Passionate Secrets (The Secrets Trilogy Book 2) by Lana Williams Read Free Book Online Page A

she sipped her tea. “I’m attending a musical this evening. Would you care to join me?”
    “Perhaps. I shall see if Catherine is interested.”
    “That would be lovely.” Did he imagine it or was her smile forced? Surely not.
    “As you so cleverly guessed, there is something I want to discuss,” Michael said, deciding he wanted it over with.
    She looked up from her tea. “Does it have anything to do with Miss Vandimer?”
    “Not at all.” For a brief moment, he thought he detected disappointment but when he looked closer at her expression, he saw only her usual serenity. He must’ve been mistaken. He hoped she approved of his engagement to Catherine, although in truth, he’d never asked.
    His grandmother was the reason he’d offered marriage to Catherine—to gain back the five hundred year-old sprawling country estate that had been in the Weston family since the first Viscount Weston had built it. It was his grandmother’s birth place, and Catherine’s father now owned it. He knew it had appalled his grandmother when Michael’s father had gambled it away along with most of their possessions.
    But that conversation was for another day. He needed to resolve this issue first.
    “This involves an old acquaintance of mine. Do you remember my professor at Cambridge? The one who was killed?” He bit into a smoked salmon sandwich, one of his favorites, as he awaited her answer.
    “Yes, of course. That was terrible. You still bear scars from that night, do you not?”
    He nodded and forced himself to keep from rubbing his stomach where a scar left a jagged reminder of that night. He’d told no one of the full events that had occurred, nor had he ever spoken of the auras he saw as a result of it except to Ashbury. In the beginning, he’d held hope the ability would go away. Now, he didn’t see how he could explain it without sounding like a blundering fool. Or worse, insane.
    “Professor Grisby’s niece stopped by to see me.”
    “Oh?” Her eyes lit with curiosity.
    How much did he tell her? Surely less was better until he knew if there was any chance of something coming of the situation.
    “She’s twenty-six, I believe. Of marriageable age at any rate.” He thought of her dark brown eyes looking up at him and felt his chest tighten.
    “You’ve decided to offer marriage to her instead of Miss Vandimer?” The hopeful note of her voice took him by surprise.
    “No. No, of course not.” He shifted in his chair at the very idea, almost spilling his tea in the process. “It seems she’s in a rather desperate situation financially, or rather her family is, and I thought perhaps we could assist her in finding a husband.”
    “You’re playing matchmaker?” She looked astounded at the idea.
    “Nothing of the sort. I merely thought we could introduce her to a few men at one or two balls and see if anything comes of it.” When he said it like that, it didn’t sound very difficult. In fact, it sounded rather easy.
    “Is she attractive?”
    He thought again of those brown eyes, her tilted nose and flushed cheeks. “In her own way, I suppose. If you can convince her to remove her spectacles.” He tried to picture her without them. Her eyes held gold in their depths, her lashes were long and dark, and without her glasses, he thought she’d look quite...different.
    “Michael?”
    “I’m sorry.” He berated himself to keep his mind on the task before him. “You were saying?”
    “I suppose I could meet the girl to see whether I’m able to help her.” Her frown revealed her doubt.
    “I can arrange that.” At least he hoped he could. In truth, he would be surprised if Emma agreed to it or anything else he suggested.
    “You want to find this girl a husband out of the goodness of your heart?”
    He scowled, feeling much like a schoolboy caught with a frog in his pocket. “Is that so difficult to believe?”
    She raised a brow. “Let’s just say it’s rather out of character.”
    He held his