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

change if you marry me. As my husband, Father will expect you to limit, maybe even cease, your work at the Exchange.”
    “I see.”
    “If we agree to a temporary marriage, then you need only comply for six months. Surely that short amount of time is endurable.” Leaning forward, she eyed him with a calculating expression. “Most importantly, you would be assured access to the inner circle of the ton.”
    “What makes you think I would want that?” he asked softly, mockingly.
    “I presume you plan to seek out the true culprit of the theft of the Thomas Gainsborough painting? No one is more convinced than I that you are not the thief. Whoever the criminal is, he is most assuredly working for a member of the beau monde , someone who can afford expensive art, or at the least, someone who has the financial means to hire a crooked auctioneer such as Dante Black to frame you. As my husband, you would be on the guest list of every ball, party, masque, and soiree. You could move freely amongst them, listen to their conversations, and even search their houses for information. No one would be the wiser.”
    “Lady Isabel, you never cease to amaze me. You’re correct in presuming that I will learn the identity of the true thief,” he said, his black eyes glowing with a savage inner fire. “I’m not convinced it’s Dante Black either, but another more influential and wealthy mastermind behind the ill deed.”
    “We are in agreement then?” she asked.
    “Ah, but you’re forgetting one thing.”
    “What?”
    “You may now believe you will never want to marry, but what if circumstances change?”
    She tilted her head at him and smiled. “I don’t believe a woman must marry to find fulfillment or happiness. Auntie Lil never married and she is quite content, joyous really. But in the unlikely event that circumstances should change, then we could seek a divorce.”
    Marcus shook his head. “Divorce is near impossible and requires a Private Act of Parliament. Only rare cases involving a wife’s adultery have been sufficient grounds of late. Legal separation is more available.”
    She didn’t miss a beat, desperate to convince him. “Since we will not have children, and I truly have no desire to marry, separation suits us perfectly.”
    “I commend your swift thinking, Lady Isabel. If half of the stockbrokers at the Exchange thought as quickly on their feet as you, I would have no clients left.”
    She quickly raised her glass, lest he change his mind. “A toast to us then?”
    “I have a better way to seal our bargain.” He plucked the glass from her limp hand and pulled her into his arms. “If I am going to embark on a passionless marriage of convenience, then I want to sample what I am giving up.”

Chapter 6

    Isabel’s eyes widened and her lips parted in surprise. A thrill of frightened anticipation touched her spine a moment before Marcus’s mouth lowered to hers.
    The touch of his lips was a delicious sensation, and his firm mouth coaxed and demanded her response. Her arms rose of their own volition, her fingers digging into his arms, as the heat of the kiss sizzled like molten fire through her veins. Her breasts, pressed against his hard chest, tingled from the contact. His tongue traced the soft fullness of her bottom lip, and she shivered.
    His nearness was overwhelming. Nothing in her childhood fantasies had prepared her for the reality of the man. He was so much bigger, bolder…so much more masculine .
    He pulled her closer still, and she gasped. He slipped in between her parted lips to explore the recesses of her mouth. She tightened her arms around his neck, ten fingers sinking into the dark curls on his head. His hair was not rough, as she had thought, but felt like silk as it glided between her fingers. He did not wear cloying cologne like most gentlemen, but instead he smelled clean, fresh, as if he spent much of his time outdoors.
    Her eyes slid closed; her skin grew hot. Her heart beat like a