Unbefitting a Lady by Bronwyn Scott Read Free Book Online Page A

wasn’t keen on longer
distances, I knew I didn’t have a chance unless Isolde tired herself out.’ Bram
called for a stable boy to take the horses. ‘Give them both a good rub down.
They’re sweaty and could take a chill. Put on their blankets and turn them out
to their paddocks.’ Then he gave her all his attention. ‘Now it’s time to claim
my forfeit.’
    ‘You can’t be serious. You cheated. You deliberately implied
certain things,’ Phaedra argued.
    ‘I’m always serious about winning. I didn’t peg you for a sore
loser, Phaedra. Are you refusing to pay up?’
    That stung. ‘Of course not.’ But it took all her bravado to
admit it. The way he was looking at her right now made her wonder exactly what
kind of forfeit he wanted to claim. She probably should have defined those terms
as well. She gave it a belated try. ‘I won’t kiss you for it, if that’s what
you’re thinking.’
    Bram stepped closer, making her aware of the sheer maleness of
him, a potent combination of muscle, leather and horse, all the things a man
should be. ‘Why not? I am of the opinion you need kissing.’
    ‘I’ve been kissed before, if you must know,’ Phaedra said in
low tones. Good heavens, she hoped they weren’t overheard. This was the most
unseemly conversation. She tried to end it by walking to her office.
    Bram gave a chuckle that sent butterflies to her stomach in
warm flutters and followed her. ‘I’m sure you have if you count parlour games
and mistletoe.’
    They’d reached her office door. He should take the hint it was
time to part. But he didn’t. Instead he rested his arm on the door frame over
her head and leaned towards her, his arm, his body, effectively trapping her
against the wall before she could go in and escape behind the security of her
desk. ‘That’s not the kind of kissing I’m talking about, Phaedra.’ There was a
wealth of innuendo and invitation in that short phrase and it sent a jolt of
warm heat straight to her belly.
    She should tell him to stop using her name. He was hired help.
He should know better. She should be outraged at his bold behaviour, maybe even
frightened. Aunt Wilhelmina would be. But all Phaedra could conjure up in
response was excitement.
    ‘What kind of kissing are you
talking about?’ Phaedra bit her lip wincing at her words. Had she actually said
that? ‘Never mind, I don’t want to know.’
    ‘Of course you want to know.’ His blue eyes dropped to her
lips, his mouth a teasing half-smile full of knowledge.
    ‘I think you’re the most outrageous man I’ve ever met.’ It was
the most sophisticated set-down she could manage under the circumstances and the
most true. None of the young bucks she’d encountered could match him in his
relentless pursuit of...of what? Of her ?
    Bram stepped back, releasing her from his intimate cage, that
ever-present smile on his face when he looked at her as if he could read her
every thought. ‘Good, that gives us something in common. Now, if you’ll excuse
me, I have work to see to.’
    A little flame of temper flared. How dare he imply she’d been
the one keeping him when he’d been the one to follow her to the office and...and what? Phaedra went
inside and shut her door, craving solitude.
    He really was most the unnerving man she’d ever encountered. It
wasn’t because she hadn’t met an arrogant man before. She’d met a few, Sir
Nathan Samuelson notwithstanding, and she’d routinely found the arrogance
completely unattractive. But on Bram Basingstoke, that was not the case. He wore
arrogance infuriatingly well. He was confident, sure of himself, and sure of her
as if he knew all along what she’d do next before she knew it herself.
    Phaedra slumped in her chair, getting her racing pulse under
control. Admittedly, she had little practice with this sort of man, with any man. He’d had it aright when he’d guessed her
kissing had been limited to party games and holiday traditions. He’d been right,
too, when