To Tempt An Angel (Book 1 Douglas series) by Patricia; Grasso Read Free Book Online

arm. “I appreciate your help.”
    “Damsels in distress are my specialty,” he said, smiling at her in the darkness.
    Robert helped her onto the carriage and handed her the lantern. Climbing up beside her, he drove the carriage into the garden.
    “Leather seats?” Angelica remarked. “How did you manage—?”
    “I borrowed it,” Robert said, helping her down.
    “Bring the lantern over here.”
    Angelica held up the lantern. She expected him to lift Mr. Lewis into his arms. Instead, he began undressing the old man.
    “What are you doing?” Angelica asked in a horrified whisper.
    “Being caught with a corpse is not illegal unless it’s dressed in burial clothes,” Robert told her without looking up.
    Bull’s pizzle , Angelica thought. Her first sight of a man’s nakedness would be dead Mr. Lewis. Oh, she could cheerfully choke her sisters and sell their bodies to the surgeons.
    “We’ll bury these in the garden when we return,” Robert said, setting the man’s clothing aside.
    Angelica refused to look at Mr. Lewis’s naked body. She blushed when she heard Robert chuckling at her reaction and was glad the darkness hid her embarrassment.
    “The graveyard awaits us,” Robert said, setting the body inside the carriage.
    “I don’t find this situation particularly amusing,” Angelica said primly, settling herself atop the carriage and taking the lantern out of his hand.
    “Someday, angel, we’ll laugh about this night,” he replied, climbing onto the driver’s seat beside her.
    Angelica marveled at the quietness of the night. She’d never been out this late. The only sound was the horses pulling the carriage down the road.
    A few minutes later, Robert halted the carriage outside the graveyard. He leaped off the driver’s seat and then helped Angelica down.
    Robert lifted the dead man out of the carriage. After positioning the body over his shoulder, he turned toward the graveyard. A low mist blanketed the ground. Only the tops of the tombstones were clearly visible at a distance.
    “I don’t like this,” Angelica said, frightened by the sight of the graveyard. “Let’s leave him here.”
    “If we did that the authorities would investigate,” Robert told her. “I think we had better put Mr. Lewis back where he belongs.”
    “Spirits roam at night,” she argued. “What if his spirit—?”
    “Pass me the lantern. I’ll go alone.”
    “And leave me here?”
    “I haven’t mastered the trick of being in two places at once,” Robert said with laughter lurking in his voice.
    Angelica realized she’d be safer with him than waiting alone. Summoning her courage, she squared her shoulders and ordered, “Lead the way.”
    “You have the lantern,” he reminded her.
    Angelica held up the lantern and forced herself to step into the graveyard. After wandering around for several minutes, she found the opened grave. Beside it lay her sisters’ shovel.
    Robert set Mr. Lewis down and rested his shoulder for a moment. Then he lifted the lantern and said, “Shit.”
    “What’s wrong?” Angelica asked, beginning to panic.
    “Your sisters dug out the entire grave,” he answered.
    “How else could they abduct Mr. Lewis?”
    “Professionals only dig the top of the grave and then pull the body out by the shoulders,” Robert explained.
    “How do you know?”
    “I have friends in low places.”
    Without bothering about the casket, Robert pushed Mr. Lewis into the opened grave and picked up the shovel. Then he began tossing dirt onto the corpse.
“Why don’t we put him inside the coffin?” Angelica asked.
“I assure you, angel, Mr. Lewis doesn’t know the difference,” he replied, and tossed another shovelful of dirt onto the man.
    “I’m sorry my sisters disturbed you, Mr. Lewis,” Angelica said, fingering her diamond pendant for protection. “Please accept my apology.”
    Robert burst out laughing.
    With her hands on her hips, Angelica rounded on him and asked, “What do you find so