A Courtesan’s Guide to Getting Your Man by Susan Donovan, Celeste Bradley Read Free Book Online Page B

idea what’s waiting for you, what you’ve been missing, because you’ve been too scared to find out.”
    Piper felt her face go hot. “Excuse me?”
    “You’re hiding, Piper. You don’t want a man to see how lovely you are. You make no effort to showcase your beauty.”
    That made Piper laugh. “Showcase? What am I—an ancient Peruvian wedding vase? A Cadillac Seville?”
    Brenna shook her head, looking quite serious. “You’re hiding behind your incredibly large brain, Piper. You always have. Your intellect is your armor. And frankly, your choice of clothes and shoes seal the deal. You might as well wear a sandwich board that reads, MOVE ALONG—NOTHING TO SEE HERE. ”
    Piper scowled. “There is nothing wrong with my shoes. They support my natural arch.”
    Brenna didn’t take the bait. Instead, she eyed Piper up and down. “And that dress you’re wearing looks like it should have the words YUKON GOLD stamped on the front.”
    “Oh, really?” Piper tightened her crossed arms. “Well, at least I can sleep at night knowing it wasn’t manufactured in some Bangladeshi sweatshop by a starving grandmother earning slave wages.”
    Brenna glared at her. “It’s possible to be globally aware and dress well at the same time.”
    Piper didn’t reply. This argument was pointless.
    Brenna sighed. “So here’s the deal, Piper. From what I can tell from this first volume, it looks like Ophelia had a mentor, a woman she trusted to help her get where she wanted to go.”
    “The Swan.”
    “Yes. She was a successful courtesan living the life Ophelia wanted. The Swan was elegant, independent, beautiful, and, from what I’ve seen of her, damn smart.” Brenna patted the stack of copied pages in her lap.
    “What are you proposing?”
    Brenna tipped her head and smiled softly. “I don’t want to be unkind.”
    “Too late,” Piper snapped.
    “I just want you to be happy, sweetie,” Brenna said. “And you’re not.”
    That was it. Piper had had enough. “Let yourself out,” she said, jumping from the sofa. She bolted toward her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

 
    Four
    Piper hurled herself face-first onto the bedspread and growled her rage into the mattress. Who the hell did Brenna think she was? She’d thought Brenna was her friend! But what kind of friend intentionally hurts you like that? Brenna had no right to force her to confront the truth about her life. It was her life! She could live it however she wished—in denial, in fear, in hiding—or in a potato sack!
    Or not at all!
    There was a knock at the door.
    “Go away!” Piper moaned into the bedspread.
    “I just want to read you something.”
    “No.” Piper raised her head. “Leave me alone! I don’t want to be some kind of science experiment!”
    “It’s from Volume Two,” Brenna said.
    “Whatever it is, I’ve read it a million times. Now go!”
    “But have you ever really listened to it? Do you get what Ophelia is telling you?”
    “She’s not telling me anything!” Piper yelled. “She’s dead!”
    “Fine. But when this girl was alive, she was alive. ”
    Piper grabbed a tissue from her nightstand and blew her nose. Brenna must have misinterpreted this act of personal hygiene for her cue, because she began to read.
    I walked boldly in the new flesh born from Sir’s wicked lessons, and my every motion captivated the men around me. I felt sensually naked in my revealing gown, yet the power of my laugh, of my smile, of the way I stroked my fingers artfully down my neck intoxicated me!
    Piper shut her eyes. “Oh, for the love of God,” she mumbled.
    Brenna continued.
    I had expanded into every inch of my flesh, inhabiting my entire body, mind and soul. I was now deliciously familiar with every inch of my skin. The walls around my most secret thoughts had been stormed and I knew my own darkness and felt no shame. I answered to no one and nothing but my own dreams and desires and wildest fantasies.
    Piper stood up. She