulder, he was smiling again, but this time it was feral. Despite herself, her stomach clenched. Her nipples hardened in an instant. He was looking at her with such…desire.
    And even though that fact only proved he was lying about the changes to his wicked personality, she wasn’t angry. Not athim, at least. No, her anger was all self-directed