A Perfect Scandal by Tina Gabrielle Read Free Book Online Page A

owe me. And your twisted sense of honor is telling you that the only way to repay me is to marry me and salvage my reputation, despite my firm and repeated objections.”
    Marcus sauntered forward, hand clutching the glass, powerful body coiled. “You have me all figured out, don’t you?”
    She stood and lifted her chin a notch. “Am I correct, Mr. Hawksley?”
    “It’s Marcus.”
    “Don’t evade my question. Am I correct?”
    “Yes, I suppose you’re correct,” he ground out. “Contrary to what the gossips whisper about me behind my back, I do have a strong moral code…a sense of honor. Just so you understand, I do not condone the lies you told at the Westley mansion. I detest being manipulated in business or in personal matters. What you did was selfish and immature, and yet if you had not been where you were, if you had not plotted this ‘catastrophe,’ as your father called it, I would be at Bow Street as we speak being questioned by an underpaid and overly zealous constable. So, yes, Lady Isabel, I do feel guilty and somewhat responsible for your predicament. I am fully aware that by marrying the younger son of an earl and a working stockbroker to boot, you are stepping down in the eyes of society, but it will spare you from complete scandal. It is the least I can do for your father and your family since you do not seem overly concerned for them.”
    Her mind fluttered away in anxiety at his determination to follow through with her father’s marital notions. “But I have plans, and marriage to you is not one of them.”
    “I had plans as well, and although marriage was not in my imminent future, a relationship was.”
    Her heart skipped a beat. “There’s another woman? Charlotte had assured me you were a sworn bachelor, and she knows everything.”
    A mocking smile invaded his stare. “Whoever Charlotte is, she does not know everything.”
    She shook her head regretfully. “I apologize. I never intended to cause trouble between a love match.” She felt a strange twinge of foreign emotion. Jealousy that Marcus Hawksley had a lover?
    Ridiculous! she mused. You hardly know him.
    He stepped forward and touched her hand. His fingers, warm and strong on her sensitive skin, sent a tingle of awareness up her arm.
    She met his gaze, and the intense look in his eyes startled her.
    “What’s done is done,” he said. “I’ll not change my mind. Your plans of Paris and Auntie Lil will have to be delayed.”
    “Yes,” she murmured, her mind spinning. “Delayed…perhaps not all is lost.” She reached out to take the glass of port from him. “Perhaps we can agree to postpone our plans and not dismiss them forever. I’d drink a toast to that.”
    “What are you scheming?”
    “A marriage of convenience, Mr. Hawksley. A temporary marriage of convenience.”
    “I’m listening, but I don’t think I like it—”
    “It’s perfect. We agree to marry for six months until the scandal has passed and my twin siblings are not tarnished. Thereafter, we can go our separate ways. Me to Paris and you back to your lady friend. Many married couples among the beau monde lead separate lives, some on separate continents. Since neither of us desires to be shackled by marriage, it’s the perfect solution.”
    “And what about intimate relations during those six months?”
    She gave an anxious little cough. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
    “Really?” he drawled. “Just a few hours ago that is all you had thought about.”
    She ignored his sarcastic tone. “It must be a passionless relationship. It should be easy to maintain. Separate bedrooms are commonplace after all.”
    “Ah, what do I get out of this fraudulent marriage?”
    “It will assuage your guilt. Whatever your honor is telling you to do, then it should be satisfied.”
    “My honor can be salvaged by a real marriage.”
    At his firm resolve, she switched tactics. “But what of your previous life? Your lady friend? Your work? Everything will