Rogue for a Night by Jenna Petersen Read Free Book Online Page A

stare to her brother-in-law’s face. “Yes. No. I mean, I was upstairs with Jane when she received-”
    Stone laughed. “Ah, my package.”
    “Yes.” Lucinda’s smile returned, gentle and kind. Rage had never seen someone with such a kind smile, a smile that reflected her very soul. “I was coming down anyway and I said I would check for you in your study.”
    Stone came around the desk with a broader grin. “Well, then I shall go up and she how she looks in it. Thank you for fetching me.”
    “She looks more than well,” Lucinda reassured him.
    Stone touched her arm as he departed the room and suddenly Rage and Lucinda were alone. She remained at the door, fiddling with the handle as she stared at him.
    “H-He bought her a gown for the ball tonight,” she explained when the silence had stretched between them for what seemed like an eternity, though it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds.
    Rage nodded as he finally pushed to his feet, as propriety dictated he should have done the moment Lucinda entered the room. The rules were so easy to forget, especially when he was off kilter. And it seemed that the moment Lucinda Stoneworth came into his field of vision, he was destined to be decidedly off kilter, indeed.

    ~~~

    Why was he just staring at her? Why didn’t he speak?
    Lucinda shifted, strumming her fingers against the door handle out of pure nervousness. Ronan was standing now, but he hadn’t spoken in what seemed like half an hour. And his handsome, hard, angular face was impossible to read. She had no idea if he was happy to see her, apathetic or even angry.
    “H-hello,” she said and felt stupid the moment the word left her lips.
    But at least it elicited the smallest of smiles from Ronan. “We did that part already,” he said softly.
    She blushed to her very toes. “Y-Yes. I suppose we did.” She struggled for a new topic since he seemed to be perfectly happy to let her flounder like a fish thrown on the shore. “The ball tonight,” she finally settled on. “Will you attend?”
    Ronan let out a heavy, put-upon sigh. “Stone always seems to rope me into these foolish things one way or another, so I would assume yes, I will be in attendance.”
    “Good.” She breathed a sigh of relief before she realized she was about to do it and her blush grew hotter. “I mean, I’m glad you came back.”
    “I told you I would,” he said.
    He hadn’t moved since he stood up. Certainly, he had done nothing to invade her space or push her, but yet he seemed to have grown in size. To fill the chamber with his presence as he always did.
    “You did. But when you vanished so suddenly and it seemed to surprise Nicholas so much, I wondered.” She shook her head. “At any rate, I would like to talk to you about-”
    Now he did move and the sudden action silenced her as much as his voice when he said, “I’m sorry, my lady, but now is an inopportune time. If you will excuse me, I need to join Mr. Foster to discuss some estate business that Stone distracted me from.”
    Lucinda stared in disbelief as Ronan gave her a very proper bow and slid past her into the hall and away toward the kitchen exit of the house. She stepped into the room, where Ronan’s leathery, warm scent still lingered to tease her and sat down hard on one of the chairs near the fire.
    What had just happened? When Ronan left, he had made it very clear that she was in control of the next part of their relationship, but then he had cut her off quite rudely. Left her alone without even a hint that he cared what her decision was when it came to how they would proceed during her time here in Ironfield. Had he lost interest so quickly? He had told her he wanted her for quite some time, but perhaps that was a lie? Perhaps he had only said it to… well, she had no idea why he would say something so shocking if he didn’t mean every word of it.
    But then, she didn’t really understand the man who had just strode out of the study with not so