The Earl of Her Dreams by Anne Mallory Read Free Book Online Page B

shifted the garments and reached for the poker. “Here, allow me. I need a distraction.”
    Sally looked at her questioningly, but handed her the implement. “Thank you, sir.”
    “Think nothing of it. Have a good night, Sally.”
    Sally smiled. “Good night, sir.”
    Kate headed for the common room, stooping momentarily in the hall to pick up a linen handkerchief. Freewater bellowed again from his chambers as Sally knocked on his door. Raised voices, muffledbut still audible, came from the common room. Curiosity made Kate walk more softly.
    “The bitch won’t touch you now.”
    Kate abruptly stopped outside the door.
    “Don’t call her that!” Lawrence Lake’s angry voice echoed from within the room.
    “I can call her anything I want.” Kate leaned in closer to hear Julius Janson’s lowered words. “Soon we’ll be married and she’ll be my bitch to do with whatever I want.”
    “I’ll kill you before that happens.”
    “Yeah, let’s see you attempt it. Can’t differentiate a pistol cock from the wee one attached between your legs.”
    “Why doesn’t anyone else see what you are?” Lake asked, a tad desperately.
    Kate peered around the door to see Janson lean into Lake’s face. “What, that I’m a real man? That you will always be second best? At bat, in the field, to me.” He shot a cocky grin. “Now I need to go find my future wife and feel those curvy hips, silky and smooth.”
    “You won’t touch her.”
    “She likes it when I touch her, Lake. She whispers my name in her dreams. When she touches herself in the bath. Screaming with her head thrown back as I pound into her.”
    Lake’s fists knotted. “Go to the devil, Janson. I’d send you there now if I knew I wouldn’t be thrown out of here and unable to keep an eye on you.”
    “Tut, tut, Lake. Hiding behind the Wickets again like the pansy you are. Make sure to change your nappy before the next match.”
    Janson sauntered out onto the balcony, leaving a raging Lake to punch the hardwood wall Janson’s head had been leaning against moments before.
    Kate waited a few moments before entering the common room. “Good evening.”
    Lake looked up from rubbing his knuckles and issued a distracted greeting in return, his lip still swollen from the taproom fight.
    Kate added a log and quickly stoked the fire, hoping to leave before the emotional pressure in the room exploded.
    “What is it about beastly men that women bloody love?”
    Kate blinked. “Pardon me?”
    “You look like a nice enough man, but I’ll bet women don’t look at you twice.”
    Kate didn’t know whether to be insulted or amused. Christian had commented earlier about Daisy not noticing her as a man. Really, if she maintained this line of thought, she might as wellgrow some chest hair and add a cocky swagger to her step.
    The devastated look on Lake’s face caused sympathy to bloom instead. “I can honestly say that most women do not look at me twice, you are correct.” Kate decided to find the humor in the situation.
    He shook his head. “No one notices a monster in their midst when they don’t choose to. Not if he is the team hero or the worshipped man about town.”
    Kate felt the bloom grow. He obviously held a tendre for Mary, who was promised to Janson. The innkeeper clearly thought Janson a right sporting fellow, and couldn’t look past his hero status in cricket. She wondered how Mary felt. Her face, happy and kind like her father’s, became unreadable around Janson and Lake. Maybe Mary saw more than people credited.
    “If it would make you feel better, if I were a female, I wouldn’t go for the likes of Julius Janson.”
    “Too bad you aren’t a female.”
    “Er, yes, too bad.” Kate replaced the poker next to the fireplace grate. “Don’t let a man like Julius Janson get to you, Mr. Lake. It is what he wants above all other things. Even more than the girl you fight over.”
    Lake’s mouth dropped in surprise, but before he could respond, Mr.