A Kiss With Scandal (Scandals & Secrets 4) by Janelle Daniels Read Free Book Online Page B

detached and wanting out of this life to needing to protect her? She’d become important and far too quickly.
    She mattered. He didn’t bother to deny it. Yet the why of it was a mystery. This was his final assignment. It made sense that he’d want to end his career on a positive note. That he’d want to protect someone so beautiful and innocent as a token of all the good he’d done in his career. It would be the crowning moment.
    His muscles loosened. There was no reason to get riled up over lustful glances. She wasn’t his. At least not for long.
    But for now, he had a part to play.
    And this was one part of his job he would relish. Because in his years of service, he’d stayed in the shadows. He’d had to be above reproach and to somehow remain in the light without garnering suspicion. But for tonight, he would give them all something to talk about. Because tonight, he wasn’t just Viscount Lawrence, available, wealthy bachelor and spy.
    He was a man in pursuit.

Chapter 7
    D erek’s eyes scorched her . A hot blush kissed Charlotte’s cheeks, and she fanned them quickly as her eyes darted around the crowd. How had her life turned upside down in such a short amount of time?
    She milled through the other guests, measuring her pace and forcing a serene smile to her lips.
    The first strings of a waltz began, and before she could look over her shoulder for Derek, he had her hand cradled in his as he led her to the floor.
    “Ready?” he whispered, his warm lips brushing against her ear.
    Gooseflesh rushed over her skin, but she suppressed the shiver his nearness caused. “Ready as I will ever be.”
    He twirled her into the crowd with determination and strength. How he did most things, she imagined.
    Lord Acton pouted from across the room, and she snorted.
    “What is it?”
    “Lord Acton,” she said, smiling into Derek’s eyes. “He’s most displeased.”
    “Why?”
    “This dance was his.”
    She gasped as he pulled her closer, flush against his body. “But now it’s mine.”
    Mine. Her pulse quickened, enjoying his possessiveness more than she should.
    Oh, no. Get yourself under control!
    But as she glanced up at him, thinking of the times when she’d watched him, dreamed of him, it was hard to compartmentalize the pleasure she found in his arms, but she had to. She may have fantasized about him when she was a green girl during her first season, but once she’d seen that he had no interest in her, she’d locked those feelings away.
    Why now did they burst through her barriers like a thief springing for his last escape?
    Gasps echoed around the ballroom as Derek led her from the waltz into the next dance. It was bold, even for an engaged couple, to make such a spectacle. Her shoulders shrunk. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” she whispered behind her fan.
    “It was the only way. Besides, it’s done.”
    He smiled at her as though she were the only woman in the room, the only woman who mattered.
    The only woman he desired.
    Sugar lumps. She couldn’t argue with that. Besides, she’d never been one to question her actions. Her sense of adventure had thrust her into trouble more times than she could count, but she’d never regretted anything. “You’re right.”
    He angled her back, his eyes curious.
    “What?”
    “And just like that, you’re okay?”
    She shrugged in his hold. “Yes.”
    He muffled a laugh. “You’re not what I expected.”
    She bit her lip. “I’m not what most people expect. I tend to say improper things when I shouldn’t, I have dreams and ambitions besides marrying well, and I can’t abide most genteel pursuits.”
    “What would you pursue instead of pianoforte?” His eyes teased her.
    “Adventure.”
    His smile fell. “Seeking adventure isn’t all one thinks it will be. There’s risk, loss.”
    Charlotte ached for him, but made sure all pity was out of her voice when she asked, “What have you lost?”
    He gazed unseeing into the crowd. She didn’t