Once a Wallflower, At Last His Love (Scandalous Seasons Book 6) by Christi Caldwell Read Free Book Online Page B

Werksman stood in awe of and offered over a small fortune in coin. Then she could politely decline Aunt Agatha’s matchmaking attempts, return to the country, mayhap wed a pleasant, smiling country gentleman who’d let her continue writing and…
    She sighed. Such fanciful musings were best reserved for the page.
    Except… Her heart hammered wildly. Now she’d gone and reminded herself that this great work of literature she was hoping to hand over to Mr. Werksman was far from becoming anything at all great with her inability to commit words to the page.
    “Nefarious duke,” she muttered under her breath and then remembered the elegant setting, ideal for any nefarious gentleman. She grabbed the pencil dangling from her wrist and froze. Hermione ran her gaze about the darkened room, a smile turned her lips. With more excitement than she’d known all evening, she raced over to Lord Denley’s desk and grabbed the handle of the top, center drawer. And froze. She really had no right invading the man’s private office and rummaging through his belongings. She chewed her lower lip and forcefully shoved aside her remorse. With his ostentatious townhouse, speaking to his vast wealth, Lord Denley really could afford to be free of a handful of parchment pages. Ignoring the niggling of guilt in her belly, she yanked the drawer open and tugged free several loose pages.
    One could not abandon inspiration when it at last presented itself. Even if inspiration came at the most awkward time and place, inside her host’s office in the midst of his formal ball.
    Hermione slid into the leather seat. The aged fabric crackled loudly in the silent space. She picked up the tiny pencil and paused shaking her head in annoyance. Nefarious Duke . Mr. Werksman could not have had him be a mere earl or lesser lord. He may as well have ordered her to name the Prince Regent hero of her latest work and sent her out after the rotund monarch, in the name of research.
    She disentangled the ribbon at her wrist and spread the card upon the immaculate surface of Lord Denley’s desk. Pencil in hand, she began to write. Engrossed in copying the handful of words and ideas she’d scratched earlier upon her card, she only dimly registered the slow creak. Of the door.
    She blinked down at the parchment.
    “Good evening.” The perfectly clipped tones bespoke the stranger’s lofty status.
    She raised her head with a jerk. A shriek escaped her lips at the familiar, golden-haired gentleman framed in the entrance of the room. As if he’d noted her interest, the nobleman who’d captured her attention a short while ago, smiled.
    Hermione shoved her seat back. It scraped along the floor and tipped over with a resounding boom that echoed off the walls. She glared at the intruder who’d stolen her solitude, even as her heart thumped madly at the sheer beauty of him. “You, sir. What do you want?” she asked, pleased her voice didn’t shake as she uttered that imperious question.
    He entered the room and closed the door with a soft, decisive click.
    She swallowed hard. Oh, dear.

C hapter 5
    W hen Waxham noted Sebastian’s interest in the odd young lady, he’d scoffed at the idea he’d be attracted to a rail-thin lady with nearly black hair and pale cheeks. Yet, as the tendons of her throat worked with the force of her swallow, he paused to appreciate the elegant length of her graceful neck.
    The lady’s fingers tightened about the little pencil in her hand. She waved her ineffectual, makeshift weapon. “Did you hear me, sir? I asked what you wanted.”
    Amusement pulled at his lips. The spirited beauty appeared ready to bury the tip of her assuredly dull pencil in his belly if he so much as uttered the wrong word.
    She narrowed her eyes, the sapphire blue irises freezing him. He’d been wrong in his earlier assessment of the young lady. A woman who possessed a piercing blue stare such as hers could never be considered plain.
    “Is something wrong with you,