To Surrender to a Rogue Read Online Free PDF Page A

She paused. "With those broad shoulders and brooding dark eyes, he looks like he's stepped straight from the pages of Lord Byron's romantic poems."
    Alessandra reached for her reticule. "Romance is the last thing I need in my life."
    Jack narrowed his gaze, focusing on the color of scudding squall clouds just visible above the treetops. They were not a plain lead gray, he decided, but a far more subtle shade that mixed a range of smoky blues .with a touch of violet Maybe even a hint of plum—
    "Need spectacles, Lord James?" Lord Garrett Howe, an occasional companion in midnight rambles through the gaming hells of St Giles, fell in step beside him. "Your shots seemed accurate enough at Manton's last week. I lost ten bloody guineas to you."
    "Thought I saw a hawk," muttered Jack, unwilling to explain himself.
    "You ought to be ogling the plumage on terra firma." His friend nudged him in the ribs. "That's a very lovely bird up ahead, eh? Apparently she doesn't fly around much in Society."
    Jack spotted a flutter of indigo silk.
    "But Gervin and I saw her in Bond Street yesterday and he tells me that she's a widow," continued Howe. "Ergo, she's fair game." A wink punctuated his lascivious leer. "She may not spread her wings in public, but perhaps I can convince her to spread her legs in private."
    They walked on for a few more strides as Howe let out a slow hiss of breath. "Ye gods, just look at the way the skirt slides across that shapely arse. The sight is hypnotic." Another sigh. Or more precisely, a wolfish pant "In fact I think I'm fast forgetting that I am a gentleman."
    So am I, thought Jack, as the lady in question slowed her steps on the path and turned in profile to untangle the fringe of her shawl.
    For an instant he was tempted to grab his friend's throat and punch out his teeth. But reason prevailed and Jack shoved his hands in his coat pockets. "Then let me remind you of something that Gervin must have forgotten to mention. That is not some ladybird-for-hire up ahead. Rather it is the Marchesa della Giamatti, who is not only a paragon of propriety, but is also the closest friend of Hadley's new bride."
    Howe's grin faded to a frown. "Since when have you become such a pompous prig? I wasn't about to toss up the lady's skirts in the middle of Green Park. I was merely expressing my admiration for her physical charms." He shot another glance at Alessandra. "You can't deny that the lady is an absolute stunner."
    "No, I cannot," replied Jack through gritted teeth.
    "Hell, I can't help it—she's got my whirligigs aflutter," said Howe. Giving a lewd hitch to his trousers, his friend added, "Perhaps that's why you are acting as ill-tempered as a bull with a gelding iron clamped to his pego. You tried your luck with the lady and she wouldn't have any part of you."
    His fists flashed out of his pocket. "Damnation, Howe, unless you want your beak bloodied, you had better refrain from further crude comments about the lady."
    "Satan's prick, you're in a devil of a mood." Looking offended, Howe abruptly reversed direction and stomped off.
    Jack unclenched his fingers, unconsciously smoothing the soft leather of his gloves over his knuckles as he watched his friend's retreating rump. Not that there was anything remotely alluring about Howe's stiff-legged gait. It radiated aggrieved male anger. He winced, suddenly feeling foolish for reacting so churlishly over a bit of rakish chatter. Howe would, he hoped, accept an apology at their next meeting.
    In the meantime...
    His gaze slid back to Alessandra, who had finished unknotting her shawl and was now heading across the lawn.
    Time to beat a strategic retreat.
    Jack hesitated for a fraction before ignoring the voice in his head and quickening his pace to follow.
    Falling in step a discreet distance behind her, he had an excellent view of Alexandra's figure. Howe was right—she moved with a sinuous grace, her hips swaying gently from side to side, as if tickled by some tropical