Quick, Amanda by Surrender Read Free Book Online Page B

Huntington. The man will never even
    have a chance to defend himself."

    " Could he defend himself?"Victoria retorted, her eyes clashing with his in the shadows. This time there
    was no mischief or humor in her steady, challenging gaze. "Are you saying that what the runner
    discovered was untrue?"
    Lucas held his ground, speaking evenly. "I am saying that it was none of your business to interfere in the
    matter. There might very well be mitigating circumstances."

    "Hah. I doubt that very much,"Victoria said.
    "So do I," chimed in Annabella." Just imagine that poor woman tucked away with Barton's children."

    Lyndwood bestirred himself on the other side of the coach." Neither of you two ladies ought to know a
    deuced thing about any of Barton's offspring who happen to have been born on the wrong side of the
    blanket. T'ain't right for you even to be discussing such matters, is it, Stonevale?"

    "Such conversation is certainly not the mark of well-bred ladies of the ton," Lucas muttered, grimly
    aware he sounded exactly like the boring prigVictoria had insinuated he was.

    Victoria's smile was triumphant." Lord Stonevale, allow me to point out that if you find my conversation
    too offensive for your delicate sensibilities, there is an easy remedy for you. Simply open the carriage
    door and depart."
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    Lucas realized in that moment that Victoria Huntington had the power to slice through his iron-willed
    self-control as no one else had been able to do in years. Furthermore, she accomplished the trick quite
    effortlessly. This lady was dangerous. He was going to have to work hard at staying in command of the
    situation.

    Lucas cleared his throat." My sensibilities will survive your indelicate manners, Miss
    Huntington. And I could not possibly exit now. My honor still requires that I pay my gaming debts."

    "Hah. This is no honorable gaming debt, sir. This is blackmail, pure and simple."

    "I assure you," Stonevale returned," I am fast discovering that blackmail is neither pure nor simple, not
    with you cast in the role of the victim."

    Her eyes gleamed with mischief at that sally and Lucas felt his whole body react with sharp desire. He
    folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the cushions, his gaze holding hers in the
    shadows. In that moment he wanted nothing more than to be alone with this bewitching creature. He
    longed to pull her down onto the carriage seat and show her the extent of the risks she was running when
    she challenged him so openly.

    For an instant a charged silence hung between them. WhenVictoria finally blinked and allowed her gaze
    to slide away from his own, he knew she had discerned his thoughts.
    But Lucas's small sense of victory was short-lived. It was dawning on him rapidly that this courtship he
    had embarked upon was going to be even more hazardous than he had first thought. With Jessica
    Atherton's help and his own skill at getting by on his wits and his ability at the card table, he had hoped to
    conceal the true state of his finances from Society long enough to achieve his objective. He had made his
    plans with his usual care.

    But if his intended bride took a notion to hire a runner to look into his affairs, it was all too likely the full
    truth would come out. The rumor of his nonexistent inheritance would not hold up for long. It was
    becoming clear that the task of stalking this particular heiress would be the most exacting hunting he had
    ever done. One wrong move, one miscalculation on his part, and he would lose the game.

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    "How long do you intend to spend on your adventure this evening, Miss Huntington?" Lucas kept his
    tone detached.

    "Is time a problem for you? Do you have another engagement planned?" she asked far too sweetly.

    He knew intuitively that she was fishing to find out if he had a mistress expecting