Good Earl Hunting by Suzanne Enoch Read Free Book Online Page B

be accused of stealing Lord Vashton away from them. Because why would he favor her, otherwise? Scowling, she banged on the door again.
    It rattled open. “As I said, Miss, his lordship is indisposed at the moment. Y–“
    ”Tell him that Theodora wishes a word with him,” she interrupted, ignoring the responding snicker coming from Catherine Oswell in the hallway behind her.
    “Theodora who, M–“
    The door jerked open, and a shirtless Geoffrey Kerick stood there, looking at her. “Find me a cravat, Grosvenor,” he ordered, stepping back to allow her entry.
    Walking into the room of a half naked man would ruin her. “I’ll remain here,” she stated, deciding that a great injustice was being perpetrated by everyone who insisted that gentlemen wear shirts. Her fingers twitched with the abrupt desire to run her palms along his skin.
    He nodded, dark hair falling across one eye. “Just tell me you haven’t changed your mind about me,” he murmured, sparing a single glance beyond her at the hallway.
    Shaking herself, she lifted her gaze from his well-muscled chest. “Um, no. I... Are you courting me?”
    With a half grin he leaned against the door frame. “If you have to ask, I must be doing it wrong. Yes, I’m courting you, Theodora.”
    That made her smile in what she imagined was a ridiculously happy expression. “Good.” Then she remembered the difficulty ahead of her, and pushed the bubbling laugh back into her chest. “No one will believe that I didn’t trap you or something.”
    Geoffrey lifted an eyebrow. “Ridiculous.”
    The fact that he thought so made her like him even more. “To you, perhaps, but I know these people. I need to explain things to my parents. And to my sister.”
    “No, you don’t.”
    “Geoffrey, if I don’t, Belle will hate me, and my parents will think I’ve... misbehaved.”
    His chest and fine shoulders distracted her again as he took a slow breath. “For the last damned time, Theodora,” he murmured, half lifting a hand toward her and then lowering it again, “don’t apologize because someone else finds – because I find – you irresistible. I will speak to your parents. And your sister, if you wish, though I certainly don’t owe her an explanation.”
    “I do, though.” Not that Belle would believe her.
    The smile touched his mouth again. “Then we’ll do it together.” He tilted his head a little. “This may seem sudden to you, but you know I’ve been planning this for months. And my largest worry was that you wouldn’t like me.”
    She hadn’t liked him two months ago. Though the more she considered it, the more she wondered whether her ungainly manner hadn’t been because she had liked him and because everyone else in her family had simply assumed that firstly she would go talk to him on Belle’s behalf because they’d asked her to, and that secondly they expected him to overlook her simply because they did so.
    “I like you,” she said, wondering if someone could fall in love after two dances, a walk, a luncheon, and another walk. Because at this moment she could very much imagine spending the remainder of her life becoming acquainted with this man.
    “Then let them wonder over dinner. We’ll speak with them afterward.”
    “But–“
    ”What are you afraid of?”
    The question stopped her protest. Yes, what was she afraid of? That people would mutter about her? She’d been ignored for most of her twenty years. And Geoffrey seemed determined to marry her, which meant that people would be looking at her for a long time to come.
    He leaned forward a little. “You’re smiling. It’s very attractive, and it makes me want to kiss you.”
    Theodora blinked. Goodness, she was smiling. “You can’t kiss me here.”
    “Then I’ll kiss you after dinner. Shall I walk you to your bed chamber?”
    “Mm hm. I’m certain no one will talk about that,” she returned, then paused before she turned around. “Thank you.”
    “For