The Viscount Who Loved Me Read Online Free PDF Page B

brother. For all his ire, he couldn’t really blame Kate for her actions. He would have done the very same thing, although he would have hit the ball with enough force to sink hers in the middle of the lake.
    Still, it was damned humiliating to be bested by a female, especially her .
    He reached the edge of the lake and peered in. The pink ball was so brightly colored that it ought to show through the water, provided it had settled at a shallow enough level.
    “Do you see it?” Colin asked, coming to a halt beside him.
    Anthony shook his head. “It’s a stupid color, anyway. No one ever wanted to be pink.”
    Colin nodded his agreement.
    “Even the purple was better,” Anthony continued, moving a few steps to the right so that he could inspect another stretch of shoreline. He looked up suddenly, glaring at his brother. “What the hell happened to the purple mallet, anyway?”
    Colin shrugged. “I’m sure I have no idea.”
    “And I’m sure,” Anthony muttered, “that it will miraculously reappear in the Pall Mall set tomorrow evening.”
    “You might very well be right,” Colin said brightly, moving a bit past Anthony, keeping his eyes on the water the whole way. “Perhaps even this afternoon, if we’re lucky.”
    “One of these days,” Anthony said matter-of-factly, “I’m going to kill you.”
    “Of that I have no doubt.” Colin scanned the water, then suddenly pointed with his index finger. “I say! There it is.”
    Sure enough, the pink ball sat in the shallow water, about two feet out from the edge of the lake. It looked to be only a foot or so deep. Anthony swore under his breath. He was going to have to take off his boots and wade in. It seemed Kate Sheffield was forever forcing him to take off his boots and wade into bodies of water.
    No, he thought wearily, he hadn’t had time to removehis boots when he’d charged into The Serpentine to save Edwina. The leather had been completely ruined. His valet had nearly fainted from the horror of it.
    With a groan he sat on a rock to pull off his footwear. To save Edwina he supposed it was worth a pair of good boots. To save a stupid pink Pall Mall ball—frankly, it didn’t even seem worth getting his feet wet.
    “You seem to have this well in hand,” Colin said, “so I’m going to go help Miss Sheffield pull up the wickets.”
    Anthony just shook his head in resignation and waded in.
    “Is it cold?” came a feminine voice.
    Good God, it was her . He turned around. Kate Sheffield was standing on the shore.
    “I thought you were pulling up wickets,” he said, somewhat testily.
    “That’s Edwina.”
    “Too bloody many Miss Sheffields,” he muttered under his breath. There ought to be a law against letting sisters come out in the same season.
    “I beg your pardon?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
    “I said it’s freezing,” he lied.
    “Oh. I’m sorry.”
    That got his attention. “No, you’re not,” he finally said.
    “Well, no,” she admitted. “Not for your losing, anyway. But I didn’t intend for you to freeze your toes off.”
    Anthony was suddenly gripped by the most insane desire to see her toes. It was a horrible thought. He had no business lusting after this woman. He didn’t even like her.
    He sighed. That wasn’t true. He supposed he did like her in an odd, paradoxical sort of way. And he thought, strangely enough, she might be beginning to like him in much the same manner.
    “You would have done the same thing if you were me,” she called out.
    He said nothing, just continued his slow wade.
    “You would have!” she insisted.
    He leaned down and scooped up the ball, getting his sleeve wet in the process. Damn. “I know,” he replied.
    “Oh,” she said, sounding surprised, as if she hadn’t expected him to admit it.
    He waded back out, thankful that the ground by the shore was firmly packed, so that dirt didn’t stick to his feet.
    “Here,” she said, holding out what looked like a blanket.