Geek Girls Don't Date Dukes by Gina Lamm Read Free Book Online Page A

her hands on
    her hips. With a shake of her head, she turned to go.
    Her breath left her body when she clapped eyes on the
    bedroom’s new inhabitant.
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    Gina Lamm
    Geek Girls Don’t Date Dukes
    He was tall, with silvery gray hair and pale blue eyes
    that seemed dedicated to a slight smolder. He appeared
    to be in his early fifties or so. His features were angular,
    all hollows and shadows and sharp bones, with shallow
    wrinkles near his eyes and mouth. Slender, graceful, like
    a predatory cat, he moved into the room. Dressed in
    severe, unrelenting black, there was only one person he
    could be.
    Suddenly remembering her role as maid, Leah sank
    into a deep curtsy. “Your Grace.” She hadn’t intended
    to sound so self- conscious, but she was face- to- face with
    a freaking duke . And not just any duke, but the duke that was destined to be hers forever. Wow. She hadn’t imagined snagging such a sugar daddy, though. She’d have to
    think about how she felt about such a big age difference.
    “Please tell Cook I shall dine at home tonight.” His
    voice was softer than she’d imagined. Still masculine, but
    refined, almost the polar opposite of Avery’s deep and
    raspy male growl. He turned away from her with a polite
    nod. She stood rooted to the spot, confusion refusing to
    let her legs operate.
    “At home, Your Grace?” she repeated, just in the
    hopes he’d turn around. Notice me , she yelled in her head.
    Come on, you’ve got to turn around and look at me!
    “Yes, thank you.”
    He dismissed her with a wave of his hand, not both-
    ering to look up from the small wooden box he’d picked
    up on the bedside table. A gold ring glittered on his finger
    as he pinched, and a sniff sounded loudly in the room.
    Another pinch, another sniff. He tilted his head back and
    sighed, his longish gray hair swaying with the movement.
    Leah tried to swallow, but her throat had gone dry.
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    “Very well, Your Grace.” Leah bobbed another unseen
    curtsy and let herself out of the room, closing the door
    with a soft click. Well, that wasn’t exactly the meeting
    she’d pictured. It was tough to measure chemistry when
    the guy wouldn’t even look at you. And he looks old!
    Totally wasn’t expecting that. She dismissed the thought with a heavy breath. It would just take some time.
    A clock somewhere bonged the hour loudly, and Leah
    winced as she turned and sprinted for the stairs. She’d
    have to find Avery later. She had about thirty seconds to
    get to the servant’s hall and be seated for dinner.
    But no matter how quickly she descended the stairs,
    she couldn’t outrun the twinge in her chest. Her feet grew
    heavier with each step, slowing her progress. When she
    reached the bottom of the staircase, she plopped down on
    the lowest step and cradled her chin in her hands.
    She’d met her man. He was handsome. His voice
    wasn’t at all what she’d imagined. And— the thought of
    the snuffbox made her shudder— she hadn’t wanted a
    guy with any kind of substance dependencies. But the
    duke wasn’t what had slowed her, stopped her like a
    remote control car without any juice left.
    She stood, turned, and ran back up the stairs as quickly
    as she’d descended them.
    i
    Pink- stained water dripped back into the basin as Avery
    wrung out the cloth. He dipped it again, letting the cool
    water soak the fibers. It was hardly the first time he’d
    tended to wounds here in his attic bedchamber, but he’d
    hoped that he’d finally left those days behind him. It
    seemed that he could not yet outdistance his past.
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    Wincing as he pressed the cloth to his swollen cheek,
    he blew out a breath. Prachett’s men had thrashed him
    thoroughly, bruising and breaking his skin. They’d not
    spared him, only relenting when he’d agreed