The Bargain Bride by Bárbara Metzger Read Free Book Online Page A

Hmm.”
    â€œThere is no hope for it,” she conceded. “You have to leave. Bother your honor. I would rather be disgraced than be forced into a lifetime of misery.”
    â€œWell, I am not going to play the villain, no matter what you think of me. For that matter, many a female would be happy to wear my ring. Damn it, I do not have a ring.”
    â€œI have my mother’s,” she answered without thinking, then caught herself. “No, no. The ring is not the problem. You are.”
    â€œThank you. I do not know when I have been more insulted, at least not since you hit—since I arrived.”
    â€œI am sorry, but I do not want to be your wife. Furthermore, you do not want to be my husband.”
    â€œI never said that.” Not in so many words, anyway.“But if we must wed, perhaps we can learn to rub along. Maybe marriage between us will not be as bad as you fear.”
    She made a rude noise.
    He ignored it. “If, as you say, the deed is inevitable, we can try to make the most of it. I find you attractive, and that is a start. Your hair, your form. Your expressive face.” West thought he could watch emotions color her cheeks for days, and spend at least a week learning the surprises of her slender figure. A week in bed with no clothes on.
    She waved her hand, and her handkerchief, in dismissal. “Faugh. Looks have nothing to do with building a marriage.”
    â€œIf that is what you think, you know less about men than a mongoose. Your hair—” He could not wait to see it loose and curling again, free for his fingers to slide through the silky tresses, preferably against his pillow. “That is, your care for your grandfather. I admire your loyalty, your intelligence, your spirit in fighting for what you want.” Her sun-kissed hair. “And your good deeds for the neighbors. You did say you are involved in charitable enterprises?”
    She went back to twisting her handkerchief between her hands. The silence went on.
    â€œUm, did I mention your spirit? I appreciate that you have not flown into a tantrum, swooned, or dissolved in tears at a crisis.”
    â€œNo, I would not do any of those things,” she said with a sniff, quickly using her mangled handkerchief to blot at her eyes.
    He looked at her with suspicion. “Good, for men hate a woman’s tears. They make us feel helpless.”
    â€œYou are helpless, if you have no other plan to offer.”
    â€œOther than making the best of things? I see no alternative. But can you not think of one thing about me to admire?”
    After too long a pause for his self-esteem, Penny said, “You are handsome, I suppose some would say.”
    That was a start, even though she had claimed looks did not matter. “Yes?”
    â€œAnd you like horses.”
    â€œGood grief, ma’am, I am searching for crumbs here. Very well, since you will not credit me with the quality of a clam, let me say that I am honorable. I was an officer and deemed brave. I do not cheat at cards; I rarely drink to excess or gamble more than I can afford to lose. I am an excellent shot and handy with my fists.”
    â€œAll excellent qualities in a husband,” she mumbled to herself.
    â€œI am not a fortune hunter. You cannot accuse me of plotting and planning to get my hands on your dowry or whatever moneys you possess, for I never knew you had any.”
    â€œThat is true,” she said grudgingly.
    â€œI have never struck a woman.” He ruined that by adding “yet.”
    â€œAnd . . . and I do not snore.”
    Her head jerked up. “We would share a bedroom?”
    Saints preserve him from maidenly modesty and a virgin’s vapors! And his own heated thoughts of her naked, beneath him. He hurried on, erasing the image. Discussions of the marriage bed could wait until after the marriage, thank the gods. “Not if you do not wish, except occasionally, of course, for the sake of