Suzanne Robinson Read Online Free PDF Page A

intriguing spray of freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. He couldn’t help smiling at the way her spectacles kept slipping down that delightful nose. Which was all the more reason to be furious with himself—because as soon as he hopped off Pounder and confronted her, he’d experienced a deep, gut-twisting burst of desire.
    Previously he’d spent no more than a few minutes in her company with no such awkward results. But she’d changed in the two years since they’d last met. He wasn’t sure how, but his body didn’t seem to be thwarted by his ignorance. He lusted after the sister of the man he loved like a brother.
    Nick Ross, you’re a disgusting prig what don’t deserve to live. You think Jos, sterling bloke though he is, would want a Whitechapel thief for his sister? You owe him your life, and you ain’t going to repay him by interfering with the girl he sent you to protect. Bloody hell. You stow it. Just stow it. Get this business over with, and get yourself away from her quick
.
    He was in luck, though. Trying to ruin her betrothal was going to make Lady Georgiana hate him. He couldn’t bed a woman who hated him. He was safe; Jos was safe; the lady was safe. Satisfied, Nick returned to the woman with the shotgun.
    Glancing ruefully in the direction of the vanished wagon, he shook his head. “Dang and bloody hell too.”
    “Indeed, young man,” she said. Shifting her shotgun to one arm, she offered her hand. “I am Lavinia Stokes, Lady Georgiana’s aunt.”
    Nick took her hand and bowed over it, saddlebags and all. “Pleased, ma’am.” He eyed her man’s breeches surreptitiously. He’d never seen a woman in pants, not even in all his time in Texas. It was a sight. Jos had warned him that Aunt Lavinia was Georgiana’s idol, and no doubt the influence in her plan to gain independence.
    “I remember you now,” Lavinia continued. “I remember Jocelin speaking of you. Whatever possessed you to attempt to bully my niece in such an outlandish manner?”
    “Jos sent me to break up this engagement, ma’am.”
    “You’ve failed.”
    “Not yet, and I got me a whole lot more to say about it.”
    Lavinia nodded while giving him a look of severe appraisal. “Why?”
    “Uh, why?”
    “There’s nothing wrong with your hearing, young man. Why are you pushing yourself in where you don’t belong?”
    “I’m doing it for Jos, ma’am.”
    She gave him a sharp, sidelong glance that told him she didn’t believe him. He wondered if she’d somehow perceived his disreputable reaction to her niece. What was he going to do if Aunt Lavinia pointed her shotgun at him and ordered him off theestate? Now she was giving him a long, assessing look that almost made him blush.
    “You may remain, young man, as long as we have an understanding.”
    Caught off guard, Nick concealed his surprise behind a smile he’d used on ladies and factory girls alike. “What understanding might that be, ma’am?”
    “You may try to convince my niece to give up her plans to marry his lordship by any peaceful means, but no more of your indelicate displays. Do we have an agreement?”
    “Just as you say, ma’am,” he said softly as he pushed his hat back farther on his head. A lock of chestnut hair dropped over his forehead.
    Lady Lavinia’s gaze flicked to the errant lock and back to his eyes. “Be careful, sir. Jocelin also mentioned that you have the charm of Byron linked with the ruthlessness of a Cossack. I even remember his giving me quite a long list of your conquests in Society, ladies who ought to know better than to succumb to the devil.”
    “Devil, ma’am? I protest.”
    Lavinia walked over to him, her boots crunching on the gravel, and spoke quietly. “Georgiana is an intelligent girl. Far more intelligent than Jocelin has ever realized. Please remember that in your dealings with her. I’m trusting you because my nephew trusts you, with his life apparently, and I respect Jocelin’s judgment.