Duke of Scandal (Moonlight Square, Book 1) by Gaelen Foley Read Free Book Online

offered helpfully.
    “Can we not discuss this in front of him, please?” Gerald cried, his ruddy jowls growing apple red. “It’s none of his business!”
    “Oh, don’t mind me.” Jason leaned his hip on the arm of the sofa. “I’m just here to have a glance at all the legal papers. Make sure Felicity’s best interests are protected .” He gave the word a meaningful added emphasis. “For her brother’s sake, of course,” he added, “since Pete is still away. That is all.”
    “Well, if you have any influence over the stubborn chit, you should tell her that her best interest is to marry me ! I’m sure that would be Pete’s advice, too.”
    “How’s that?” Jason inquired.
    “Keep the fortune in the family! After all, I’m the one that needs it.”
    “Gerald expected to receive a share of our great-aunt’s money,” Felicity explained.
    “I daresay many of his creditors were under that impression, too,” Charles interjected. “Well, it’s true, Ger.”
    “Very well, so I admit it!” Gerald exclaimed with a scowl. “My straits are…slightly dire. But that is easily amended if she’d stop being such a mule! What are you waiting for, anyway, woman? You’re at your last prayer as it is.”
    Felicity’s jaw dropped.
    Jason glanced at her, his dark eyes dancing. “How can you resist a proposal of such sweeping gallantry?”
    “Indeed,” she choked out. “I am quite speechless.”
    Jason stood, turning to her. “Pray tell, do you have the papers from the solicitors, Miss Carvel? Won’t you be a dear and fetch them?” The hard look he sent her from across the room left no doubt in her mind that he wanted a word alone with these two gentlemen.
    Uh-oh.
    “Oh, er, of course.” Felicity gulped as Jason set Daisy down on the back of the couch, where the cat perched. Striding out into the hallway, Felicity strained her ears trying to hear what was being said.
    Low murmurs were exchanged. Stammers from Charles. Bluster from Gerald, of course. And a flinty, cool tone from Jason in reply.
    The sheer impropriety of eavesdropping suddenly made her lose her nerve. Why was it she lost all sense of decorum when that man was anywhere near her?
    Wide-eyed, she pressed her lips shut and turned away from the doorway, heart pounding. She sped off to fetch the folio of legal papers from her chamber.
    When she returned to the parlor, Gerald’s face seemed redder than usual. Charles’s bland smile looked brittle, and Jason leaned against the couch again, serene as the cat, who rubbed against his leg, purring noisily.
    “Ah, here we are, then.” Jason came toward her and took the documents from her, fully in control. The disheveled rakehell from this morning was nowhere to be found. “Well, gentlemen, Miss Carvel and I have business to discuss. If you don’t mind.”
    Gerald’s cravat suddenly seemed too tight for him. “And what if I do mind, Netherford?”
    “Come, Gerald,” Charles said, turning gracefully. “We are wanted at our club.”
    “Indeed,” said Jason, his cold stare fixed on Gerald.
    “Good afternoon, coz.” Setting his hat at just the proper angle, Charles hastened out the door, but Gerald lingered a moment longer, bristling, his thick legs planted. He reminded Felicity a bit of a wild boar as his beady eyes shifted back and forth angrily between her and Jason.
    “This isn’t over,” he informed them both.
    “Oh, but it is, Mr. Carvel,” Jason said softly. “Good day.”
    Whatever Gerald read in Jason’s eyes made him back down, at least for now. He stomped toward the door, snatching his hat off the coat hook on the way. “You’re as mad as the old dame was, Felicity,” he muttered. “No wonder you’re a spinster.”
    The front door slammed a moment later.
    “Spinster?” she cried, turning to Jason, who scowled at her.
    “Neighbor boy?” he retorted.
    But staring matter-of-factly at each other, they both started laughing at the absurdity of the exchange.
    Felicity